Kourabiedes are divine Greek almond Christmas cookies. These are the perfect Christmas cookie because not only are they delicious but they are full of Christmas flavours-plus they look like they are blanketed in snow! Try these authentic Kourabiedes inspired by the Kourbiedes of Kavala in Greece! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader.
I grew up eating Kourabiedes as we always had Greek friends and these were always made as a special Christmas or celebtratory treat. I can still smell the aroma of these cookies being baked and I remember biting into them and the layer of powdered sugar falling on me. Kourabiedes are also made for baptisms or for weddings so they always seemed to be present growing up.
The word Kourabiedes is said to have Persian origins, derived from qurabiya, a type of dry or crumbly biscuit. Over time, the word and the recipe spread across the Ottoman Empire. These butter cookies are made with almonds and are a specialty of an area of Greece called Kavala which was formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. Did you know that in the 1920s there was a population exchange between Greece and Turkey and many Turkish people moved to Kavala in Northern Greece? There is still a strong Turkish presence in the city which we noticed on our recent trip there. It is said that many Turkish people starting making these when they moved to Greece and Kavala was also an area that grew good quality almonds. Kavala's kourabiedes are a bit different from kourabiedes made elsewhere as theirs have whole roasted almonds in them rather than crushed almond pieces.
Tips For Making Kourabiedes
1 - Kourabiedes are really easy to make but I do recommend toasting the whole almonds well until they are crunchy-you're aiming for a crisp crunch, like a Marcona almond. Also I toast the almond meal just to bring out the flavour of it. It's a small step but I think they taste just like the kourabiedes that I ate in Greece recently.
2 - I made my kourabiedes quite small but you can certainly make them bigger. Just increase the baking time.
3 - Try not to overbake the kourabiedes. I found that baking them at 15 minutes exactly was perfect for my oven but the best indication is when they start to get golden around the edge.
4 - Don't worry about any cracks on top, they're part of kourabiedes! These little cracks are where the icing sugar can settle and they've covered with icing sugar so you won't even notice them.
I based this recipe on one from my friend Valentina whose mum used to make them but I also added some more toasted ground almonds and whole toasted almonds because this is the way they make them in Kavala and it's SO good! While the cookie is short texture the almonds give it a beautiful crunch. I also made these a bit more Christmassy by adding some orange zest and cloves. Valentina's recipe called for studding each kourabide with a whole clove!
I gave three batches to our lovely Greek neighbours Vic and Nicki and they gave us some great feedback. The first batch was using Valentina's mum's recipe, the second was my favourite batch using a modified version and the third was a batch bought at a shop in Kavala. Vic loves nuts and his favourite was #2 and said he had never had one with that level of almond crunch. Interestingly, both of them rated #3 the lowest. Vic also picked the Turkish influence in them because of the spices that are bolder than the ones they grew up eating.
Kavala was one of the stops that we made during our Mediterranean cruise and as I mentioned kourabiedes is one of the city's most popular sweets and souvenirs. We only had a short time in Kavala and had to leave at 3:30pm. The reason that we didn't have a lot of time is because we had a shore excursion that morning that went for much longer than we expected. Instead of being back in Kavala port at lunchtime we arrived at 2:45pm.
"I need to buy some kourabiedes," I said to Mr NQN determinedly. I was watching the tour bus amble slowly down the hills of Kavala. The cruise ship was about 10 minutes walk from the centre and I wanted to see so much but knew that we only really had half an hour.
"Let's split up!" I whispered to Mr NQN. "I'll get the cookies and a kebab and you go to the Fortress of Kavala and get some nice pics!". We were playing to our strengths. Mr NQN has long legs that need exercising and well I'm better placed to find food because I am basically a truffle pig.
Within a few minutes of searching, I saw a store that sold nothing but almond products including boxed kourabiedes. They were a steal at €3 a box but then I went wandering looking for the doner kebab shop. The town itself was so charming and friendly and on my way to get the kebab I happened to walk past a bakery with a huge display of kourabiedes. I had never seen so many before. This looked a bit more promising than the boxed up ones so I bought some. When I reached the doner kebab store they'd just had a rush and were cooking more meat but it would be another 30 minutes. My shoulder slumped - by now I just had 5 minutes until I had to get going and Mr NQN messaged me and told me that he wasn't able to get to the fortress in time. Usually luck is on our side but not today.
Dejectedly I made my way to the ship and met Mr NQN along the way. We made our way to our favourite cruise ship bar where we ordered an afternoon coffee. "I got these," I said to Mr NQN holding up the bag of kourabiedes from the bakery. I took a bite and my eyes widened. There were whole crunchy toasted almonds inside each cookie. They were so delicious I wish I had bought more but of course by then the ship had started sailing away. So I made a vow that instead I had to make these again at home. I promise that these taste just like the kourabiedes in Kavala, just with the extra orange zest for Christmas!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like kourabiedes? What is your favourite Christmas cookie?
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