Nancy Gaifyllia's Paximathakia Portokaliou

Paximathakia Portokaliou! Paximathakia Portokaliou! I've been shrieking that in my head for the past week or so, imagining myself as a Greek maiden hawking cookies by the seashore, sun beating down on my brow, cookies crumbling in their little basket. Paximathakia Portokaliou! I mean, did you ever hear a sweeter cookie name? Biscotti, snooze. Cookies, yawn. Paximathakia Portokaliou! Cookies with a name like that must have character.

And character they have, especially when you consider that the dough for them is kneaded by hand on a counter, like for bread dough. The process of making these cookies was such a delight. I might have mentioned I no longer have any electrical appliances in my kitchen anymore (well, besides a toaster but that joined my household once I got to Berlin). My food processor and my hand beaters and my immersion blender - I left them all behind in New York. So making cookies by the creaming method or the food processor is a thing of the past, at least until I buckle and buy a set of German beaters.

The other day, I had friends coming over for tea and discovered I had only three crumbling cookies in a limp little plastic wrapper to offer. Paximathakia Portokaliou! (is it okay if I just make the exclamation mark part of the cookie name? I think it fits) would require everything I had in the house already and seemed like the perfect tea sweet.

You dissolve baking soda in orange juice, then mix into that froth some cinnamon (just barely a hint of it), olive oil, lemon peel and juice and some toasted sesame seeds. I'd actually just been given a sack of lemons from a friend's backyard - in Greece - and the olive oil I used was from my mother's olive harvest last year and that, I would say, already made me feel like I was living some kind of agricultural utopian dream. If only I'd ground the flour myself!

Into the wet mixture went flour, sugar and baking powder. The dough was turned out onto the counter and within minutes, not the ten required by the original recipe, had come together into a smooth, elastic ball of dough, fragrant with citrus and spice and faintly nubby to the touch from the sesame seeds.

The rest of the process is pretty simple, too. Logs are formed and sliced. Logs are par-baked then cooled. Cookies are sliced and dried out in a warm oven until crispy. Their fragrance is wonderful, as you can imagine, and eating them is lovely, too. They crunch in just the right places and are barely sweet at all. In fact, even better than at tea time, says my mother, the cookies go just right with coffee for breakfast. Did you know Italians eat cookies for breakfast? They really know how to live, huh.

You'll have to take her word for it, dear readers, because after I made that batch of Paximathakia Portokaliou, I ate half of one to tell you about them, and then - uh - watched them all disappear. Quite literally. Poof! Paximathakia Portokaliou!, despite your imposing name, you were gone before I knew you.

Paximathakia Portokaliou
Makes about 4 to 5 dozen

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons pulp-free orange juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
3 1/2 cups (14.88 ounces) flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the orange juice.

3. To the orange juice, add the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, water, cinnamon and sesame seeds. Beat with the whisk attachment or using a hand mixer at medium speed until thoroughly combined, 3 to 5 minutes.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid in the mixing bowl slowly, using a dough hook or a wooden spoon. Then knead with your hands in the bowl until the dough holds together. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and soft, about 5 minutes, adding more flour as needed.

6. Divide the dough in half and knead again until it is dense and holds together lightly. Form each half into a loaf about 14 inches in length and one-half to three-fourths inch high and place on the cookie sheet. Using a floured knife, partially cut the dough into one-half inch slices (slice almost to the bottom but not all the way through each slice). Repeat with the remaining half of dough, forming a second log and leaving a few inches between each as the loaves will expand as they bake.

7. Bake the loaves until the bottom of each loaf is golden and the tops are just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 200 degrees. When the dough is cool enough to handle, cut the slices all the way through. Place them upright on the cookie sheet, leaving a little space between each cookie. Return to the oven and bake until very dry, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

8. Cool completely before storing in airtight containers or in the freezer.

Comments

[astheroshe]

WOW I have never heard of these.. Thanks for sharing!

[Jennifer Jo]

If I'm going to be chanting that catchy name, I first need to know how to PRONOUNCE it. (Though I guess that's not all together true because the little shrimps running around my feet aren't going to judge me one way or another---they still think I'm a god---and with a basket of these on hand, they'll think I'm a true-blue Greek goddess, despite any poor pronunciation skills on my part, right?)

[Jacqui]

I've never heard of a cookie like this before, they sound amazing! Do you know if there are any other flavor variations?

[The French @ crispytarts]

I can't pronounce it either. I sound a little ridiculous. This sounds crazy and I can't wait to try. I'm off sugar for another week, as I'd been way overdoing it and need to reset. But as soon as I'm finished, I'd love to try this! Thanks:)

[Vanessa]

You sure picked a tongue twister of a cookie! No, I didn't know Italians ate cookies for breakfast so that's another reason to take a trip there this autumn ;-) It must be wonderful having oil from your mother's harvest and I can only imagine how nice the apartment must smell with these in the oven. My hand mixer died a couple of weeks ago and somehow, I'm now into beating egg whites by hand; afterwards, my arm hurts like hell but I figure it's an alternative workout! Thanks for this and have a great weekend.

[Dinners and Dreams]

They're delicious. They remind me of biscotti which I make with sesame seeds too.

