Flaounes are the Cypriot Easter cheese-filled pastries — square yeasted buns filled with a mixture of halloumi, anari, and eggs, scented with the unmistakable Cypriot spices mastic and mahlep. Made once a year, in the days before Orthodox Easter, they are the dish that breaks the Lenten fast, the most eagerly awaited food of the Cypriot calendar.
Flaounes are the Easter pastry of Cyprus, made in the days before Orthodox Easter to break the 40-day Lenten fast. They are uniquely Cypriot — the use of mastic (masticha, the resin of the mastic tree grown on the Greek island of Chios) and mahlep (ground cherry pits) is the unmistakable Cypriot signature. The filling is a mix of halloumi (the Cypriot cheese), anari (a fresh whey cheese), and eggs, bound and risen with baking powder and a special rising agent called 'flaounes yeast'. Families gather on Good Friday to make dozens of flaounes; they are eaten on Easter Sunday and given to visitors. The recipe is a point of family pride.
A square, golden-brown pastry, the crust yeast-raised and tender, scented with the warm, faintly resinous aroma of mastic and mahlep. Inside, a dense, savory, cheesy filling — salty halloumi, fresh anari, the richness of egg. Eat it warm, on Easter morning, after the long fast. It is the most distinctive pastry in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The dough is yeasted (with a long rise), enriched with butter, milk, and eggs, and scented with mastic (ground from resin tears) and mahlep (ground cherry pits) — both must be ground fresh and used sparingly (too much makes the dough bitter). The filling is made the day before and chilled (it firms up, making the pastries easier to fill). The pastries are shaped into squares, the edges folded up but left open at the top, glazed with egg and sprinkled with sesame. They are baked hot, then eaten warm or at room temperature for days.
Variations
Some add raisins or sultanas to the filling; some add mint; the cheese ratio varies; some are sweeter, some more savory.
On the Palate
Where Flaounes sits in the Cypriot flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour 30 min active + 1 hour 30 min waiting
- 110 min
Make dough: dissolve 1 tbsp active dry yeast in 200 ml warm milk with 1 tsp sugar; rest 10 minutes.
- 28 min
Mix 600 g flour, 1 tsp ground mastic, 1 tsp ground mahlep, 1/2 tsp salt, 100 g melted butter, 2 eggs, and the yeast mixture; knead smooth; rise 1.5 hours.
Watch outUse the ground mastic and mahlep with a light hand — both go bitter fast, and too much turns the whole dough medicinal.
- 390 min
Make filling (a day ahead): grate 500 g halloumi and 200 g anari; mix with 3 eggs, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground mastic, 1 tsp ground mahlep, and a handful of mint; chill.
Watch outMake the filling a day ahead and chill it firm — cold, set cheese filling holds its shape in the open-topped pockets instead of slumping out.
- 48 min
Punch down the dough; roll to 5 mm; cut into 12-cm squares.
- 510 min
Place 2 tbsp filling in the center of each square; fold the corners up to form a square pocket, leaving the top open.
- 630 min
Place on a lined tray; rest 30 minutes.
- 73 min
Brush with beaten egg; sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- 825 min
Bake at 200°C for 25 minutes until deep gold.
Watch outBake to a deep gold — pale flaounes are underbaked and the eggy cheese filling stays raw and wet in the middle.
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