Almond & Butter Cookies | Chefs At Heart

Warning: if you like fluffy & buttery cookies, you are going to fell in love with this recipe…

Try these Almond & Butter cookies that are with fluffy, aromatic, nutty, flavoursome and really easy to make.

The main players of these recipe are

• Almonds, which are loaded with rich natural nutrients such as minerals and vitamins
• Butter, which is loaded with deliciousness

• Greek Ouzo, which is full of aroma and exclusive sophisticated flavour that resembles aniseed
• Mastic [Μαστιχα], which is full of aroma and exclusive sophisticated flavour that resembles pine, if you are using mastic droplets or mastic liqueur

Love from the first sight

This is probably a “love from the first sight” for me… the moment that this mouthwatering and flavoursome cookie entered my word, that was it… i was in love with it.

I can recall pleasureful and flavourful memories biting uncountable number of “kourambiedes” that are given as an attendance treat in weddings – it was normal to attend at least a wedding every other weekend if not every weekend when i was a kid – and Xmas’s that were turned white from the  icing sugar that was fallen from the cookies – it’s also an official Xmas traditional treat in Cyprus.

About the recipe

And here i am, many years after, still in love… baking them and sharing them with my loved ones… I do bake lot’s of batches of those delicious cookies, around Xmas… Its all about sharing they say, so i do share with friends and family cute little boxes especially crafted with love.

There are many variations of this traditional recipe. The recipe that i am using is probably closer to the Stelios Parliaros version.

I have recorded some variations that i have done from time to time for extra inspiration and creativity. The reason behind those variations is either my creativity flare married with my curiosity (hmm… if i do this and this…what would be the outcome?) and/or the luck of some ingredients. 

Recipe Insights | In Brief

Recipe Process Overview | In Brief

Recipe Process Overview | In Detail

Almond & Butter Cookies

Recipe by chefsatheartCourse: Baking, Cookies, Almond, Butter, Vanilla, Ouzo, MasticCuisine: Mediterranean, Traditional, Christmas CookiesDifficulty: Easy

Makes about

100

cookies

Prep time

1

hour 

6

minutes

Baking time

36

minutes

Calories

87

kcal

Total Time = Prep + Baking

1

hour 

52

minutes

Almond & Butter Cookies | Kourambiedes | Κουραμπιεδες | Κουραπιεδες | Κουραπιες | Chefs At Heart

Ingredients

• Step 1: Roast, Caramelise & Cut Almonds

• 75 gr almonds

• 150 gr demenara sugar

• splash of water

• Step 2: Mix Butter & Sugar Well

• 300 gr unsalted butter

• 100 gr icing sugar

• Step 3: Mix The Remaining Ingredients

• 500 gr all purpose flour {+some extra for fine tuning)

• 5 TBS conrflour

• 1 tsp BP

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 60 ml ouzo or mastic liqueur or dark rum

• Step 6: Dust With Icing Sugar

• 100 gr icing sugar

• UTENSILS
  

• 4 baking trays or at least 2 baking trays to bake concurrently

• 1 pan

• a precision scale

• 1 small bowl to aid the weighting

• cookie cutter

• 1 wooden spoon or a spatula

• 1 rolling pin

• mixer/hand mixer

• timer/watch

Directions

• Step 0: Prepare Firstly
  Preheat the oven into 150 C, while you gather the ingredients and the utensils.
• Step 2: Roast, Caramelise & Trim The Almonds
  • Roast the almonds in a pan. Then add, the dark sugar and a splash of water over medium heat to caramelize ~ 10 minutes.
  • Allow the mixture to cool down and then cut into small pieces using a knife or blender. I found cutting them with the knife a meditative & pleasureful exercise.
  
• Step 2: Mix well butter & sugar
  • Cut the butter into pieces and beat together with the icing sugar for about 15 minutes or until the butter starts to become whiter & fluffier.
• Step 3: Mix the remaining ingredients
  
  500 gr all purpose flour {+some extra for fine tuning)
  5 TBS conrflour
  1 tsp BP
  1 tsp vanilla
  60 ml ouzo or mastic liqueur or dark rum
  
• Step 4: Fine Tuning
  • The mixture will be ready to be rolled if it detaches from the walls of the mixer easily. If not, add a little more flour into it until it comes out from the sides of the mixer. Repeat if needed.
  
• Step 5: Shape & Bake
  • Then make large orange-sized balls and using the plaster to flatten the dough and then cut with the cookie cutter, preferably in the shape of a star. Spray the baking tray with spray oil (if not non stick) and place the biscuits (about 25 biscuits per baking tray).
  
  • Place 2 baking trays around the medium grill of the preheated oven, for about 15 minutes @ 150. Min 15 mins – Max 20 mins.
  
  • You will know that the cookies are ready when the lovely smell is spread around the oven.
• Step 6: Finishing touches
  • Then remove the baking tray from the oven and let them rest to cool down for a bit.
  • When completely cooled down, with a colander dust plenty of icing sugar over the biscuits.
• Step 7: Enjoy!
  • Enjoy with a nice cup of tea/coffee/lemonade.
  • Store the biscuits for up to 1 month in an airtight container.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Recipe Variations
• You dont have ouzo? Use dark rum or brandy instead. My personal best are ouzo and mastic liqueur . Or you would love your cookies to have a kick? Add some more i.e. 85 ml instead of 60 ml.
• You are allergic to almonds? Use hazelnuts or pistachios or no nuts at all.
• You are short of flour? Try mixing oat flour (blend your porridge oats) or your baby’s Cerelac or Organix in the quantity that you are short with
• You cannot find mastic liqueur? use blended mastic drops from Carrefour.

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Technical Tips

• Always pre-heat the oven for about 10 minutes or more before baking to ensure even temperature across the oven.

• Do not open the oven during baking time. This will cause drop in the temperature and you are risking uneven baking i.e can lead to flat and boring cookies.

• The butter should always be in a room temperature before being used and preferably rich in fat. The richer in fat the fluffier and yummier the result.

• The blending of butter and icing sugar is the most important step of the recipe: the fluffier that mixture is, the fluffier the cookies will be.

• The flour and dry ingredients should always be sieved before mixing with the rest of the ingredients. This ensures that the mixture will be mixed evenly with no bumps and there will be air to promise fluffiness. Also this a good check for food moths – yucky but can be a possibility!

• Ideally to use icing sugar as that is easier to melt and blend when baked. However, you can substitute icing sugar with normal or demenara blended sugar i.e. blend it further in the blender, or sugar syrup ie dilute it in a touch of water.

Recipe Nutrition Facts | Per Serving Excluding Icing On Top