Title: Kourabiedes
 Categories: Cookies, Greek, Christmas
      Yield: 30 Pieces
 
      2 c  Butter, unsalted
      1 c  Sugar, powdered
      3    Egg yolks
      3 tb Brandy
      2 ts Vanilla extract
      6 c  Flour
    1/2 c  Almonds (blanched),
           -chopped
      1 lb Sugar, powdered
           -(one package)
 
  Beat the butter with the sugar until it becomes fluffy. Add the egg
  yolks one by one, beating continuously. Add the brandy and vanilla.
  
  Blend in the almonds and the flour, a cup at a time. Use enough flour
  to get a firm dough (it may take a bit more or less than the amount
  mentioned in the ingredients list). Use your hands to do the mixing,
  as an electric mixer will be useless after the first two or three
  cups of flour have been added. Place the dough in the refrigerator
  for at least one hour.
  
  Shape the dough into balls, about one inch in diameter, flatten them
  and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20
  minutes.
  
  Remove from the oven.  Roll each cookie (while it is still hot) in the
  powdered sugar and put it back on the cookie sheet. Repeat this step
  once more, so that you get a thicker coating.
  
  Place the coated cookies on a platter, liberally sprinkling each
  layer and the bottom of the platter with powdered sugar. When you are
  done, there shouldn't be any sugar left. Let them cool and they are
  ready to eat!
  
  NOTES:
  
  *  Traditional Greek Christmas cookies coated with powdered sugar --
  This is one of the two kinds of confection that are traditionally
  consumed in large quantities in Greece during the holiday season (the
  other is melomacarona). As a quick lesson in greek, "kourabiedes"
  (pronounced "kou-ra-bi-ETH-es", is the plural of the word "kourabies"
  (kou-ra-bi-ES). Now all you need to enjoy them is the recipe. I got
  this one from a Greek cookbook and translated it into English.
  
  *  The cookbook suggests the following variations: using ouzo or
  scotch instead of brandy, and almond extract instead of vanilla
  extract, but I have not tried any of them. Also, putting granulated
  instead of powdered sugar in the dough didn't seem to affect the
  recipe, there's so much sugar in it, that you couldn't tell the
  difference anyway.
  
  *  The cookbook also suggested using twice the amount of sugar for
  coating. This is obviously too much, but it should make you realize
  that you must really be liberal with the sugar!
  
  : Difficulty:  Easy to moderate.
  : Time:  30 minutes preparation, one hour refrigeration, 20 minutes
  baking. : Precision: approximate measurement OK.
  
  : Kriton Kyrimis
  : Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
  : princeton!kyrimis kyrimis@princeton.edu
  
  :