Vegan shortbread cookies

April 16, 2021April 16, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 4 Comments

Very simple shortbread cookies that are perfect for Orthodox lent.

With these vegan shortbread cookies, what you see is what you get! We have lived the disappointment of using cookie cutters to shape cookies just the way we want them only to find that they have flattened, spread, or risen while baking. Cut out flowers, kittens and firetrucks end up looking like blobs. Still delicious, but blobs. Not these cookies! These cookies come out of the oven looking pretty much the way that they went in. No surprises!

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Chocolate and orange cake

April 12, 2021April 13, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A vegan chocolate and orange cake served with an orange glaze

Νηστίσιμο κέικ σοκολάτας με πορτοκάλι. Do you sometimes feel that baking is for weekends, when you have more time to scoop, measure, mix and bake? That’s probably true if you’re thinking about making a samali which has a significant resting time. It may also be true if you’re planning to make bougatsa, given the phyllo folding that’s involved. But if you’re craving something sweet mid-week (which is frankly when we need it most) then pull out your apron, because we’ve got the cake for you.

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Chocolate and blueberry cake

March 29, 2021April 3, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A vegan cake rich with chocolate flavour, blueberries and a chocolate glaze

Κέικ σοκολάτας με μύρτιλα. If you were raised in a traditional Greek home then there are a few things that you know to be true. Family is more important than anything. Family is also a term used generously; obviously your parents, your siblings and your grandparents are family, but so is your cousin’s cousin on their father’s side to whom you have no blood relation. You also know that food is almost as important as family – what you eat, how you eat it, and who you eat it with are questions which inform who you are as a person, and they are full of meaning and significance.

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Greek yogourt cake with orange

March 23, 2021March 31, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 10 Comments

A simple and moist cake made with Greek yogourt and orange

We love cake! Although we appreciate impressive, multi-layered pastry creations that we challenge ourselves to make, sometimes cake that is simple and honest is better than any frosted, flambéed or fancy work of art. Cakes like this Greek yogourt cake with orange are often what we crave. A straightforward loaf, with the simplest glaze and flavour that satisfies any cake craving.

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Blondies

February 11, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

A decadent dessert full of chocolate and coconut

If you are looking for a dessert that is rich and decadent, these blondies are for you. Buttery, full of chocolate and coconut, and with just the right amount of sweetness, these perfect for Valentine’s Day blondies will be loved by anyone who tries them.

Never had a blondie? Think brownie, without the cocoa and with brown sugar. The result is a dessert that is so indulgent that when made correctly, is almost impossible to resist. We think we can help with that! (not the resisting part, but the making correctly part!)

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Heart shaped sugar cookies

January 28, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

Festive sugar cookies perfect for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day always makes us smile, not because we happen to each be married to wonderful guys that make love fun (although that is wonderful) but because growing up we were always our parents’ Valentines.

Every February 14th (and sometimes on February 15th when the chocolate hearts and pink stuffed bears were on sale) our parents would surprise us with Valentine treats. As young kids, we were thrilled. Along with the gifts we were given, our parents would also purchase for us large Valentine’s Day books filled with cards that we would punch out of the cardboard pages (remember those?) We would spend hours deciding which classmate would get which card, and which card we would save for our Ma and Ba.

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Vasilopita cupcakes

December 29, 2020 ~ miakouppa ~ 12 Comments

Unconventional vasilopita for an unconventional year

Purists and traditionalists may cringe at this post, and we’re prepared for the fall out. We know that there are certain things that are sacred and should not be tampered with. Like garlic in tzatziki or bechamel on pastitsio. We get it, we really do!

But let’s face it guys, 2020 has been a very unusual and unconventional year and 2021 is starting off that way as well. In our part of the world we are in the midst of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications are huge. Restaurants remain closed except for take-out, retail shops are now closed, schools are either closed or via distance learning, and gatherings of any kind are prohibited. For those who prefer to ring in the new year in the comfort of their bed, sleeping, this is great! For many others, this sucks – big time!

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Lemon ricotta cookies

December 18, 2020 ~ miakouppa ~ 6 Comments

A cake-like cookie that is bursting with lemon goodness!

One of the most wonderful things about Mia Kouppa has been the opportunity to bake and cook with amazing home cooks. Our parents of course are the driving force behind this blog, but we have also cooked and baked with other amazing home cooks. Each has been so gracious in sharing their special recipes with us, so that we can then share them with all of you. Whether they are other Greek home cooks that we feature in More Kouppes, or non-Greek home cooks that we feature in Xenes Kouppes, they have invited us into their kitchens with joy and pride. And, they have been wonderful teachers, sharing their own bits of kitchen wisdom and lessons they’ve learned about life, love, and family. One particular lady taught us that we had been missing something our whole lives, a Nonna!

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Chocolate crinkle cookies

December 17, 2020 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A rich chocolate cookie with a sweet sugar coating

Do you know how you can tell when a recipe is a winner? When you ask a smartphone distracted teenager to have a taste, and she does, and she then looks up from Tik Tok long enough to exclaim, “Oh man! These are really good!”. That, dear friends, was how we knew that this recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies was post-worthy.

How best to describe the taste of this popular Christmas cookie that is more informative than “Oh man!”? Well, if you live in Canada and have ever visited a Tim Hortons the same teenager said that these cookies taste like the chocolate timbits from this favourite coffee shop – but better (sorry Tim).

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Amygdalota (Αμυγδαλωτά)

December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 ~ miakouppa ~ 14 Comments

The classic Greek almond cookie

Remember when you were a kid and you made someone that you loved a card, or a macaroni Christmas tree ornament, or a finger painting of what was clearly an abstract masterpiece? Remember how excited you were to offer your gift and to sit back and listen to the accolades? Remember the pride, the joy, the downright glee? We really, really hope that you do.

We remember that feeling, and frankly, we’re having the same kind of feels right now. But now it’s not about art, or arts and crafts…it’s about baking and we are practically bursting to finally be able to share with you our recipe for amygdalota. Youppi!!

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