Delicious and easy to make Greek Butter Cookies, also known as Greek Wedding Cookies or Kourabiedes, are the perfect recipe to have on hand for every occasion. Simple ingredients and instructions, you’re going to love these delicious traditional Greek cookies.
Similar to a classic shortbread cookies, Greek Butter Cookies are a staple at any Greek wedding or get together. And for good reason too! They are simple to make and such a crowd pleaser.
Recently, I made this recipe for my daughters class. They were learning about Ancient Greece and this was the perfect addition to their Greek party. The kids loved the Kourabiedes and the recipe yielded enough for her entire class and some for me to keep at home.
This is a great recipe to use if you need to make cookies for a crowd. I love to make these for cookie exchanges or anytime I need a simple cookie that’s ready fast.
Looking for other delicious cookie exchange recipes? Be sure to check out these Italian Thumbprint Cookies made with fig spread and almonds, and these best-ever Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. And, if you love pistachios, don’t miss this classic Italian Pistachio Cookies! For a fun and unique cookie, give these Tiramisu Cookies a try!
Greek Butter Cookies Recipe
This recipe is super simple and comes together quickly. I always make it using my KitchenAid Stand Up Mixer; it just makes cooking so much easier!
Firstly, you want to make sure you are starting with room temperature butter – four sticks for this recipe! Yes, it’s a lot of butter, but you are making a lot of cookies. Also, the butter MUST be room temperature so that it melds together with sugar and other ingredients.
Place all four sticks of butter in the mixer and add in the sugar. Next, cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes should work.
Add in the eggs and extracts; mix to combine. Lastly, add in the flour and slowly mix until just combined. Also, the fact that there isn’t a leavening agent in this recipe isn’t a typo; it simply isn’t necessary here!
The dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Here, I used my Wilton cookie scoop to portion out the dough into round balls. However, if you wanted to roll the cookies into shapes, like the traditional “S”, simply chill for a couple of minutes before shaping.
You could just leave the cookies shaped as is out of the cookie scoop, or use your hands to roll into balls.
Finally, bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are set. Note that these won’t turn brown when done.
Cool and Dust with Powdered Sugar
Let the cookies cool on the baking mats before moving to a wire cooling rack. The cookies must be completely cooled before sprinkling on the powdered sugar.
Dust the cooled cookies with powdered sugar. To do this, move the rack of cookies to a large baking sheet. Place the powdered sugar in a fine mesh sieve and tap gently while moving the sieve over the tops of the cookies.
To serve, pile the cookies high on a plate. Alternatively, place a cookie or two in a cupcake liner for mess-free serving.
You can store these delicious Greek Butter Cookies in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month. Enjoy!
Greek Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Stand up mixer fitted with paddle attachment
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter, room temperature (4 sticks)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 5 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats; set aside.
- In a stand up mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract, and mix to combine, scrapping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the flour and mix on slow until just combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to measure out equal portions of cookies and place on baking sheet leaving about an inch and a half between each cookie. You can either bake as is or roll into balls.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes until dough is just set. The cookie will not brown much and will remain a light color. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack and cooling completely.
- Once cooled, dust the top of the cookies with the powdered sugar in a fine mesh sieve.
Notes
Nutrition
I hafted the recipe which made 2 1/2 dozen. Used a medium cookie spoon but did not roll. They turned out perfect and worked out well as I had to make 2 days before a party. I did use Morena pure can sugar. Also used a hand mixer. I got rave reviews and loved having them with coffee the following morning!
Yay! so happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Greek yiayia here- nonna in Italian- grandma in English: Kourabiethes are a must have for Xmas. Your recipe is the perfect traditional Greek recipe which has been handed down by our yiayias. Two variations are: crushed toasted almonds and 1-2 tsps of Metaxa brandy or ouzo instead of the almond extract. If you add 1/2 cup of toasted almonds, reduce the flour by half cup. Also, my yiayia always used 4 1/2 cups of flour, the toasted almonds and added more flour if needed as she kneaded the dough.. Her test for additional flour: “The consistency should feel tender like your earlobe.” Miss her!
I made these for a Greek-themed potluck and everyone enjoyed them! Mine did not flatten as much as the picture, but it didn’t seem to affect the flavor.
My recipe calls for only vanilla and brandy, no nuts as most of the recipes. Very delicious.
Do you think I could use limoncello instead of the almond extract?
Sure! But if you want lemon flavor, I’d use fresh lemon juice and zest instead.
Loved the recipe – the cookies were delicious!
Wow! They look so yum! Melt-in-the-mouth kinda yum! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
These cookies sound absolutely delicious! Love that they have both almond and vanilla extract, sound so tasty!
These cookies look so delicious and tasty. I cannot wait to make them for my children.
Wow we loved these buttery cookies so much and good quantity for one recipe!
Love these! Not as dense as shortbread but not as sweet as most sugar cookies. My new favorite cookies.
I’m so happy you love them! They are definitely one of my favorite cookies. Happy holidays!
I buy Kourambiedes every year from the local Greek Orthodox Church. Rather than almond extract they have finely ground almonds in them. They are also rolled in tons of powdered sugar. They are similar to Russia tea cakes/Mexican wedding cookies.
Hi Lesley. Thanks for the comment. Yes, I have also had these cookies made with ground almonds. Both ways are delicious! I’ve had Italian Wedding Cookies made a similar way as well. Hope you like the recipe!
They look so fluffy and delicious!! Cannot wait to try these!
I love Greek Holiday treats and your recipe looks perfect for us to make this weekend!
It is such a relief to find this vanilla cookie recipe after seeing so many chocolate chip cookies everywhere. Thanks for the recipe, we will definitely be making these for Christmas
These look perfect! They look like they just melt in your mouth, I’ve never tried Greek butter cookies before, but I need to!
These butter cookies look so delicious! I love shortbread cookies so putting this on my To Do list to try this holiday season!