Kourabiedes
Classic Greek Christmas cookies, also served at weddings and christenings. They are very tender cookies of butter whipped almost white, with toasted almonds, buried in a thick layer of icing sugar. They melt in the mouth and the sugar goes everywhere — that is part of the tradition. The secret is long whipping of the butter: 10 minutes in the mixer gives the cookies their characteristic lightness. They are baked in Cyprus too, and similar cookies are known in Turkey (kurabiye) and the Balkans.
Your own work in that: 1 h.
- Toasting the almonds 10 min
- Whipping the butter 10 min
- Dough 10 min
- Shaping 20 min
- Baking two trays 45 min
- Coating in sugar 20 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneToast the almonds
Toast the almonds in a dry pan 5–7 minutes until lightly golden. Cool and chop into small pieces.
Ingredients: 100 g blanched almonds · 250 g unsalted butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · 1 tbsp brandy or ouzo (optional) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 400 g plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder
Whip the butter white
Beat the soft butter with the icing sugar in a mixer 10 minutes, until almost white, fluffy and doubled in volume.
Ingredients: 100 g blanched almonds · 250 g unsalted butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · 1 tbsp brandy or ouzo (optional) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 400 g plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder
Ten minutes — the butter almost white.Add yolk and flavourings
Add the yolk, vanilla and brandy (if using) and beat another minute.
Ingredients: 100 g blanched almonds · 250 g unsalted butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · 1 tbsp brandy or ouzo (optional) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 400 g plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder
Fold in flour and almonds
Sift in the flour with the baking powder and stir in with a spoon along with the almonds, then bring together briefly by hand into a soft, non-sticky dough. Do not work it longer than needed.
Ingredients: 100 g blanched almonds · 250 g unsalted butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · 1 tbsp brandy or ouzo (optional) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 400 g plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder
Shape the cookies
Heat the oven to 170°C. Pinch off pieces of about 28 g and shape into balls or crescents. Set on two lined trays, 15 per tray, 3 cm apart — you will get about 30.
Ingredients: 100 g blanched almonds · 250 g unsalted butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · 1 tbsp brandy or ouzo (optional) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 400 g plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder
Crescents or balls — about 28 g each.Bake pale
Bake the trays one after the other, each 20–22 minutes, until the bases are lightly golden and the tops still pale — about 45 minutes in total. Keep the second tray somewhere cool meanwhile. Overbaked cookies lose their tenderness.
Ingredients: 100 g blanched almonds · 250 g unsalted butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · 1 tbsp brandy or ouzo (optional) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 400 g plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder
Sprinkle and coat in sugar
Cool the cookies on the tray 5 minutes — they are very fragile. Sprinkle lightly with rose water (if using), then roll them in icing sugar, or lay them on a plate and sift a thick layer of sugar over them.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp rose or orange blossom water (optional) · 150 g icing sugar
A thick coat of sugar — like snow.Cool completely
Leave the cookies to cool completely, about 15 minutes, and dust them once more with the rest of the icing sugar.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp rose or orange blossom water (optional) · 150 g icing sugar
Before you start
The butter
In Greece sheep's butter or clarified butter is often used. What matters most is soft butter, not melted — otherwise it will not whip up light.
Brandy
The alcohol largely evaporates in the oven. For a version without it, add a spoonful of orange juice.
Storage
Kourabiedes keep up to 3 weeks in an airtight tin, layered with icing sugar.
