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Trigona panoramatos is a traditional sweet pastry originating from the outskirts of Thessaloniki. These crispy and buttery triangular (cone-shaped) phyllo pastries are typically soaked in syrup and filled with creamy custard. The custard is usually made with a combination of egg yolks, flour, butter, milk, sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream.
The phyllo triangles are baked until golden brown, dipped in cold syrup consisting of sugar and water, and then filled with the chilled custard. Trigona is often garnished with chopped nuts before consumption.
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Bougatsa is a traditional, rustic Greek pie consisting of a phyllo pastry layered with a filling of semolina custard, although there are variations with minced meat or cheese. The name of the dish is a derivation of the Ottoman word pogatsa, denoting a pie filled with cheese.
Bougatsa has origins from the Byzantine period, when Constantinople was Greek, and it began as a dough that was stuffed with numerous sweet and savory fillings. Over time, bougatsa evolved to incorporate a thinly rolled, hand-made phyllo pastry. As many Turkish immigrants settled in Northen Greece, bougatsa became a specialty of Serres and Thessaloniki.
MOST ICONIC Bougatsa
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Fouskakia are traditional Greek donuts or loukoumades that are prepared on the islands of Skopelos and Alonnisos, in the northwest Aegean Sea. The name of this specialty derives from the Greek word foúska, meaning a bubble, referring to the typically small spherical shape of the fluffy fried pieces of dough which resemble bubbles.
These donuts are typically made with a simple batter of flour, water, and yeast, and once deep-fried in oil, they’re usually eaten while still warm. Fouskakia are usually enjoyed drizzled with honey on top and sprinkled with cinnamon or nuts, although they can also be accompanied by scoops of ice cream on the side.
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This traditional Greek dessert consists of numerous phyllo sheets that are sprinkled with melted butter and coupled with a light semolina custard. When baked and well-chilled, the pastry is traditionally doused in the orange spiced, sugary syrup, allowing the layers to absorb the flavors and transform galaktoboureko into a soft, velvety treat.
This Greek classic is commonly found in pastry shops and traditional taverns across the country.
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These Greek pastries consist of two layers of yeasted dough. The dark-colored part is enriched with cocoa and cinnamon and is neatly wrapped with a layer of white, vanilla-flavored dough. Roxakia is then cut into bite-size pieces, and when baked, doused in a sweet syrup.
These pastries are best served well-chilled when they thoroughly soak up the syrup.
Hailing from the Greek island of Crete, kalitsounia or skalotsounia is a traditional, small-sized snack that comes in numerous different shapes and can be both savory and sweet. In its most traditional form, it combines an unleavened pastry and a filling that consists of fresh cow's milk cheese called mizithra.
Sweet varieties enrich the cheese with cinnamon and lemon zest, while the savory versions occasionally employ spinach. Though it is traditionally associated with Easter, nowadays it is enjoyed all year-round.
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Masourakia is a traditional dessert hailing from the island of Chios. It consists of buttered phyllo kroustas (thin Greek pastry) that's rolled around a filling of mastic-flavored ypovríchio (a Greek sweet, also known as submarine), ground almonds, egg whites, and mandarin or lemon zest.
The pastry rolls are baked until crispy and lightly browned, and they are then either dusted with powdered sugar or soaked in flavored syrup before being coated with nuts (usually ground almonds) and sprinkled with powdered sugar on top. These sweet, crispy rolled pastries are commonly prepared for Christmas.
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This internationally known, decadent, and sugar-packed dessert is usually made with a mixture of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt, which is deep-fried and then bathed in syrup or honey. The origin of lokma fritters is ancient but often debated. It is presumed that they first appeared in Greece or Turkey, though some suggest Arabic origin.
The dish is considered to be one of the oldest recorded desserts in Greek history. It is said that the pastries were even given to winning Olympians as a treat and were called honey tokens. Loukoumades, or loukmades in Cyprus, can be found throughout the streets of Greece, in shops selling nothing else but this caloric dessert.
VARIATIONS OF Loukoumades
MOST ICONIC Loukoumades
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Hamalia are a traditional sweet treat from the island of Skopelos in Greece. They are almond-based pastries, similar to marzipan, and are often made to celebrate special occasions such as weddings or festivals. The main ingredients of hamalia include crushed almonds, sugar, and rosewater, which gives them a delicate flavor and aroma.
The mixture is formed into small, crescent-shaped or oval pieces and sometimes dusted with powdered sugar before serving.
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Pitarakia is a specialty of Milos island, consisting of small half-moon-shaped pastries filled with cheese. The pastry dough is typically made with flour, olive oil, onions, herbs, salt, and lukewarm water, while the filling may be as simple as crumbled local cheese (such as feta or manoura) mixed with freshly ground pepper.
Other variations of the cheese filling include a mixture of local mizithra cheese, eggs, spearmint, and salt, or a combination of finely chopped red onions with dry Melian cheese. There’s also a sweet version of the pastry which uses a filling of mizithra cheese, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 13 Greek Sweet Pastries” list until March 21, 2025, 1,822 ratings were recorded, of which 929 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.