Stafidota Ierapetras (Σταφιδωτά Ιεράπετρας)

Stafidota Ierapetras are the raisin cookies of Ierapetra in Lasithi, Crete: soft olive-oil pastry folded over a dark filling of raisins, walnuts, sesame, orange, and cinnamon. They are not syrup sweets. They are not little cakes. They are the kind of cookie that waits on the tray and tastes even better after a day.

The whole cookie depends on the seal. The raisin filling must be chopped into a sticky paste, then the dough is folded thinly around it and pressed closed without flour in the seam. If the edge opens, the raisins dry. Seal it properly and the filling stays juicy, which is exactly what makes this Ierapetra sweet itself.

The dough is nistisimo, made with olive oil, orange juice, and a little tsikoudia, no butter and no eggs. I keep the sweetness modest because the raisin does the work. A recipe written down is a recipe saved, and this one deserves the plain numbers that let a first tray come out like it belongs on a Cretan table.