119Kourabiedes

Method

Traditional festive almond shortbread. Makes roughly 30 biscuits; serve piled high in a dramatic white pyramid.

You will need

• stand mixer
• baking sheets
• baking parchment
• fine sieve
• clean spray bottle or brush

1. Toast the 120g almonds in a dry pan or 160°C oven for 8 minutes until fragrant, let cool completely, and chop coarsely. 10 min · 160°C / 320°F Ready when: almonds are lightly browned and aromatic
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the 300g softened butter on high speed for 15 to 20 minutes until it turns pale ivory and fluffy. 20 min Ready when: butter appears white and whipped like cream
3. Add 100g icing sugar, vanilla extract, and brandy to the butter, and beat for another 5 minutes until fully integrated. 5 min Ready when: fluffy and light sugar-butter cream
4. Preheat a conventional oven to 170°C (340°F) and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. 2 min · 170°C / 340°F
5. Fold the chopped almonds into the butter mixture, then gradually incorporate the sifted flour and baking powder using a spatula or hands, mixing very gently until a tender, non-sticky dough forms. 3 min Ready when: soft dough that holds its shape when pressed
6. Form small balls of dough (about 25g each), shape them into crescents or rounds, make a tiny thumb indent in the centre of each so they bake evenly, and arrange on the trays. 15 min Ready when: evenly spaced biscuits on trays
7. Bake at 170°C (340°F) for 18 to 20 minutes until set and pale underneath, being careful not to let them brown on top. 20 min · 170°C / 340°F Ready when: dry to the touch and very pale cream on top
8. Let rest on the tray for 5 minutes, lightly mist with rosewater, then coat generously in a deep bowl of sifted icing sugar and let cool completely before adding a second final dusting. 15 min Ready when: biscuits are thickly shrouded in snow-white sugar

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Make ahead and storing

Can be baked weeks ahead; they store exceptionally well.

Store in an airtight tin at cool room temperature for up to 1 month.

Substitutions

• orange blossom water for rosewater. Provides a floral citrus note instead of rose.

Common mistakes

• Rushing the initial butter beating. Beating for less than 15 minutes prevents aeration, resulting in hard biscuits instead of melt-in-the-mouth texture.
• Handling them while scalding hot. They have zero structural gluten and will crumble into dust if moved straight out of the oven.

Regional variants

• In Kavala, kourabiedes are traditionally shaped into flattened discs with a whole toasted almond pressed in the centre.
• In Cycladic islands, sheep butter is preferred for a distinctive pungent aroma.

About the dish

Kourabiedes are melt-in-the-mouth shortbread biscuits laden with toasted almonds and buried under a snow drift of icing sugar. Though traditionally shared across Greece at Christmas, their pure white coating also makes them customary at weddings, christenings, and name-day celebrations. The hallmark of an authentic kourabies is clarified or well-whipped cultured sheep's or goat's butter (or fine cow's butter), beaten for at least twenty minutes until pale and airy. They are lightly scented with rosewater or blossom water immediately upon leaving the oven before being smothered in sugar.

Found in all of Greece. Cooked for christmas, new year, wedding.

Cousins elsewhere

• Kurabiye (Turkish). Derived from the same root word, covering a wider range of crumbly butter shortbreads.
• Ghorayeba (Levantine). Delicate, pale butter shortbread melts in the mouth, often garnished with an almond or pine nut.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

196 kcal · protein 2.5 g · fat 10.4 g (saturated 5.3 g) · carbohydrate 23.9 g (sugars 11.6 g) · fibre 0.8 g · sodium 10 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Traditional bakery method focused on extended whipping of butter to create the melt-away crumb..