3 cups butter
1 & 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
2 & 1/2 tbs brandy
1 tsp liquid vanilla extract
2 & 3/4 cups coarsely chopped roasted almonds
roughly 6 cups all purpose flour (or less or more flour as is needed per the instructions below)
1. Preheat the oven to 176C.
2. With a mixer (or hand mixer) beat the butter and icing sugar together for about 10 minutes, until the butter turns a light yellow colour.
3. Continue to mix and add the egg yolks. When the egg yolks have been incorporated, add the brandy. Continue to mix well incorporated, about another 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, add your vanilla and nuts. Then add the butter mixture. Begin to mix with your hand, adding the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Continue to mix with your hands. The mixture will be very sticky at the beginning, but should become less sticky as you add more flour. Continue to add flour until the mixture holds together and does not stick to your hands. It should look like the last “Step 4” picture below.5. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Do not work the dough too much, as this is not good for the cookies. With a cookie cutter, cut out shapes from the dough.6. Place the cookies on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for about 20 to 22 minutes. The cookies should be a very light golden brown colour.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool.
8. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top to cover the cookies and enjoy!
It’s 12 December, and I just noticed a typo above! Sorry, this sometimes happens in food blogs and I have corrected it – it should have said 1 & 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, not just 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. I would imagine if you made it just with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, the cookies would be lacking in some sweetness, so I do hope that those reading were saving their baking until the weekend! xxx
Christina, this recipe brought back many treasured memories of my mother, myself and Papouli in the kitchen. Mom would add a bit of Metaxa, and while no one was looking, Papoulu would sneak in a shot glass full of Metaxa. Think mom knew what her dad did, because she would always smile. These tasted as I remember her making them, but she stuck a whole clove in the center of her circles and pinched a pleat on top. Anyway, I enjoyed making these. Thanks for such vivid lifelong memories❣❣