This vegan kourabiedes recipe will give you the same delicious buttery texture that you get with traditional Greek butter cookies (but they’re vegan!). This recipe makes 10-12 cookies, so it’s perfect for smaller gatherings or as a weekly treat! You can make these into the traditional “S” shape or lightly pressed circles like these kourabiedes.
Kourabiedes are traditionally enjoyed at Christmas and during the holiday season, but there’s no reason you can’t enjoy this delicious treat year-round! If you’re looking for another dairy-free Greek cookie option, you can check out Riri’s Greek Eats melomakarona recipe!
RECIPE TIPS
- The vegan butter needs to be at room temperature before mixing it so that it can become light and fluffy. Mixing the butter for at least 20 minutes adds air pockets, making the cookies’ texture light and fluffy.
- The cookies will flatten and spread out if the kourabiedes dough is too warm. A simple tip is to refrigerate the cookie dough for 10-15 minutes before shaping the cookies. When shaping the cookies, try to handle them as little as possible so that the dough doesn’t get too warm. If it does, you can always pop the tray in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before baking the cookies.
- If the dough is too crumbly once you add all of the flour, add one to two tablespoons of warm oat milk (or another type of plant-based milk) until the dough becomes easier to shape.
- You’ll only need to bake these kourabiedes for 20-25 minutes. They will still be pale in colour, but the bottom of the cookies should be golden brown. When you remove the cookies from the oven, they will be soft, so allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet first, and then transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Try not to overmix the cookie dough – only mix until the flour is just combined. I use a spatula instead of a mixer to fold in the flour.
RECOMMENDED KITCHEN TOOLS
- Electric stand mixer and mixing bowl or an electric hand mixer
- Cookie sheet and cooling rack
- Mesh sifter
INGREDIENT NOTES
Vegan unsalted butter: Butter is an essential ingredient for these cookies, so it’s important to get good quality, unsalted, high-fat vegan butter. Preferably unsalted vegan butter that is sold as sticks since vegan spreads have more water content.
If you come across Earth Balance vegan unsalted baking sticks, then those are great to use but can be hard to find in grocery stores. I find that Earth Balance vegan butter sticks are a bit on the saltier side (it may just be my tastebuds, haha), so if you can find unsalted vegan butter sticks, those would be best for this recipe.
I’ve also tested this recipe with Nuts for Butter unsalted original vegan cashew butter, and I had really great results! Even better than when using Earth Balance vegan butter sticks. The Nuts for Butter unsalted butter whipped really well and became fluffy. Plus, the cookie dough wasn’t as salty as when I used the Earth Balance vegan butter sticks, and the vegan kourabiedes baked beautifully in the oven. They tasted delicious and stayed soft and crumbly for over a week when I stored them in an airtight container.
Pure almond extract: Almond extract is really strong in flavour, so I’d recommend only adding a little bit to the dough. But if you love the taste, you can add more!
Blanched sliced almonds: I like to lightly toast the sliced almonds before adding them to the raw cookie dough. Almonds have a high fat content, so they’ll only need about 5-10 minutes in the oven, but it’s good to keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn.
You also don’t need to toast the almonds if you don’t want to since they’ll bake in the cookies. If you are baking the almonds, they need to cool completely before you add them to the cookie dough to prevent the dough from getting too warm.
Icing sugar: Icing sugar is granulated sugar that’s been ground into powder form. Icing sugar, or confectioners’ sugar, usually contains cornstarch to prevent the powder from sticking together. Some icing sugars aren’t vegan, so if you’re looking to make this recipe vegan, then it’s best to double-check the ingredients on the icing sugar to be sure.
Rose water: The flavour of rose water isn’t too overpowering, but it will add a beautiful scent to the cookies. You can brush or sprinkle the baked cookies with rose water while they’re still hot from the oven. You can also use orange blossom water instead of rose water or omit both the rose water and orange blossom water.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN KOURABIEDES: STEP BY STEP
*reminder* the butter needs to be at room temperature before you start mixing it.
STEP 1: Whisk the butter. Cut the room-temperature vegan butter into smaller cubes and place the butter in your mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, mix the butter on medium speed for 20 minutes (#4 speed on a KitchenAid mixer).
The butter will become light and fluffy. If it doesn’t within the first 5-10 minutes, your butter may be too cold, or your mixer isn’t fast enough. If the butter is too cold, allow it to warm up gradually in the mixing bowl.
STEP 2: Prepare the vegan dough ingredients. While the butter is beating, prepare the flour mixture. Sift 2 1/4 cups of flour into a separate bowl. Zest one lemon and add the lemon zest to the flour. Then add 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. Mix together and set aside.
STEP 3: Add ingredients to the whipped butter. After 20 minutes, the butter should be light and fluffy (like in the photo below). Add the icing sugar, pure vanilla extract, and pure almond extract (if you’d like to add it) to the whipped butter. Continue to mix the ingredients together for another 10 minutes. It may seem like a lot of mixing, but this is the key to fluffy and delicious vegan kourabiedes that melt in your mouth.
