Almond Shortbread Cookies (Kourabiedes)

Beginner Cook - Lengthy Cooking Time - Baked Goods - Vegan - Vegetarian

It wouldn't be a Greek Christmas without kourabiedes, a type of almond shortbread cookie. A few weeks back, one of my good friends asked if I could share our family's recipe. She wanted to make some for her husband who is of Greek decent and fondly recalls his grandmother's Christmas treats. As I discussed the recipe with my mother-in-law, she mentioned that her own mother-in-law made wonderful kourabiedes with olive oil instead of butter, which is the usual ingredient. As soon as I heard that these could be made with olive oil, I had to give it a try; especially since my friend is dairy intolerant and this cookie recipe is one that both she and her husband could enjoy. While baking with olive oil has become second nature, using it to make shortbread cookies, which are so strongly associated with butter, made me a little nervous. Following some trial and error to determine the correct ratio of flour to oil, the cookies were in the oven baking. Once dusted with powdered sugar, I watched my husband as he taste-tested the cookies. What a thrill when he gave them the thumbs up! Even though I never tasted those prepared by my husband's grandmother, I like to think that this recipe resembles the way she would have made them. 

Ingredients (yields about 36 cookies)

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups blanched almonds
• 2 cups extra virgin olive oil*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
• 2 cups confectioners sugar (divided)

* Be sure to use high quality, fresh, extra virgin olive oil. Just as other shortbread recipes calls for top quality butter, it is critical that you use a good oil.

Time - 2 hours**

• Preparation - 1 hour**
  
• Baking (325 degrees) - 1 hour (3 times 20 minutes)

** Time will be reduced by 20-25 minutes if using pre-blanched almonds

Preparation

• If like me, you prefer to blanch your own almonds, begin with this step
• Place the almonds in a pot of boiling water and boil for 60 seconds
• While the almonds are boiling, preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• After boiling for 60 seconds, strain, and lay the almonds onto a paper towel. They should easily slip out of their skin

• Once blanched, lay the almonds on a tray covered with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet
• Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes until a light sandy-pinkish brown. Be sure to monitor the almonds to ensure they don't burn

• Place the toasted almonds in a food processor and grind until finely chopped

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, chopped almonds, 1 cup confectioner sugar, and stir

• Sprinkle the vanilla extract and brandy over the dry ingredients
• Add the olive oil and knead into a dough
• The dough should stick together when pressed but have a slight crumbly feeling, which is characteristic of a shortbread dough. If too crumbly, add olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until the right consistency is achieved

• These traditional cookies are often shaped into crescents, buttons, or balls. For simplicity's sake, I chose to shape them into buttons using a tablespoon measure
• If you want to do the same, fill a tablespoon measure with some dough, pressing the dough to give it the rounded shape of the measure. Once shaped, place the cookies on a baking tray covered with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet
• While shaping the cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degrees

• Bake the cookies in the oven at 325 degrees for 20 minutes, until they begin to turn a very slight sandy color

• Once cooled, place the cookies in a pan with the remaining confectioner sugar and coat
  

• Your cookies are ready to be enjoyed by all. Wishing you a very merry Christmas from our family to yours!