Snack · 45 min · greek

Kourabiedes (Almond Snowball Cookies)

Weeknight-friendly Greek cooking: Kourabiedes (Almond Snowball Cookies) comes together in 45 minutes with unsalted butter, powdered sugar, and not much else.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 1 cup Unsalted butter
• 1.5 cups Powdered sugar
• 2.5 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 cup Toasted almonds
• 2 tbsp Brandy
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp Baking powder

Steps

1. Beat the room-temperature butter with 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar for a full 5 minutes until pale and fluffy — this long beating is what makes kourabiedes melt instead of crumble.
2. Beat in the brandy and vanilla, then fold in the flour, baking powder, and coarsely chopped almonds until a soft dough forms. Chill 20 minutes so the butter firms and the cookies hold their crescents.
3. Shape into 12 crescents or rounds and bake at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes, until just set with the faintest gold at the edges. They should look underdone — overbaked kourabiedes are dry.
4. While still warm, sift half the remaining powdered sugar over them, let cool, then bury them in the rest. The double coating while warm-then-cool is what builds that famous snowdrift. Handle gently; they are gloriously fragile.
5. Store in an airtight tin between layers of parchment for up to 2 weeks — the sugar may need a fresh dusting before serving.

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