Greek Kourabiedes Cookies
From the Food Network Kitchens 12 Days of Cookies Around the World Cookie Platter. These are a Greek celebration cookie — while they're most popular at Christmas, you also see them at weddings, Easter and other holidays as well. They're almost always served with a powdered sugar topping; at Christmas, it's traditional to stick a whole clove in the top to represent the gift of spices that the Three Wise Men brought to Bethlehem. Busy baker's tips: Dough can be frozen for up to 2 weeks. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Baked cookies can be wrapped in plastic, then aluminum foil, for up to 2 weeks. To serve, let cookies come to room temperature before dusting with confectioners' sugar. Cook's Note: If you can't find orange flower water, try specialty stores or online.
INGREDIENTS
Nutrition- 3⁄4cup walnuts
- 1 1⁄2cups all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2teaspoon baking powder
- 1⁄4teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2
- 1⁄2
- 1large egg yolk
- 1tablespoon brandy
- 1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 -2tablespoon orange flower water
- 3⁄4
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Toast the walnuts until golden brown and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Let cool, then chop about half of the nuts (you should have about 1/2 cup chopped). Pulse the remaining nuts in the food processor until finely ground (about 1/4 cup ground).
- Stir the flour, baking powder, salt and nuts together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In another medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar, egg yolk, brandy and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture gets light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.
- At low speed, stir in the nut mixture to make a crumbly dough. Cover the bowl and set dough aside at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or coat with nonstick spray.
- With a tablespoon, scoop out 1-inch pieces of dough and roll into balls between the palms of your hands. Pinch the ends of the balls to make a football shape. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies set and start to brown, about 18 minutes.
- Remove cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle them lightly with the orange water. (If you don't have a brush, simply dip your fingers into the water and flick it over the cookies a few times.) Take care not to douse them, just enough for them to carry the scent of flowers.
- Put the confectioners' sugar in a bag, and add 5 to 6 of the warm cookies to it. Very gently toss the cookies to coat with sugar. Remove them from the bag and cool cookies on a rack. Repeat with remaining cookies. Serve.