Greece is famous for aromatic desserts that use honey and nuts, such as baklava. A sesame turnover is another type of sweet from Greece. It's a filled cookie, similar to shortbread. Many diners like the cookie's sweet taste and crumbly texture.
Greeks normally eat fruits for dessert after dinner, so sesame turnover cookies are usually served with coffee and tea as an afternoon snack. Sweets are also given as gifts when visiting a household.
Crete Cuisine
The Greek name for a sesame turnover is Kritika Patouthia. This rustic dessert is made on the island of Crete, which is part of Greece. Cretan cuisine is famous for its use of fresh, local-sourced and organic ingredients, including olive oil, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs and honey. Each village has its own specialties and famous dishes that rely on traditional recipes and techniques.
Ingredients
This recipe for sesame turnover cookies is available on AllRecipes.com. The filling contains Mediterranean honey, sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds. It relies on baking soda for quick rising. Sesame turnover cookies are flavored with sugar, lemon juice, orange blossom water and orange juice. No butter is used, only olive oil, which makes it lower in fat than other types of cookies. Olive oil adds a subtle flavor to this white flour cookie.
Technique
Mix the ingredients for the sesame turnover dough together, and leave it to rest for an hour. After rolling out the dough, cut the dough into 3-inch squares. Fill the center of the dough with a teaspoon of filling, and then roll up all four corners. The sesame turnover cookie will be a smaller square shape.
Since the dough is quite thick, it takes about 25 minutes to bake in a moderately hot oven. Warm cookies are dipped in the orange blossom-orange juice liquid, and then rolled in powdered sugar.
Nutritional Information
This recipe makes 5 to 6 dozen small sesame turnover cookies. One sesame turnover contains 90 calories, 4.3 g fat, 1.7 g protein, 42 mg sodium, 12 g carbs, 0.8 g fiber and 5.6 g sugar. These cookies are relatively low in calories and sugar.
Recipe Modifications
Since this recipe contains no milk, eggs or butter, it can be a good option for vegetarians. Although honey is traditionally used for the filling, home chefs can substitute another sweetener if they wish. To make the sesame turnovers sweeter, add a simple icing as a topping. To make the cookies less sweet, omit the final powdered sugar dip.
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