Best Grandma Sylvias Greek Kourabiedes Cookies Recipes

KOURABIEDES - GREEK CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper
• Add butter and 1 cup powdered sugar to bowl of electric mixer. Beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment until very light and fluffy (about 15-20 minutes).
• Add egg yolk, brandy, and vanilla. Beat until well incorporated.
• Add roasted almonds beat until mixed in.
• Sift flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Gradually add flour to butter mixture until a dough forms.
• Roll the dough into 2 tablespoon-size balls, or roll out dough and cut into crescents, stars, or whatever shape you like.
• Place cookies on prepared baking pan and bake 20-25 minutes until light golden, rotating pan half way.
• Use a sieve to evenly spread about half of the powdered sugar in a large deep baking pan. Once cookies are out of the oven, spray with blossom water. Then, carefully place each cookie in powdered sugar lined pan. Cover cookies with remaining powdered sugar.
• Cool completely and transfer to serving platter.
• Enjoy!

KOURABIEDES: GREEK CHRISTMAS BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees F (180 Celsius)
• In a large bowl whip the butter until white and fluffy. Add the ½ cup powdered sugar gradually. Continue mixing and add the egg yolk and the cognac or ouzo. In another bowl sift flour and mix well with the baking powder, add the chopped almonds. Add the flour mixture to the butter and mix. Knead for a few minutes and if needed add a bit more flour. This dough will be a bit sticky. Put the dough in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove from the refrigerator and make small round shapes about the size of a walnut and flatten a bit with your fingers. Another common shape is the crescent. My 3-year-old son also made some in the shape of a star using a cookie cutter.
• Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Be careful not to over bake otherwise these cookies will be hard instead of having a melt-in-your-mouth quality.
• Once you remove them from the oven sprinkle with some rose water or substitute.
• Fill shallow bowl with the rest of the powdered sugar (4 cups), dip each kourabie in the sugar mixture making sure they are well covered with sugar, place on a large platter. Once you have 1 layer of kourabiedes on the platter, sift powdered sugar over the kourabiedes, continue the same process with the next layer, layering until you have small pyramid.

KOURABIEDES (GREEK BUTTER COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, beat butter and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar until blended. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour and baking powder; gradually stir into butter mixture until blended (mixture will be crumbly). , Shape heaping tablespoons of dough into crescents. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool 15 minutes., Place remaining sugar in a small bowl. Toss slightly cooled cookies in sugar; return cookies to wire rack to cool completely. , Toss cookies in sugar once more before serving. Store in an airtight container, adding any remaining confectioners' sugar to cover cookies.

GRANDMA SYLVIA'S GREEK KOURABIEDES COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Toast walnuts golden brown. Grind half of the nuts and chop small the other half. (now days you can use a food processor for this). Place in large bowl.
• 2. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder in bowl with the nuts. Set aside.
• 3. In separate bowl: beat the egg yolk,honey, orange juice, orange zest and brandy. Mix well. Add butter and powdered sugar and beat until creamy and fluffy (8 - 12 minutes) on high speed with mixer.
• 4. On medium - low speed: slowly add the flour/nut mixture to the egg/juice mixture. This will make a crumbly dough. Set this aside (covered), for 1 hour.
• 5. Pinch a piece of dough the size of a teaspoon. Roll between palms into a ball, football shape, "S" shape or crescent shape, your choice.
• 6. Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes (depending on your oven) until the bottoms are a light golden brown and cookies are set.
• 7. Remove cookies to a wax paper lined surface that has been sprinkled with sifted powdered sugar. Immediately sift powdered sugar over the cookies (generously). Repeat until all cookies are done. Cool completely before storing.
• 8. Store in airtight container for a week (now days we use zipper bags). These can also be frozen for months, but they need to be completely thawed and re-sprinkled with powdered sugar to "refresh" them.