Kourabiedes (Greek Almond Cookies)

Home » Kourabiedes (Greek Almond Cookies) Kourabiedes (Greek Almond Cookies) Written on November 9, 2021As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.This traditional Greek almond cookie is dusted with confectioner’s sugar, has the delicious flavor of toasted almonds, and a delightfully crumbly, melt-in-you-mouth texture!  Kourabiedes are sure to become part of your regular cookie rotation year-round and especially at Christmas! What Are Kourabiedes? Kourabedies, or kourambiethes, are Greek almond butter cookies with a crunchy-crumbly-melt-in-your-mouth texture and wonderful flavor of toasted almond.  It’s similar to shortbread but more crumbly and always include a liquor of some sort, commonly Greek Metaxa, or brandy.  Some regions of Greece have a tradition of embedding a single whole clove in each cookie.Kourabedies deliberately limit the amount of sugar in the dough since the cookies are very generously dusted with or rolled in confectioner’s sugar.Some versions of kourabiedes are shaped like a crescent – hearkening back to the days of the Ottoman Empire’s occupation of Greece.  (Slightly different variations of this confection exist in most of the countries once occupied by the Ottoman Empire where they are known by different names including qurabiya and ghoriba).   But more often in Greece today kourabiedes are shaped into rounds.

Traditionally sugar and butter were both expensive luxury items and so these cookies were typically reserved f