It takes a lot of dough to raise a lot of dough.

That is why volunteers at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation baked 8,000 cookies, 40 pans of pastry, 100 pans of cheese pie and 225 pans of spinach pie for the third annual Yiayia’s Greek Bake Sale.

“‘Yiayia’ is ‘grandmother’ in Greek,” event spokeswoman Frances Galifianakis said. “These are recipes that are handed down from generation to generation. They’re grandmothers’ recipes.”

Through the modern convenience of online ordering and good old-fashioned walk-in sales March 29, the volunteers hope to beat last year’s fundraising total of $13,000 for parish ministries.

“Some of the money will go to outside charities through different ministries,” said event chair Cindy Stanton. “It’s all for a good cause.”

Easter entertaining may be all the cause shoppers need, although Galifianakis said no holiday is required to indulge in the homemade delicacies.

“They can be eaten any time of the year,” she said.

Galifianakis helped a team of 30 volunteers make spinach pie, called spanakopita, which will be sold in eight-piece batches.

Galifianakis also baked kourabiedes, a staple at Greek wedding receptions.

“It’s a melt-in-your-mouth butter cookie,” she said.

It is also Stanton’s favorite.

“I make it at home, but in much smaller quantity,” Stanton said. “People’s recipes vary. Some people put brandy in it, some put in orange juice. We put in brandy and vanilla.”

What to add and leave out are lessons she learned in her three years with the bake sale, two as chair.

“We do a basic recipe at the church to keep it as simple as we can,” she said. “We weigh the dough. That has helped a lot to keep everything uniform.”

Calling the bake sale “a well-oiled machine,” Stanton said her volunteers step up to the plate.

"These women are workhorses. We put out 6,000 koulourakia in one day," she said. "That's a lot of cookies."

Information: (404) 633-5870 or www.atlgoc.org