Kourabiedes: The Perfect Greek Christmas Cookies!
If you spend your winter in Greece there is a very high chance that you will taste this delicious Christmas treat known as kourabie. Together with melomakarona, kourabiedes are one of the two sweets most related to the Greek winter holidays.
Join the My Cretan Recipe Facebook group.
If you still haven’t heard of them, kourabiedes are a crunchy kind of biscuit, shortbread style, simply made with just a few ingredients, including butter, flour, and roasted almonds.
We agree that they seem easy and plain, yet selected flavors of your choice, including orange juice or even a few drops of rose water, make a huge difference, and along with some of the other ingredients included in the kourabiedes recipe, they make the most delicious Christmas treat.
Covered in tons of icing sugar, kourabiedes resemble the snowy mountains of Greece. In other words, they are nothing but the perfect Christmas biscuit!
Origins of Kourabiedes Christmas Cookies
It all started many, many years ago when immigrants from Asia brought with them a delicacy very similar to what we now know as kourabiedes in Greece.
As often happens, the Greeks kept the tradition and made the recipe even better by adding some of the best local ingredients. All of them are still included in the most traditional kourabiedes recipes. Since then, and every winter, locals prepare kourabiedes during the holiday season.
Let’s Eat Kourabiedes All Year Round!
Friable and rich in flavor, it is no wonder that in many Greek regions, kourabiedes are actually prepared (and even bought) on many happy occasions, including Easter holidays, a wedding, or a christening celebration.
Kourabiedes are indeed better known for being winter sweets, especially popular around the Christmas holidays. As a matter of fact, many believe that the plenty of icing sugar that covers each cookie is supposed to represent the pure wish of happiness and abundance of blessings for the new year.
Origins of the Word Kourabie
As you probably remember, Greece has been, for many, really too many years, under the oppression of the Ottoman Empire.
Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise to discover that the word originally comes from Turkey. Kourabiedes (kourabie in singular) were originally known as kurabiye, a Turkish word made from two different words: kuru, meaning dry, and biye, which stands for biscuit.
In fact, being dry and crumbing are two of the most remarkable characteristics of this biscuit. Want to learn more? Check this article about the origin of kourabiedes.
Calorie Count
… Before embarking on a guilt trip, remember that you will probably eat kourabiedes only during Christmas, not the best moment in the year to start counting calories, right?
A medium-sized kourabie can contain from 130 to 200 calories, especially when it includes large chunks of almonds, which make the calorie count go up by a lot.
Click here to learn more about melomakarona
Remember that these biscuits are made with tons of butter, a source of saturated fat, less healthy than olive oil (monounsaturated and therefore healthier fat), the most common kind of fat used in the majority of Greek recipes.
However, as long as you keep a moderate intake of kourabiedes, you will also take in the excellent healthy properties of almonds. If you want to keep it more on the healthier side, get rid of some of the icing sugar to avoid some extra calories that you don’t need, as the biscuits are already super tasty.
Kourabiedes with Chocolate… What About That?
I have always had a preference for melomakarona and, especially, melomakarona dipped in dark chocolate.
However, it is fair to say that kourabiedes dipped in milk chocolate can be a fantastic alternative to chocolate melomakarona.
Kourabiedes Recipe
Kourabiedes Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 900 grams Flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 2 Egg yolks
- 500 grams Unsalted butter
- 220 grams Powdered sugar
- 14 grams Vanilla powder
- 30 grams Cognac or ouzo or use raki as we do in Crete
- 200-300 grams Unsalted almonds slightly roasted
- A pinch Salt
For the topping
- 200 ml Rose water (optional)
- 500 grams Powdered sugar (for coating)
Instructions
How to roast the almonds
- Preheat oven to 180°.
- Place the almonds in a tray and roast for about 8-10 minutes.
- When cool, chop in chunks, but do not chop too finely.
Making the Kourabiedes
- Mix baking powder, one of the dry vanillas, salt, and flour in a bowl and set aside.
- Begin by making the butter soft with a mixer for at least 10 minutes. Add sugar and keep mixing for another 7 minutes. The secret to great kourabiedes lies in this step. This mixture must be white and very fluffy.
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time.
- Remove the mix from the mixer and slowly add half of the flour mixture and the raki, ouzo, or cognac.
- Slowly add the rest of the flour carefully so as not to add too much at a time.
- The mixture should not be hard but light and airy, so perhaps you might not need to add all the flour mixture.
- Incorporate the almonds and once the mix has reached a firm consistency, shape them into small balls, or half-moon shapes, or any way you like!
- You can even use cookie cutters to give the cookies a fun holiday-themed shape.
- Place the cookies on a tray on top of waxed paper. Space them properly on the baking tray because they may double in size.
- Bake at 170° for 20 to 25 minutes.
- When you remove the kourabiedes from the oven, lightly sprinkle with rosewater (optional).
- Let them cool and sprinke with the powdered sugar mixed with the remaining vanilla powder.
Notes
- If stored properly in a covered container, they can last for weeks.
Pin for Later!
How to Make Greek Kourabiedes for Christmas
Gabi Ancarola
Gabi is a journalist, travel writer, and passionate storyteller who has called Crete home for over a decade. Through her blog Crete Insider, she has guided thousands of travelers in discovering the island’s most authentic experiences. Today, her love for Cretan gastronomy has become a mission: to bring Crete’s flavors into your kitchen and help you recreate what you tasted during your time in Greece.
>> Interested in learning to cook in Crete, or discovering all of the top spots to eat in Chania and around the island? Book a food tour or plan your trip with me.
