Soft, and slightly sweetened, Greek molasses cookies, known as Moustokouloura are a delightful treat with your morning coffee, or as an afternoon snack. This easy recipe comes together quickly in just one bowl!
The word Moustokouloura is translated literally as baked must rings.
In Greece, Moustokouloura are made with grape molasses, otherwise known as Petimezi. Grape molasses was used in ancient times before sugar was discovered. It's essentially grape juice that is heated and reduced to form a thick, sweet syrup, similar in consistency to honey.
Petimezi is hard to find in the States, so we use regular molasses in this recipe.
These cookies are a variation of Koulourakia, the traditional Greek Easter cookies, but rather than butter, they are made with oil and molasses, so they have a unique flavor profile. I like to serve these at Easter with Baklava, Koulourakia and Tsoureki.
They can also be made vegan, so they are perfect for Lent. Note - if you prepare them without eggs, they will not be chewy, rather they will be crispy as the eggs provide the moisture needed for the cake-like texture.
Both Koulourakia and Moustokouloura can be shaped into rings, S-shapes, braids, or twists, or you can roll out the dough and get creative with cookie cutters.
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Moustokouloura Ingredients
Moustokouloura are made with simple ingredients like oil, sugar, eggs, molasses, and spices. In under 45 minutes, you will have warm delicious molasses cookies.
- sunflower oil - we use sunflower oil, but any light vegetable oil would work here. Think avocado oil or Canola oil.
- sugar - the cookies are lightly sweetened with cane sugar, or white granulated sugar.
- eggs - we use 3 eggs in this recipe, which add structure and stability to the cookies as well as add moisture.
- molasses - if you can find Petimezi, or grape molasses, use that for a more authentic Moustokoulouro. If not, regular molasses is perfect as it adds moisture, flavor and color to the cookies.
- spices - we use warm spices like ground cinnamon and ground cloves to flavor the cookie.
- baking soda - we use just a touch of baking soda to help the cookies have a light and fluffy texture.
- baking powder - we use baking powder to help the cookies rise.
- milk - We use whole milk in this recipe. The cookies can be made dairy-free with almond milk or oat milk.
- flour - we use bread flour in this recipe. Bread flour develops gluten which gives baked goods structure. According to Bon Appetit, since bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, it’s able to develop more gluten. This leads to baked goods with a chewy texture. You can substitute all-purpose flour if that's all you have on hand.
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Moustokouloura
The cookies come together quickly in one bowl in under 45 minutes using a stand-up mixer.
Roll and shape the cookies.
Bake the cookies.
Hint: Allow the cookie dough to rest for 15 minutes before rolling the cookies. This helps the flour hydrate, allowing the cookies to become more pliable, or easy to roll and shape.
Substitutions
Adjust the cookies based on your dietary preferences using the following guidelines:
- Dairy-Free - To make the cookies dairy-free, you would substitute the milk with a non-dairy milk of your choice. Almond milk or oat milk are great substitutes.
- Gluten Free - I have not tested with gluten-free flour, but in theory, a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour should work.
- Vegan - The cookies use eggs to keep them moist and chewy. To make them vegan, you can omit the egg entirely. The texture of the cookie will become crispy, not soft and chewy.
How to Roll Moustokouloura
Rolling the cookies is the most fun part of preparing the recipe. You can be creative in the shape - forming a ring, S shape, braid, or twist, or you can use cookie cutters and let the kids get in on the fun.
- Ring - Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough and roll it into a log. Bring the ends together to form a ring and pinch the ends together slightly to seal the ring.
- Twist - Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a log. Fold one end over the other 2-3 times to form a twisted rope shape. Cut off the ends for a clean finish.
- S-Shape - Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a log. Place it vertically on your surface. Roll the top of the dough to the right in a spiral fashion. Roll/fold the bottom of the dough up to the left to form a spiral S-shape.
- Braid - you will need two logs of dough. Form a T-shape and braid the dough. Fold the right over the center, then the left over the center and repeat. Cut off the ends to have a clean finish.
- Cookie Cutter Shapes - Roll out the remaining dough using a rolling pin and cut with cookie cutter shapes.
Storing Greek Molasses Cookies
Store the cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for a few weeks. You can also refrigerate or even freeze if you plan to make them way ahead. These last for months and still taste fresh if stored properly.
You can also refrigerate the dough and shape the cookies the next day if time is a constraint.
Top tip
Don't overwork the dough because it could cause separation. If the dough begins to separate, simply knead it with your hands to recombine the liquids into the flour while rolling and shaping the cookies.
FAQ
Here is my version of a phonetic spelling of the word to make it easy to pronounce. mu-sto-ku-lu-ra. Mousto means must, which signifies the grape must that was used to traditionally make these cookies and kouloura is round loaf or baked dough ring.
Petimezi is grape molasses and can be purchased at an international market, or on Amazon.
Good old fashioned molasses is a great substitute for petimezi.
Moustokouloura - Greek Molasses Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup sunflower oil or Canola oil
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
- ½ cup milk
- 4 cups bread flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the oil, sugar and eggs and beat until emulsified and light yellow in color (about 3 minutes).
- Add the molasses, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, baking soda and 1 cup of the flour and beat together until combined.
- Alternate adding the remaining flour to the bowl along with the milk ¼ cup at a time while continuously mixing until the dough pulls away from the bowl. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- The dough should be soft, pliable, but not sticky. If the dough is sticky, you can add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency/texture.
- Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a ½-inch cookie scoop, scoop the cookies and roll into logs. Shape into twists, rings or braids.
- Place the shaped cookies onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 15 minutes.
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Nutrition
Related
Looking for other Greek dessert recipes? Try these:
Moustokouloura Bunnies
You can even get creative and roll out the dough with a rolling pin and use your favorite cookie cutter shapes to make fun-shaped cookies with the kids.
Here are my bunny cookies with chocolate chips for the eyes.
Paula says
Made these for my husband and he's obsessed! I'm going to have to hide the rest... hah!
Beth says
These sound so good. I was so sold as soon as I read "molasses". Molasses is the best thing ever in cookies.
Charah says
Looks very delicious, will try this soon. thanks for sharing
Erik says
Really enjoyed the way the spices complement the cookies. Such a rich and satisfying flavor!
TAYLER ROSS says
I love molasses cookies so I whipped up a batch of these today. They were delicious and I'll definitely be making them again!