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vegan kourabiedes with icing sugar on a grey plate.
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4.58 from 7 votes

Vegan Kourabiedes

Melt in-your-mouth vegan kourabiedes cookies! Buttery texture, almond flavour and the perfect amount of sweetness from fresh icing sugar. A popular Greek Christmas cookie that can be enjoyed year-round!
Prep Time1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Additional Time25 minutes
Total Time2 hours 5 minutes
Course: Vegan Greek Recipes, Holidays,
Cuisine: Greek
Keyword: dairy free greek cookies, greek holiday desserts, kourabiedes, vegan kourabiedes
Servings: 12 cookies
Calories: 302kcal
Author: Ria Mavrikos

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

Serving: 1g | Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 3g | Sodium: 22mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g