Sifnos Recipe
Amygdalota
Soft almond cookies dusted in icing sugar — the most famous sweet on the island.
Cooking time
45 minutes
Serves
20 cookies
Sifnos amygdalota are softer and chewier than the harder Hydra version. Made from ground almonds, sugar and rose water, they sit somewhere between a macaron and a marzipan, and every bakery has a slightly different family recipe.
Amygdalota matters in Sifnos because it connects local ingredients with the island's pottery tradition and long, social mealtimes. Sifnos amygdalota are softer and chewier than the harder Hydra version. Made from ground almonds, sugar and rose water, they sit somewhere between a macaron and a marzipan, and every bakery has a slightly different family recipe. That makes this page more than a shared recipe shell: it documents the actual cultural role of the dish, how long it takes, what ingredients define it, and where visitors can taste it on the island.
With a cooking time of 45 minutes and a yield of 20 cookies, Amygdalota is usually made for a table rather than a single plate. On Sifnos it appears with bread, wine, sharp cheese, capers, or simple salads, depending on the dish and the season.
Ingredients
- •500g ground almonds
- •300g caster sugar
- •2 egg whites
- •1 tbsp rose water
- •Whole almonds for decoration
- •Icing sugar to dust
Preparation
- 1.Mix ground almonds and sugar in a bowl.
- 2.Whisk egg whites to soft peaks; fold into the almond mix with rose water.
- 3.Shape the dough into small pear shapes; press a whole almond on top.
- 4.Bake at 160°C for 15–18 minutes — they should stay pale.
- 5.Cool, then dust generously with icing sugar.
Where to try it
Theodorou bakery, Apollonia.
If you want to compare the home-cooked version with a restaurant interpretation, order it in the village or taverna named here and then revisit the ingredient list above. That context is what makes these pages useful for travellers and cooks alike.
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