Kourabiedes, traditional greek butter cookies to celebrate Christmas
kourabiedes
Kourabiedes (kou-ra-bi-ETH-es) are festive, shortbread textured, Greek butter cookies loaded with almond goodness. Similar to snowballs, these baked greek biscuits are laced with a hint of clove, pure rose water and coated with powdered sugar. In Greece, no festive spread is complete without a platter of kourabiedes during Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
greek christmas cookies
These greek butter cookies are light, buttery, not too sweet and have a crumbly texture. They are usually shaped into crescents (moon shape) or round flattened balls with indents on top. The authentic kourabiedes recipe calls for the use of egg, cognac or brandy and pure rose water. Once the cookies are baked, they are sprayed with rose water and then dusted in generous amount of powdered sugar. I have made an eggless version of greek butter cookies.
greek butter biscuits before baking – baked cookies coated in powdered sugar
If you do not have edible rose water on hand, you can omit it. Do add lemon zest as they give a lovely citrus flavor to the greek butter cookies. Ensure that you roast the almonds well, cool and then grind them to a fine powder. Absolutely easy to make, light Christmas butter cookies that are soft, crumbly and addictive. Kids love them and so do adults. 🙂 Kourabiedes are a must have Christmas treat in Greece.
greek butter cookies
Wishing all my dear readers a very joyous Christmas and festive holiday season!! 🙂
Learn how to make kourabiedes, greek butter cookies