Kourambiethes

- Kourambiethes -

This Greek version of many traditional recipes of a similar cookie uses chilled clarified butter to lighten it and toasted almonds for its crunch. The preparation of the cookie, itself, offered no problems for me since it is so simple to make in three short stages.

Troublesome for me, however, was not knowing initially the exact amount of clarified butter to use. I learned that 390 grams of clarified butter from the 454 gram of butter was the right amount, but found I was short; so I clarified another ~stick and a half to obtain the 390 grams. Rose indicates one loses in water about 25% of the amount being clarified when using AA butter like the Land o' Lakes I used. 

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"The  cookies just turned out to be beautiful to behold and delicious to savor", our friends were kind enough to say as they took some home to the family.

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Baking the Kourambiethes:

A very simple mis en place  ~~  Butter for clarifying, powdered sugar, lightly toasted almonds, all-purpose flour, baking powder, egg yolks, vanilla and a tad of brandy.

Not quite enough clarified butter for the necessary 390g so I clarfiied another stick and a half to get the necessary 37g,

                                                                        

The chilled discs popped right out of the silicone vessel 

And into the mixing bowl to be mixed with powdered sugar 

Chilled butter cubes beaten with powdered sugar for ten minutes - egg yolks, brandy and vanilla added for one minute and then add almonds beating for a few seconds. 

Flour added with baking powder for about 20 seconds.  Cover and chill for ~20 minutues to firm.
Make cookies as dough balls... mine were 31 grams. Press down slightly til about half inch tall.

I made the balls 31 grams and flattened them by laying a ruler across and pressing down so they were about half-inch high. Baking was fine at 8 minutes and then turned for 8 minutes.

Place the cookies on their baking sheet on a rack. Place another rack in parchment sheet. Transfer each cookie with a small spatula to the empty rack. Sift powdered sugar over the tops of all the cookies. After a minute or so, sprinkle another layer over top.  I took the parchment with the extra powdered sugar and set onto a baking sheet. The Kourambiethes like to have a good coating of the sugar on their bottoms. I also found that a think sprinkling over the top before serving helped to keep a buttery top from peeking through.

A happy Kourambiethe! I know because he said so when I ate him  ;  )

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