Melt in your mouth Kourabiedes
These melt in your mouth kourabiedes (Kourabies (pl. kourabiedes, pronounced kou-rah-bee-EH-thez), as most of you, who follow my blog, must know by now, are the Greek shortbread cookies made during Christmas.
In the older times, before the use of the mixer, these cookies needed elaborate preparation and that was done by hand, so these were made for special occasions such as weddings, christenings and other celebrations.
Traditionally they were flavoured with rose water or blossom water. Local butter, usually ewe's and/or ewe's and goat butter is used and roasted almonds are sometimes added.
They are then formed into round or crescent cookies which, after baking, are then coated with confectioners' sugar.
Through the centuries, other flavorings have been added in lieu of, or in combination with, rose or blossom water, such as lemon zest, orange zest, vanilla, etc.
Liquor such as Metaxa brandy, Greek mastiha, or ouzo are sometimes added to kourabiedes.
After the cookies are removed from the oven and slightly cooled, blossom or rose water may be sprinkled on the cookies before dusting with sugar to help the coating to stick, although this method seems not be used any more.
We continue to do this in Cyprus for Loukoumia tou Gamou, our Wedding cookies.
Modern versions of kourabiedes now include other non traditional ingredients as well.
I have been making kourabiedes for many years and a very significant factor to have tasty kourabiedes lies mainly in the quality of butter used.
This year I made them with a butter I never used before and quite frankly I was really afraid what the outcome would be.
I asked my husband to bring sheep's butter and instead he brought a Cretan butter called Stakovoutyro, made of sheep's and goat milk.
Staka is the fresh cream skimmed off the top of milk and Stakovoutyro is the buttercream (like clotted cream) made by cooking staka.
I know that all Cretan products are delicious but I didn't know if I could use this butter to make kourabiedes. On the back of the jar it said suitable for cooking and for desserts, so I risked making them and the result was fabulous.
If you cannot find ewe's or goat milk butter these can also be made with regular butter, although they will lack the characteristic taste, they will still be delicious.
They were perfect in taste and each bite they melted in your mouth, making you want to eat more and more.
You can get the recipe by downloading my free e-book just by subscribing to my blog.
This recipe also goes to Rosa, of Rosa's Yummy Yums, for her even Pastries For Peace.
This recipe also goes to Susan of Food Blogga for her event Eat Christmas Cookies, Season 3
This recipe goes to Cinzia of Cindystar, for her event Baking under the Christmas Tree.
This and many more recipes are included in my cookbook «Mint, Cinnamon & Blossom Water, Flavours of Cyprus, Kopiaste!»
You can find many more Greek recipes in my cookbooks «More Than A Greek Salad», and «Mint, Cinnamon & Blossom Water, Flavours of Cyprus, Kopiaste!» both available on all Amazon stores. Read more here.
Melt in your mouth Kourabiedes
Kourabies (pl. kourabiedes) are the Greek shortbread cookies made during Christmas. In the older times, before the use of the mixer, these cookies needed elaborate preparation and that was done by hand, so these were made for special occasions such as weddings, christenings and other celebrations.
Ingredients
- 150 grams (5.29 oz) blanched and roasted almonds
- 375 grams (13.3 oz) ewe's and goat milk butter, at room temperature
- 125 grams (4.4 oz) icing sugar
- 600 - 650 grams (21.16 - 22.9oz.) all-purpose flour
- 1 shot (30 grams - 1 oz) mastic liqueur, ouzo, brandy or rum
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- A pinch of salt
- 300 grams (10.50 oz.) icing sugar, for coating
Instructions
- Blanche and roast the almonds in a preheated oven to 180o C / 350o F, for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool and then coarsely cut them with a knife or in the food processor into small pieces.
- Sieve the flour and then sieve the icing sugar, separately.
- Beat the butter with the icing sugar at low speed until incorporated and then beat at high speed for ten minutes until it becomes white and fluffy. Add the liqueur (or ouzo, brandy or rum) and vanilla.
- Stop the mixer and change the paddle to the hook or the K beater.
- Add two thirds of the flour as well as the salt and mix.
- Stop the mixer, add the almonds and continue mixing by hand, adding the remaining flour gradually until the dough is soft but not sticky on the hands.
- You can manually shape them into crescents or round balls or remove the dough on a non-stick working surface or on parchment paper and flatten the dough about 1 cm.
- Cut with a cookie cutter and place on a baking tin lined with parchment paper, spaced apart.
