Greek Recipes

Kourabiethes (Small Shortbread Almond Cookies)

Kourabiethes (also kourambiedes) are traditional celebration cookies, served at Christmas, New Year's, weddings, and baptisms. Toasted almond shortbread-type cookies topped with a generous coating of confectioner's sugar, they melt in the mouth.

INGREDIENTS

700g (1lb 9oz) butter
300g (1 1/4 cups) olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
3 yolks and 1 egg white
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tbsp cognac
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
700g (1lb 9oz) blanched and ground
1200g (nearly 10 cups) flour
4 cups of icing sugar (caster sugar) in a bowl for coating.

METHOD

In a large bowl beat the butter and the oil with the sugar until fluffy. Stir in the beaten eggs, soda diluted in the cognac, cinnamon and the almonds.

Gradually combine the flour with the mixture and knead thoroughly until the it forms a dough.
Take pieces of dough and form balls the size of a walnut.

Arrange on prepared baking tray and bake for 15 - 20 mins in a preheated oven 180c /350f /Gas 4.
When they are slightly cool, cover them completely with icing sugar. Must be thickly coated. Arrange on platter.

Melomakarona (Honey Dipped Spice Cookies)

Melomakarona are a Christmas tradition in Greece (but enjoyed at other times of the year). All over Greece, kitchens will be filled with the wonderful smell of these spice cookies that will adorn tables, be given as hostess gifts, and eaten in huge quantities.

INGREDIENTS

For the cookies:
1 cup olive oil
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
Zest of one orange
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup brandy
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup walnuts, ground coarsely
Ground cinnamon for sprinkling
For the syrup:
1 cup honey
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 whole cloves
1-2-inch piece lemon rind
1 tsp. lemon juice

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, using your fingers, combine the orange zest with the sugar – rubbing the grains as if you were playing with sand to release the orange oils into the sugar.

Using an electric mixer, beat the oil with the orange sugar until well mixed. In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the orange juice and brandy to mixer and mix well. Slowly incorporate the flour cup by cup until the mixture forms a dough that is not too loose but not quite firm either. It will be dense and wet but not sticky. Once the flour is incorporated fully stop mixing.

To roll cookies, pinch a portion of dough off about the size of a walnut. Shape in your palms into a smooth oblong shape, almost like a small egg. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Shape and roll cookies until the sheet is filled.

Press the tines of a large fork in a crosshatch pattern in the center of each cookie. This will flatten them slightly in the center. The cookies should resemble lightly flattened ovals when they go in the oven.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25 – 30 minutes until lightly browned. (The cookies will darken when submerged in syrup.)

While the cookies are baking, prepare the syrup.

In a saucepan, combine the honey, sugar, water, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon rind. Bring the mixture to a boil then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon, cloves, and lemon rind and stir in lemon juice.

Place the ground walnuts in a shallow plate or bowl next to the stove top. When the cookies come out of the oven and while they are still very warm, carefully float the cookies in the syrup and allow the cookies to absorb syrup on both sides.

Using a fork or small spatula, remove the cookie from the syrup and place on a platter or plate. Press ground walnuts lightly into the tops of the cookies (syrup will help it adhere) and sprinkle lightly with ground cinnamon.

Do not refrigerate Melomakarona as they will harden. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.