Kourabiethes or kourabiedes, Greek Christmas cookies

These powdered sugar-topped butter cookies are like a sweet Greek shortbread, with chopped roasted almonds giving them a special crunch!

Ingredients to make Kourabiethes

2 cups butter, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup blanched almonds, roasted & chopped

4-5 cups all-purpose flour

Topping for Kourabiethes

1-2 cups powdered sugar

How to make Kourabiethes

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Beat the butter and sugar with a mixer until they become white and fluffy.

Add 2 cups of the flour, the vanilla extract and the almonds. Knead lightly, adding flour little-by-little until your dough is soft and fluffy and doesn’t stick to

your fingers. Watch out! Don’t over-knead or your kourambiedes will become too dense.

Take a teaspoon and scoop out the dough to roll into individual balls, or roll out some of your dough to about 1/4” thickness and use your favorite holiday cookie cutters to make different shapes.

Place the cookies onto a non-greased cookie sheet and bake them for 30 minutes, until they have a light, golden color.

On a separate piece of parchment paper, sift a generous layer of powdered sugar and place the warm cookies on top. Sift more powdered sugar on top or, if you’ve made little balls, roll them in the sugar to coat evenly. Make sure you do this when the cookies are hot from the oven so that the sugar sticks!

Let the cookies cool and then transfer to individual paper or foil baking cups. They’ll keep fresh in a sealed container for up to a month. Enjoy!