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  • RECEIPE: Kourabiedes (Greek Christmas Cookies)

    From mummycullen@mummycullen@gmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (MummyChunk) to rec.food.cooking on Sun Sep 6 10:20:19 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.food.cooking

    KOURABIEDES
    Traditional Greek Christmas cookies coated with powdered sugar

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    Kourabiedes are one of the traditional Greek holiday sweets eaten in quantity during the Christmas season, along with melomacarona ( http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=681050545 ). This version was translated into English from a Greek cookbook.



    Yield

    Makes about 30 pieces.

    Ingredients

    Cookie Dough

    * 2 cups unsalted butter, 500 g
    * 1 cup powdered sugar, 130 g
    * 3 egg yolks
    * 3 Tbsp brandy, 50 ml
    * 2 tsp vanilla extract, 10 ml
    * 6 cups flour, 600 g
    * 1/2 cup blanched almonds, 60 g, chopped

    Sugar Coating

    * 1 lb powdered sugar, 500 g
    One package.

    Method

    1. Beat the butter with the powdered sugar until fluffy.

    2. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating continuously.

    3. Add the brandy and vanilla extract.

    4. Blend in the chopped almonds and flour, adding the flour 1 cup at a time.

    5. Use enough flour to make a firm dough. You may need a little more or less than the amount listed.

    6. Use your hands for the later mixing, because an electric mixer will not be useful after the first few cups of flour have been added.

    7. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

    8. Shape the chilled dough into balls about 1 inch / 2-3 cm in diameter.

    9. Flatten the balls slightly.

    10. Place the cookies on greased cookie sheets.

    11. Bake at 350 F / 175 C for 20 minutes.

    12. Remove the cookies from the oven.

    13. While the cookies are still hot, roll each one in powdered sugar and put it back on the cookie sheet.

    14. Repeat the powdered-sugar rolling once more to make a thicker coating.

    15. Place the coated cookies on a platter, sprinkling powdered sugar liberally between each layer and over the bottom of the platter.

    16. When finished, there should not be any powdered sugar left.

    17. Let the cookies cool, then serve.

    Notes

    The cookbook suggests several variations: use ouzo or scotch instead of brandy, or almond extract instead of vanilla extract. The contributor notes that these variations had not been tested.

    The contributor also tried granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar in the dough and found that it did not seem to affect the recipe noticeably, since the cookies contain so much sugar overall.

    The cookbook suggested using twice the amount of powdered sugar for coating. The contributor considered that excessive, but emphasized that the coating should still be very generous.

    The dough should be firm enough to shape by hand. These are molded cookies, not drop cookies.

    The powdered sugar is applied while the cookies are hot, then applied again for a heavier coating. The final platter is also heavily dusted so the cookies look snow-covered.

    Kourabiedes are butter-rich Greek Christmas cookies. In this version, the dough is flavored with brandy, vanilla, and chopped blanched almonds, then baked and buried in powdered sugar.

    Verified Recipe Note: The recipe title uses the plural kourabiedes. The original introduction explains that the singular form is kourabies.

    Verified Recipe Note: The original recipe gives the pronunciation as “kou-ra-bi-ETH-es” for kourabiedes and “kou-ra-bi-ES” for kourabies. That pronunciation note is preserved here in plain text rather than as an audio guide.

    Verified Recipe Note: The recipe describes melomacarona ( http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=681050545 ) as the other major Greek holiday confection. This matches the companion holiday-cookie post in this same USENET series.

    Rating

    * Difficulty: Easy to moderate
    * Time: 30 minutes preparation, 1 hour refrigeration, 20 minutes baking
    * Precision: Approximate measurement OK

    Contributor

    Kriton Kyrimis
    Princeton University
    Princeton, New Jersey, USA
    princeton!kyrimis
    [kyrimis@princeton.edu](mailto:kyrimis@princeton.edu)

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    Origin Note

    This recipe comes from the USENET Cookbook project, a moderated electronic recipe collection distributed through early Internet newsgroups. The original was written in the project’s structured recipe markup, where KOURABIEDES was the recipe key and D marked it as a dessert.

    The preserved entry lists the recipe as last modified on 13 Dec 1987 and posted to alt.gourmand on 14 Dec 1987. It was contributed by Kriton Kyrimis of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.

    This is a Greek Christmas cookie recipe built around butter, powdered sugar, egg yolks, brandy, vanilla, flour, and chopped blanched almonds. Its holiday identity comes from the rich butter dough and the very heavy powdered-sugar coating that gives the cookies their snowy finish.

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    Original Header

    Path: decwrl!recipes
    From: [kyrimis@Princeton.EDU](mailto:kyrimis@Princeton.EDU) (Kriton Kyrimis) Newsgroups: alt.gourmand
    Subject: RECIPE: Kourabiedes (Greek Christmas cookies)
    Message-ID: [12240@decwrl.DEC.COM](mailto:12240@decwrl.DEC.COM)
    Date: 14 Dec 87 19:57:59 GMT
    Sender: [recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM](mailto:recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM)
    Distribution: alt
    Organization: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
    Lines: 78
    Approved: [reid@decwrl.dec.com](mailto:reid@decwrl.dec.com)


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