Kourabiedes by Parliaros

ByIvy Liacopoulou
26 Comments
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These Kourabiedes by Parliaros are Greek Christmas cookies, similar to shortbread cookies which are flavoured with rum and real vanilla pod and filled with toasted almonds and pistachios.

There are many recipes for kourabiedes but the main ingredient which gives this traditional Greek cookie its taste is the Greek ewe's and goat milk butter.

However, if you cannot find Greek sheep's butter you can also make them with any other butter you usually use.

I have made kourabiedes quite different this year after watching a Greek cooking show by Stelios Parliaros, a famous Greek pastry chef.

I mixed in some pistachios as well and used real vanilla pod, added rum and they were fantastic.    If you want a more traditional recipe, see my last year's post here.

The only difference I made to his recipe was to use a vanilla pod and add pistachios in half of them.

To make these cookies, I start by roasting the almonds (with skin on) and the pistachios so that they cool before using them.  You can roast them ahead but I usually do this when preheating the oven.

I roasted them separately in two tins as pistachios need about 8 minutes and the almonds around 15 minutes, stirring them a couple of times.

roasting nuts image

I used the Paddle Beater Attachment and I beat the butter with icing sugar for almost half an hour, until the mixture was light and fluffy.

Paddle Beater Attachment FOR KENWOOD CHEF Mixer images

The traditional flavour for kourabiedes is vanilla.  To flavour them, I used a real vanilla bean.  Vanilla beans are quite expensive, so feel free to substitute them with either vanillin or vanilla essence.

How to use a vanilla bean

To cut open the vanilla bean, use the tip of a sharp knife and cut along the bean.

Using the knife to scrape the seeds and this is what to use.

The seeds of one vanilla bean are equivallent to about 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract, depening of the size of the bean.

Once split open, the seeds must be used, as these cannot be stored.  However, if a recipe calls for one teaspoon of vanilla extract, just cut ⅓ of the bean and then split open just this piece.

Wrap the remaining piece in cling film and store in the refrigerator.

Do not discard the used part.  You can put it in a jar and fill it with sugar.  Leave it there for about a month so that the sugar is flavoured and then use this sugar in your desserts.

scraping vanilla bean image

Next step is to combine all the dry ingredients.  Put the flour in a bowl and add the baking powder, salt and vanilla seeds and mix.

Lower mixer speed and then add the flour mixture until incorporated.

Captain Morgan's rum image

Usually an alcoholic drink is added to kourabiedes.  Parliaros chose to use rum, which I happened to have at home.  The traditional alcohol used is brandy or you can use any other liqueur.

cookie dough image

After the addition of the rum, stop the mixture to check the cookie dough.  Test it with your fingers.  It should be a soft dough which does not stick to your fingers.

When the nuts cool, coarsely pound them with a pestle and mortar or in a food processor.  You can mix them all in the mixture if you like but I prefered to use them separately to make two different kinds.

collage cookie dough with nuts image

I divided the dough in two parts and in most of the dough I added the almonds and in the remaining the pistachios.

To distinguish them, I made the ones with the almonds round and baked them on a baking tin lined with parchment paper.

Round kourabiedes with almonds

The ones with the pistachios I gave them a crescent shape, which is more traditional.

Crescent shaped kourabiedes with pistachios image

Be careful not to make them too big as they will expand when baked.  Make them about the size of a walnut and space them  3 - 4 cm (about an inch or more) apart.

collage baked kourabiedes

Bake them for 20 - 30 minutes, depending on their size and your oven.

Let them cool and turn them oven.  Sieve some icing sugar and them turn them over.  Sieve more sugar on top and place them in a platter.

Sieving icing sugar image

Leftover icing sugar can be reused by sieving it again.

Kourabiedes image

Wishing you all Happy Holidays!

