Paschalina Koulourakia with mahlepi and mastiha - Greek Easter Cookies with mahleb and mastic

Πασχαλινά κουλουράκια με μαχλέπι και μαστίχα

Mar 21, 2025

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I love Easter cookies —I’m referring to the Greek ones of course, pascahalina koulourakia— and each year, I can’t wait to bake them so that my house will fill up with the aromas of Easter.

I have already shared with you my classic Greek Easter koulourakia a few years ago, but this year I am sharing something a little bit different.

For me, Easter is synonymous with the flavors of mahlepi (a highly aromatic spice, reminiscent of bitter almond, made from the seeds of wild cherry trees) and mastiha (a mastic-tree resin from the Greek island of Chios) which are present in the Politiko tsoureki (a type of sweet, yeasted bread made for Easter in Greece), and even though I am going to bake tsoureki, as I do every year (actually, I have already baked my first batch, testing yet again a new recipe), I wanted to incorporate these flavors into my koulourakia as well.

It took me a couple of tries to get them where I wanted them to be not only in terms of flavor but texture too, and finally I hit the jackpot! These, ladies and gentlemen, are now officially my favorite Greek Easter cookies.

They’re buttery and slightly crispy but not hard, with a shortbread-like texture inside but lighter. They have the distinct aroma and flavor of mahlepi, mastiha and orange, and they’re sweet but not overly so. They are perfect for dunking in your morning or afternoon coffee, in fact they will cause you to drink more coffee than usual because you’ll want to keep dunking these cookies in it, and great to eat on their own when you simply want to have something sweet and buttery.

I’m sharing these with you along with my best wishes for a wonderful Easter for those of you who celebrate this Sunday. We Orthodox Greeks celebrate next Sunday, so we still have a week to go, which means more time for baking!!

Hope you enjoy and I’d love to see photos of them if you make them!