The authentic kourabiedes from N. Karvali

Name: The authentic kourabiedes from N. Karvali
Yield: about 60 kourabiedes
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 800 g fresh all purpose flour of good quality; 500 g cow's milk butter or even better, sheep's milk butter if you can find it; 150 g - 200 g icing sugar; 1 tsp vanilla; 150 g blanched and roasted unsalted almonds; icing sugar for dusting

Cookpad Greece @cook_8238176

Greece

Nea Karvali is a small town near Kavala, in Northern Greece. Its population, according to the 2011 census, is 2177 inhabitants. It belongs to the Municipality of Kavala since 1997. Nea Karvali is famous for its delicious kourabiedes that are related to a traditional local custom of the area. At Christmas, they make a reindeer out of kourabiedes and it ends up in the city of Kavala for the Christmas celebration. After giving it a lot of thought, I decided, since I come from Kavala and more particularly, Nea Karvali, to give you the authentic recipe that I learned from my uncle who was a pastry chef and had been making those for 45 years in one of the most famous pastry shops in town. So, it's about time for the revelation of this secret recipe and I hope that my uncle who is gone now, doesn't object to me making his secret recipe available to the public.

Recipe by kikitsa 69

Cookpad Greece @cook_8238176

Greece

Recipe by kikitsa 69

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Ingredients

about 60 kourabiedes

800 gfresh all purpose flour of good quality
500 gcow's milk butter or even better, sheep's milk butter if you can find it
150 g- 200 g icing sugar
1 tspvanilla
150 gblanched and roasted unsalted almonds
icing sugar for dusting

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Steps

1

Bting the butter to room temperature (23-26°C) by taking it out of the fridge about 2-3 hours before you start so that it softens.
2

Beat the already soft butter in a stand mixer for 5-6 minutes on the high speed setting until it gets creamy and then add the icing sugar and keep on beating for an additional 5-7 minutes until they are thoroughly incorporated.
3

Meanwhile, add the vanilla and then, gradually, start adding the flour.
4

By now you should have a soft and oily dough that is very pliable and doesn't stick to your hands.
5

Take small pieces of the dough in small balls as big as a walnut (25 g) and push in each one 2 whole almonds. Then place them in lines on a non-stick baking tray or greaseproof paper.
6

Bake in a preheated oven on the second rack from the bottom, at 180°C for 35-40 minutes depending on your oven, until they get golden brown.
7

When you remove your tray from the oven you will notice that the kourabiedes are somewhat soft because of the butter so you set them aside at room temperature for 1-2 hours in order to get firmer.
8

Place the amount of icing sugar that you desire in a strainer and dust the kourabiedes until they are well covered.