Nisrine

[FOODESSA]

Try repeating that tongue twister 10 times properly and I figure you'll have this wonderful recipe done by then;o)
I certainly envy you for the fresh backyard lemons. Of course not to forget that smooth olive oil of that quality can make a huge difference in the outcome! The rest of us will have to content ourselves with store-bought;) I've never made these type of cookies either. I will classify it temporarily until I learn how to pronounce the title.
Very interesting indeed.
Thanks for sharing and flavourful wishes, Claudia

[TheKitchenWitch]

Good Lord, that's a mouthful! I think rather than trying to pronounce them, I'll just eat them instead. They sound quite lovely.

[the purcells]

these look and sound so intriguing - we'll have to make them very soon!

[tasteofbeirut]

I made these (I am pretty sure that;s what they were) from a Greek site Kalofagas and they turned out great! Except I made them like long biscottis and stuffed them with cocoa nibs and cranberries!

[Molly @ molly's menu]

These look delicious, especially with the subtle combination of lemon, cinnamon and sesame seeds. This recipe is the perfect example of something one might discover during their travels to Greece, but otherwise would never know about. Thank you for introducing us all to it! They look like a welcome change to typical American confections.

[Elisabet Figueras]

Inspiring recipe, I'll love to try it.
Thank you very much!!

[Mrigaa]

This is beautiful! The wet ingredient(s) prep is really unusual! (Exclamation mark!)

I wonder if the no-electrical-appliances situation is something circumstantial that became something principled? I've been eying food processors for almost five years now and have yet to buy one -- not even a dinky immersion blender. I made some miserable mayonnaise with a fork the other day.

Glad you're faring better, Luisa!

[Kristin]

Um, lemons from your friend's back yard in Greece and olive oil from your mom's harvest....I'm just a tiny bit jealous. A little bit. :-)

[Rahel]

These look lovely, and with a vegan friend coming to visit next weekend, this might be just the dessert I was looking for!

[Sommer @ A Spicy Perspective]

What a unique name and presentation! I can't wait to make these. We NEVER pass up an opportunity to make cookies in our house!

[Molly]

Oh, goodness. I've already got a biscotti breakfast habit, but these might elbow out the current staple. Not that I could pronounce them before coffee, but hoot! could I have fun trying!

[The Leftoverist]

yum! Chalk another one up for creative constraints--some of the best things emerge when there aren't mixers around, for instance.

[Diana Pappas]

What a fabulous post!

Paximathakia Portokaliou! sound soooo good, and it's just the recipe I need while I'm in London visiting my boyfriend (where there isn't even a whisk in the kitchen, much less beaters or a food processor or a rolling pin or a mixing bowl). I can make this work. Mmmm...

Great writing by the way, I smiled the whole way through.

[Feeding the Saints (A. C. Parker)]

Love this! Paximadthia are a staple for me--both grandparents on my mother's side were from Greece--and you've done a lovely job with them, it seems. Yiasou to you!

[Heather]

i'll have to ask my greek boss how to pronounce this, but it looks interesting!

[littleclove]

I have never heard of this, but it sounds YUMMY!
I am not a big sweet eater, and this sounds like it is probably not too sweet.
MMMmm...and I'm craving those toasted sesame seeds now.

Lemons from Greece? WOW!

[Maddie]

I don't have too many electrical appliances in my kitchen either. So my cake frosting could always stand to be a little smoother, and I never make anything that calls for beaten egg whites, but on the upside: I get to enjoy creaming butter and sugar by hand! There's no simpler pleasure in the kitchen, in my opinion.

Thanks for offering a recipe that requires nothing besides the items listed as ingredients. :)

[Denise @ Chez Danisse]

I can't even begin to pronounce these, but they look fantastic!

[Katrina]

Whoa! This looks so yummy. I've been looking for a "bread-type" recipe just like this.

[Krista]

Ohhhh, I LOVE this, Luisa! I'm grinning because the name absolutely delights me too. :-) You did a splendid job - they're beautiful!!

[Maribel]

Interesting...kind of like the way biscotti is made. I'll have to try making these sometime. Thanks for sharing.

[Jana @ The Summer House]

I can't say it but I want to eat it!
Jana

[sasa]

This is like steamed bread of our hometown which we make before the the Spring Festival.

[Jennie]

I want to run into the kitchen right now and make these but it's only 6:00 am. They are going on my "to make" list. They look amazing and just what I need for my evening tea.

[Lexi]

Oh yum! These look amazing! I'm making them this weekend, for sure.

[tobias cooks!]

Nice to have a recipe on how to do Paximadi from scratch. Thanks!

[L*Joy]

at first I thought what a gorgeous sliced loaf of bread and then wait, cookies? read on. what, sesame seed cookies? Oh my I think it is genius.

[Laxmi]

This cookie is so tempting! Thanks for sharing.

[Naomi]

Has anyone tried to make these with a hint of cardamom? I find cardamom and orange to be a great flavor combination.

[Alicia]

Great easy cookie! Brought some into work and then froze the rest back.

Not sure I kneaded for as long as I should have (I am a Jim Lahey No Knead fan here so a little rusty with that) but a few days later they're still crumbly and tasty. The perfect combination of fall smells that's not overboard and headache inducing