STEP 4: Lightly toast the almonds and make the cookie dough. Preheat the oven to 350°F on bake. Spread out the blanched sliced almonds on a baking sheet and place them in the oven as the oven preheats. Remove the almonds once they’re lightly toasted. Almonds (and nuts in general) have a high-fat content, so keep an eye on them while they’re in the oven. They should only need about 5-10 minutes in the oven.
Fold in the flour mixture (flour, lemon zest, and baking powder) to the butter mixture until the flour is just combined – be careful not to overmix. You can also remove the bowl from the mixer and continue mixing the cookie dough with your hands until all the flour is absorbed. If you’re adding in toasted sliced almonds, allow them to cool completely before folding them into the cookie dough.
STEP 5: Refrigerate the cookie dough and shape the cookies. Mold the cookie dough into a small ball, transfer it to a large bowl, and cover it tightly with saran wrap or plastic wrap. Allow the cookies to cool in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. After 15-20 minutes, remove the cookie dough from the fridge and shape the cookies into 2″ balls. From there, you can form them into circles and lightly press down. The cookies will spread a little bit, so be sure to leave an inch or two between the cookies.
STEP 6: Bake the cookies at 350°F. Place the cookies in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are golden brown. The cookies will still look pale (no worries! That’s what we’re after). If the cookies bake for too long, they will be really crumbly. I usually take mine out at 20 minutes, but the baking time may need to be adjusted based on the size of your cookies and your oven.
STEP 7: Allow the cookies to cool, and dust them with icing sugar. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Brush the cookies or sprinkle the tops with rose or orange blossom water. It’s important to let the cookies cool completely before dusting them with icing sugar. I use a generous amount of icing sugar, but the amount is up to you!
STORING & SERVING
You can store these vegan kourabiedes uncovered, loosely wrapped in saran wrap or in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. Before serving, you can freshly dust the cookies with icing sugar.
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Vegan Kourabiedes
Equipment
- Electric stand mixer and mixing bowl or an electric hand mixer
- Cookie sheet
- Cooling rack
- Mesh sifter
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted vegan butter 226.8 grams or two vegan unsalted butter sticks – room temperature
- 2/3 cup vegan icing sugar for the cookie dough
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Lemon zest from one lemon
- 50 grams of blanched sliced almonds lightly toasted
- 3/4 cup vegan icing sugar to dust on top of the baked cookies
Instructions
- Whisk the butter. Cut the room-temperature unsalted vegan butter into smaller cubes and place the vegan butter in your mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, mix the butter on medium speed for 20 minutes (#4 on a KitchenAid mixer). The butter will become light and fluffy. If it doesn't within the first 5-10 minutes, then your butter may be too cold, or your mixer isn't on a high enough speed. If the butter is too cold, let it warm up gradually in the mixing bowl.
- Prepare the vegan cookie dough ingredients: While the butter is beating, prepare the flour mixture. Sift 2 1/4 cups of flour into a separate bowl. Zest one lemon and add the lemon zest to the flour. Then add 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder. Mix together and set aside.
- Add ingredients to the whipped butter. After 20 minutes, the butter should be light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, pure vanilla extract, and pure almond extract to the whipped butter. Continue to mix these ingredients together for another 10 minutes.
- Lightly toast the almonds and make the cookie dough. Preheat the oven to 350°F on bake. Spread the sliced almonds on a baking sheet, and place them in the oven as it preheats. Remove the almonds once they're lightly toasted – they should only need about 5-10 minutes in the oven. Fold in the flour mixture (flour, lemon zest, and baking powder) to the butter mixture until the flour is just combined – be careful not to overmix. If you're adding in toasted almonds, allow them to cool completely before folding them into the cookie dough.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough and shape the cookies. Mold the cookie dough into a small ball and transfer the cookie dough to a large bowl and cover it tightly with saran wrap or plastic wrap. Allow the cookies to cool in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. After 15-20 minutes, remove the cookie dough from the fridge and shape the cookies into 2" balls. From there, you can form them into circles and lightly press down. The cookies will spread a little bit, so be sure to leave an inch or two between the cookies.
- Bake the cookies. Place the cookies in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are golden brown. The cookies will still look pale (no worries! that's what we're after). If the cookies bake for too long, they will be really crumbly. I usually take mine out at 20 minutes, but the baking time may need to be adjusted based on the size of your cookies and your oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool, and dust them with icing sugar. Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Brush the cookies or sprinkle the tops with a little bit of rose water or orange blossom water. It's important to let the cookies cool completely before dusting them with icing sugar.
Notes
- I’ve had the best results with Nuts for Butter unsalted original vegan cashew butter.
- The vegan butter needs to be at room temperature before you start mixing it.
- It may seem like a lot of mixing, but this is the key to fluffy and
delicious vegan kourabiedes that melt in your mouth. - Almonds (and nuts in general) have a high-fat content so keep an eye
on them while they’re in the oven. They should only need about 5-10
minutes. - You can also remove the bowl from the mixer and continue mixing the cookie
dough with your hands until all the flour is absorbed.
Nutrition
Date Published: October 24, 2022
Small Batch Vegan Kourabiedes Recipe
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