Kourabiedes Neas Karvalis (Κουραμπιέδες Νέας Καρβάλης)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •light-colored heavy saucepan, 1.5 to 2L
• •stand mixer or electric hand mixer
• •two rimmed baking sheets
• •fine sieve for powdered sugar
• •pastry brush or small food-safe spray bottle for rosewater

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the butter

   Put the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium-low heat. Let it melt, foam, quiet down, and turn amber at the bottom, swirling the pan often, 8 to 10 minutes. It should smell like toasted hazelnut, not burnt milk. Scrape every browned bit into a mixing bowl and cool until soft and opaque, about 45 to 60 minutes. This is the step that decides the cookie: liquid butter makes a greasy dough, soft browned butter can be beaten into the sandy crumb you want.

   If the butter hardens in the refrigerator, leave it at room temperature until your finger presses into it easily. Cold butter will not beat properly.
2. 2

   Toast the almonds

   Heat the oven to 160C. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking the pan once, until they smell nutty and the centers are ivory-gold when you cut one open. Cool completely, then chop them coarsely. Leave some pieces big enough to meet under the teeth.

3. 3

   Beat it pale

   Raise the oven to 170C, or 160C fan. Beat the cooled browned butter with 110g sifted powdered sugar for 5 to 7 minutes, until lighter in color and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk, brandy, 10ml rosewater, vanilla, and salt. Scrape the bowl well. The mixture should look soft and whipped, not slick.

4. 4

   Make the dough

   Whisk 430g flour with the baking powder. Add it to the butter mixture in two additions on low speed, stopping as soon as no dry flour shows. Fold in the toasted almonds. The dough should be soft, buttery, and barely tacky, holding together when pressed. Add the extra flour only if it smears on your hands. Too much flour gives you a dry mouthful, and no Christmas table needs that.

5. 5

   Shape the cookies

   Line two baking sheets with parchment. Take 28g to 30g pieces of dough and shape them into small rounds, crescents, or squat ovals, the old festive shapes. Press a shallow dent in the top with your finger so the sugar sits nicely later. Set them 3cm apart. Rest the shaped cookies for 10 minutes while the oven finishes heating.

6. 6

   Bake them pale

   Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans once, until the bottoms are light gold and the tops are still pale with a few fine cracks. Do not wait for color on top. Kourabiedes are not browned biscuits. Let them firm on the tray for 5 minutes, then move them carefully to a rack.

7. 7

   Bury in sugar

   While the cookies are warm but not fragile-hot, brush or mist them lightly with the remaining 30ml rosewater. Put a thick bed of sifted powdered sugar in a wide dish, lay the cookies into it, and cover them completely. Leave them 20 minutes, then lift them onto a platter and sift more sugar over the top until no cookie shows through.

8. 8

   Set and serve

   Let the kourabiedes cool completely before stacking, or the sugar will dampen. Serve them in a mound, with the broken ones tucked underneath for the cook. They keep well, which is why Christmas houses make trays of them, but the butter flavor is brightest in the first few days.

Chef Tips

• •Butter is the flavor here. If you can find good sheep's milk butter, use it for part or all of the amount. If not, use the best unsalted cow's milk butter you can buy. Margarine has no place in this cookie.
• •The dough should feel tender, not stiff. Flour varies, so hold back from adding the extra 30g unless the dough truly smears. A soft dough bakes into a short, sandy crumb.
• •Do not coat the cookies while they are hot from the tray. Warm is enough. Too hot, and the sugar melts into paste. Completely cold, and the rosewater scent sits on the surface instead of settling in.
• •Serve with Greek coffee or a small glass of sweet wine after the Christmas meal. Kourabiedes and melomakarona share the holiday table, but they are not the same family: one is butter and sugar, the other oil, honey, and spice.

Advance Preparation

• •Brown the butter up to 2 days ahead, cover, and chill. Bring it back to soft room temperature before beating.
• •Toast and chop the almonds up to 1 week ahead. Keep them airtight so they stay crisp and fragrant.
• •Baked kourabiedes keep for about 2 weeks in an airtight tin at cool room temperature. Store them with extra powdered sugar between layers and sift fresh sugar over the platter before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 38g)