Kourabiedes

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1,200 g flour, type 405
• 400 g butter
• 185 g clarified butter
• 220 g icing sugar, for the dough
• 250 g almonds, chopped, roasted without fat
• 50 ml Ouzo, good
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 vanilla pod(s), pulp thereof, or 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 1 pack of powdered sugar, for the baking tray and for sprinkling

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

Greek Christmas pastries with ouzo

Beat the butter and clarified butter with a mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until creamy and fluffy. Add the vanilla seeds and baking powder. Add the ouzo and roasted almonds. Slowly stir in the flour. Finally, knead again with warm, greasy hands. Be careful, the dough is very crumbly. Don’t use too much flour when kneading, otherwise the kourabiedes will be too dry. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1–1.5 cm. Cut out using compact shapes or roll into balls. Flatten the balls slightly. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes. The cookies should remain very light in color. Golden yellow at most! Sprinkle a baking sheet with powdered sugar and place the still-warm cookies on it. Dust thickly with sifted powdered sugar and let cool completely. The cookies taste best when they’ve been in a tin for at least a day. They’ll keep for at least a month, but they never get that old here. Note: A pastry that’s essential to any (Christmas) celebration in Greece! Each region has its own specialty. Here’s my mother-in-law’s specialty, who swears that they’re not kourabiedes unless they contain ouzo. Kourabiedes with ouzo are typical of the island of Kos.