December is here and we have already started the Christmas preparations! We decorated our tree, our house, our dog, Chloe, and we are impatient to celebrate Christmas!
Is there anything missing?
Absolutely! The traditional Greek Christmas cookies because Christmas is not Christmas without the Christmas food, right?!
Pelagia prepared the vegan melomakarona (see recipe here) and I prepared the vegan fluffy kourabiedes with a rich flavor of vegan butter! Kourabiedes are not vegan originally, but if you use a vegan butter, you create their vegan delicious version!
If you want to prepare them too, follow our easy recipe below. The only difficult point for me was that I had to wait many hours for the butter to soften enough to beat it more easily and to create a beautiful creamy mixture. Apart from that, it does not require much preparation and baking time.
Notes
Be careful not to burn your almonds when you roast them (it happened to me the first time, that’s why I mention it ☺) and the kourabiedes when you bake them. They do not need much cooking time.
Prepare those delicious and fluffy Greek vegan kourabiedes and tag us on social media @greekappetite so we can admire your creations!
Have beautiful and delicious holidays!
Find more recipes in our digital cookbook “Eat Like A Greek Vegan”!
Fluffy Vegan Kourabiedes
Ingredients
- 50 gr unsalted and raw almonds
- 250 gr plant-based butter at room temperature
- 75 gr icing sugar
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 15-20 ml brandy
- 1 tsp. vanilla powder
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 450 gr flour you may need to add a little more so that the dough does not stick too much
For sprinkling
- about 200 gr of icing sugar
Instructions
- Place the almonds on parchment paper and roast them in a preheated oven at 160° C for about 6-7 minutes (be careful not to burn them). Let them cool.
- Beat the room-temperature butter in the mixer with the (sifted) icing sugar for about 10 minutes so that it becomes fluffy and creamy. (You can let the butter out of the fridge several hours before cooking to make it easier to beat.)
- Dissolve the baking soda in the brandy and add it to your mixture together with the vanilla powder. Stir for a few minutes. Then, add the baking powder and slowly start adding the sifted flour, stirring by hand until you obtain a soft dough that does not stick to your fingers. Do not stir for a long time because the mixture will tighten.We do not use all the flour from the beginning because it may need less or more.
- Add the roasted almonds, whole if small or cut into small pieces, and mix carefully. Shape the dough in small balls, so they cook better and faster, and slightly press the center with your finger to hold afterwards the icing sugar.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 170° C for about 20-25 minutes until slightly golden brown. Be careful about the baking time because they bake fast. Even if they look soft, they will tighten later when they cool, so don’t worry about that! Baking time depends on the oven.
- Let them cool and then dip them in a bowl of icing sugar. Place them on a plate and sprinkle again with icing sugar.