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Kalitsounia: Sweet Cretan Cheese Pie
4.9 from 366 votes

Kalitsounia: Sweet Cretan Cheese Pie

Kalitsounia are small sweet cheese pies from Crete made with a soft dough and filled with a mixture of Greek feta and mizithra cheeses combined with egg, sugar, honey, cinnamon, and a hint of crushed mastic. The pies are shaped by pleating the edges after spooning the filling onto dough circles, then baked until golden and finished with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Their tender, lightly sweet crust complements the rich, creamy, and subtly spiced filling, making them a traditional treat often enjoyed as a dessert or snack.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Additional Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 50 mins
Servings: 17 pieces
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Greek

Ingredients

For the dough:
  • 450 g flour soft
  • 40 g granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg medium
  • 185 ml milk full fat
  • 60 ml sunflower oil
  • 1 egg diluted with a little water, for egg wash, yolk
  • ground cinnamon for sprinkling
For the filling:
  • 180 g feta cheese crumbled, Greek
  • 180 g mizithra cheese grated, sweet, Greek
  • 1 egg medium
  • 30 g granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp mastic crushed

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat oven to 180° C/ 356° F, fan.
For the dough:
  1. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, egg, milk and sunflower oil in a mixer bowl. Beat on high speed with the whisk attachment until you create a smooth, soft dough. When ready, remove the dough and wrap in cellophane. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
For the filling:
  1. Place all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
  2. When the dough is ready, dust a clean work surface with flour. Roll the dough out to about 0.3 cm (1/8 inch) thick.
  3. Using a 10 cm (4-inch) round dough cutter or a glass, cut the dough into circles.
  4. Add 1 ½ teaspoons of filling in the center of each circle of dough and pinch the border to create pleats. When ready, transfer to a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
  5. Brush the pies with the egg wash and bake for 20 minutes.
  6. When ready, allow the kalitsounia to cool for 5-10 minutes, then sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.

Notes