- Bake in a preheated oven to 180o C / 350o F, for about 16 minutes, depending on your oven. If you are making them into balls, weigh the dough to be 30 grams each and bake them for about 18 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes.
- Spray them with blossom water then turn them over and do the same.
- Using a sieve, sprinkle some icing sugar and then turn them again. Continue sieving until they are coated and then place them in a platter.
Notes
Baking time:
- For those which are 30 grams each about, 18 minutes.
- The icing sugar used may be sieved and used again.
For those which are 25 grams each about, 16 minutes.
For those which are 20 grams each about, 14 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Yield 40 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 138Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 2mgSodium 26mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 1gSugar 12gProtein 3g
"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."
Christmas Desserts
Looking for inspiration for this Christmas?
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Diples
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Melomakarona with Chocolate
Melomakarona are spicy Christmas olive oil and semolina cookies drenched in a honey syrup and sprinkled with walnuts on top.
Mandarin Melomakarona
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Traditional Greek Baklavas
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Christmas Chocolate Carob Yule Log (Bûche de Noël)
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Vanillekipferl (Christmas Almond Crescent Cookies)
Vanillekipferl are cookies which originate from Austria and can be found in many other countries such as Germany, Hungary and otheer Eastern European counties.
Chocolate Kourabiedes
These chocolate kourabiedes are made with buffalo milk butter and cocoa powder and filled with dark chocolate and orange preserve.
Easy Chocolate Truffles from Christmas Leftovers
These truffles are an ingenious way to use up leftover kourabiedes, melomakarona, Christmas Cake, or Cookies.
Melomakarona with Pecans
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These kourabiedes are adapted from the famous Greek pastry chef, Stelios Parliaros.
Aromatic Greek Kourabiedes
These aromatic Kourabiedes (Greek Christmas cookies) are flavoured with vanilla and citrus blossom water.
Melt in your mouth Kourabiedes
Kourabies (pl. kourabiedes) are the Greek shortbread cookies made during Christmas. In the older times, before the use of the mixer, these cookies needed elaborate preparation and that was done by hand, so these were made for special occasions such as weddings, christenings and other celebrations.
Black Lava Orange Gateau, A gourmet dessert made out of leftovers
This Black Lava Orange Gateau, is easy to make and was made out of leftover Christmas Cookies. Everyboday gets fed up of eating the same cookies for many days, so I decided to use my leftovers and make a new dessert which we enjoyed after the holidays!
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Panettone with a Twist of Greek Flavours
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Learn tips for dough handling, fermentation, and enriched bread techniques.
Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to you all!!
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Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
Love the stars! Stakovoutyro sounds quite interesting! Love them Ivy!
They look delightful! Nice tree and decorations!
Cheers,
Rosa
Cookies look beautifully baked. Right in time for the festive season.
These are so pretty Ivy! And I bet they are just heavenly tasting!
Wow..first time I made Kourabiedes was 5 years ago??? My family loves them so much as they never ate Greek version. In my country, the Malays will made something similar called Kuih Makmur with pounded peanuts & sugar inside, then moulded into any shapes you want but most of the time, it's rounded or oval shaped. 🙂 You can compared the recipe with Kourabiedes ..it's quite similar! 🙂
Wow, your kourabiedes look phenomenal. I am definitely making these. Great idea of making them with a cookie cutter.
I have silently been reading your beautiful blog for a while and would like to thank you for all these lovely recipes you are sharing with us! I love Greek food and have made several of your recipes which were fantastic. I am definitely making these.
I love these and the addition of the mastic liquor sounds lovely.
Just in case you haven't heard, your photos are enticing!! Have a great day Ivy 🙂
These look lovely Ivy, and your angel is so pretty.
O your tree looks lovely Ivy ... makes me miss Christmas back home ... not the same at all here! The cookies look great ... I am sure taste great too! I think I will do this one with my daughter tis the season for cookies of course! Merry Christmas!
Je vais tester tous tes gâteaux de Noël. Ils me plaisent tous.
A bientôt.
Those cookies look wonderful!!!Great pictures.
I love the first picture, so Christmasy! I love the twist you gave these cookies this time. I need to start baking my cookies soon.
Love the idea it is fully covered with icing suagr which gives a real christmas feeling to it.
They are so beautiful.
I have never know you could have butter mixed with sheeps milk and goats milk.
Thanks everybody for the lovely comments. I've been very busy these days (like everybody else) and have only some hours in evening to post and hope to be visiting all of you soon.