Kourabiedes by Parliaros image

Kourabiedes by Parliaros

Yield: 40
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

These Kourabiedes by Parliaros are Greek Christmas cookies, similar to shortbread cookies which are flavoured with real vanilla pod, filled with toasted almonds and pistachios and when baked they are coated in icing sugar.

4.8 Stars (4 Reviews)

Ingredients

  • 300 grams Greek Ewe's and Goat milk butter
  • 110 grams icing sugar
  • ⅓ vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 30 ml black rum
  • 600 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • A pinch of salt
  • 100 grams almonds with the skin on, roasted
  • 40 grams pistachios, roasted
  • 200 grams icing sugar, for coating them

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius and toast the pistachios for 8 minutes and the almonds for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool and coarsely pound them.
  2. Attach the paddle beater to your mixer and beat the butter and sugar on high speed, until light and fluffy.
  3. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla seeds. Lower mixer speed and add the dry ingredients, mixing until incorporated.
  4. Add the rum and mix for another minute until it is absorbed.
  5. Finally add the nuts and mix again.
  6. Line a baking tin with parchment paper and shape kourabiedes in whatever shape you like. 
  7. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, depending on your oven.
  8. Let them cool and turn them over. Sieve some icing sugar to coat them and turn them over. Sieve some more sugar on top.
  9. Put them in a platter and sieve the leftover sugar on top.
  10. Store them in an airtight container to keep them crunchy.
Nutrition Information
Yield 40 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 115Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 2mgSodium 39mgCarbohydrates 20gFiber 1gSugar 8gProtein 3g

"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."

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© Ivy Liacopoulou
Cuisine: Greek Cuisine / Category: Cookies

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26 Comments

  1. That's roughly the same recipe as my Mama, except that she doesn't use vanilla nor pistachios, and uses Metaxa instead of rum.
    We tried chocolateκOυραμπιέδεÏ‚ last year and tried doing them for the first time yesterday. They turned out pretty good!

  2. As I said there are many recipes for kourabiedes and the ones I made last year are like the ones your mum makes. In Greece they never make chocolate kourabiedes or melomakarona but after the holidays when the confectioners or bakeries have leftovers then it's the time your see them covered with chocolate. I was thinking of making some of both with my leftovers.

  3. Yes, I know there are probably as manyκOυραμπιέδεÏ‚ recipes as people making them.
    But what I meant was that those we tried last year were not covered in chocolate. It was regularκOυραμπιέδεÏ‚, except that the baker had added either melted chocolate or cocoa powder, and then they were rolled in a mix of icing sugar and cocoa powder (her friend had bought them from a pastry shop in ΜαρOύσι called Αγαπητός).
    The chocolateκOυραμπιέδεÏ‚ we did this year was a recipe from my great-grandmother, who was Greek from Turkey,and they're not covered in chocolate either.
    Anyway, thanks for the recipe.

  6. Ivy, I would love to get a hold of some sheep's butter...how very authentic.

    Kourabiedes complete the Greek Christmas and I do like very much your addition of "fistikia".

  8. The pistachios sound good and definetly would win me over! I love how there are so many recipes for these...I have some serious catching up to do!

  9. First of all I have to say excellent photos sis. On the Food Network I watched Paula Deen make these cookies. Of course they were called something else but the ingredients (minus the sheeps butter) were the same. Funny how traditions are made.

  10. I really like the idea of the pistachios - your cookies are beyond fabulous. So when I get to Greece (hopefully in this lifetime), these will be waiting for me....right?

  11. I love any kind of wedding cookies and these sound delicious! I love that you add rum! That must give them a very unique taste.

    Happy Holidays my friend!

  12. Ivy, those cookies look very festive and well, wintery..as in covered with snow 🙂

    Merry Christmas to you and your family and a very happy new year 🙂

  13. I LOVE kourambiedes and with pistachios they are so tasty! I didn't get a chance to make any this year with all the other goodies, but I will have a lot waiting for me when I visit family tomorrow. Kala Xristougena, Ivy! (you'll have to forgive my "Greeklish" 🙂

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