Kourambiedes

A community recipe by StoupaTart

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

As requested by the Webmistress! These dry, crumbly, shortbread-like biscuits are traditionally eaten around Christmas and New Year in Greece. They are formed into crescent-shapes and very thickly coated in icing sugar. My original recipe is in cups & imperial measures, the conversions (in brackets) are approximate.

Ingredients

Serves: 12

1 pound almonds (blanched and chopped)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup brandy (or ouzo)
22 ounces butter
3 medium egg yolks
2½ pounds all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons rosewater
7 ounces superfine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
28 ounces confectioners' sugar

Method

Kourambiedes is a community recipe submitted by StoupaTart and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Beat butter with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Beat in the superfine sugar.

Add everything except confectioners' sugar & rosewater and knead until smooth & firm.

Pat into small flat crescent shapes and place on a buttered baking sheet.

Bake at 160-180Â° for 15-20 minutes. Watch that they don't brown.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with rosewater & dust liberally with confectioners' sugar.

When cool, dredge again with tons of confectioners' sugar to densely coat.

Additional Information

Orange Flower Water can be substituted for Rosewater. Allegedly, these keep up to a month, but they're unlikely to sit around that long. They are incredibly dry, so best taken with a drink - something very sweet like a Tia Maria, perhaps.