Gluten Free Kourabiethes

Kourabiethes (Greek Almond Biscuits) Recipe

Kourabiethes are traditional Greek almond shortbread biscuits. Synonymous with every Christmas and Easter celebration at our house growing up, I would inevitably end up dusted in a cloud of icing sugar as I ate through the snowy pile on my plate. My recipe for these is beautifully fragrant and buttery with the perfect amount of crunch from toasted almonds and a gorgeous aroma from rosewater and ouzo. Remember to toast the almonds for that all-important crunch and warm, nutty notes.

3.89 from 9 votes
Gluten Free Kourabiethes
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Kourabiethes (Greek Almond Biscuits)

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Total Time45 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Greek
Servings: 25 servings
Calories: 145kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ pound unsalted butter , room temperature
  • ½ cup powdered/icing sugar , sifted, plus more for dusting
  • 2 ¾ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup slivered almonds , toasted
  • 1 tablespoon ouzo
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon rosewater (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
  • Roll dough into 25 even-sized crescent shapes and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned.
  • Remove from oven and let cool on the tray. Dust liberally with powdered sugar.

Notes

If the dough is too sticky to roll, refrigerate for 10 minutes and dust with a little extra flour.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Kourabiethes (Greek Almond Biscuits)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 145 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 4g20%
Cholesterol 19mg6%
Sodium 94mg4%
Potassium 32mg1%
Carbohydrates 12g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 225IU5%
Calcium 22mg2%
Iron 0.6mg3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Gluten Free Kourabiethes Recipe

Disclaimer: All nutrition facts on Gluten Free & More are meant only as a guide and may differ depending on product brands used or ingredient substitutions. Some errors may occur, so you are encouraged to confirm the recipe’s ingredient and nutrition suitability for your own diet.
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Tags: Almonds Biscuits Cookies Greek Helen Tzouganatos Shortbread
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  1. Katherine
    December 23, 2020

    This came out perfectly first time. Such light biscuits!

    1. ioulia
      January 23, 2022

      Hi Katherine! I’ve now made this 4 times and although the taste is spot on, the texture is soooo dry. Mind if I ask what brand of flour you used? And….did you follow the recipe exactly? I’m determined to make these taste right! :-)

  2. ioulia
    January 3, 2022

    I used Tom Sawyer 1:1 GF flour. The batter was like dust. no way to make into cookies. Looked at my mom’s original kourambiethes recipe and she added an egg yolk. Added that to see if it would add some moisture. Added a second one. Eventually I just molded them and made them into cookies. The flavor was great, but they were SOOOOO dry they stuck to the roof of your mouth. Inedible. I’m not a baker, but I’m assuming too much flour. (And because I do NOT bake, I followed the recipe precisely). Could it possibly be the brand of flour would make that much of a difference?

    1. Gluten Free & More
      January 6, 2022

      Did you make any substitutions in the recipe? And does your flour contain xanthan gum?

      1. ioulia
        January 11, 2022

        I only didnt add ouzo. Otherwise followed exactly. Tom Sawyer flour ingredients:
        White Rice Flour
        Sweet Rice Flour
        Tapioca Flour
        Xantham Gum
        Unflavored gelatin.

        What brand flour do you use?

        1. Gluten Free & More
          January 11, 2022

          I use my own flour blend: https://glutenfreeandmore.com/carols-all-purpose-flour but this particular recipe was created by another writer, so I’m not sure what flour she used to create this. The ingredients you listed are pretty typical of any other gluten-free all-purpose flour blend, with the exception of the unflavored gelatin. That’s not as common and I wonder if that impacted the recipe in some way.

          1. ioulia
            January 16, 2022

            Interesting. On this page, she says to use Carol’s (which I had never heard of) and on another page she has with the same recipe (https://helentzouganatos.com/greek-kourabiethes-gluten-free/), she says to use Bob’s Red Mill with the blue packaging.
            So….I made them again tonight. Only half a batch, just in case! The Bob’s Red Mill was definitely better than the Tom Sawyer I had used. It actually made the dough into a texture I’d expect – not crumbly. But still…The end result…still pretty dry. NOT as bad as before. So, you’ve made this exact recipe using the Carol’s flour? And you’re Carol?! :-)

          2. Gluten Free & More
            January 18, 2022

            Hi there! Sorry for the confusion. Let me help clarify.

            This recipe is from Helen Tzouganatos and was published in Gluten Free & More Magazine, which is why it’s also on our website. Helen used what she said she used on her blog post — Bob’s Red Mill. We at Gluten Free & More typically use Carol’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour in the recipes we make for the website and magazine. However, as stated, this recipe was created by Helen and we did not test this particular recipe with Carol’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour. The link you see in the recipe ingredients that goes to Carol’s flour happens automatically because of a recipe plugin we use — it basically links all “gluten free flour” listings in the ingredients list of recipes to Carol’s flour. I hope that all makes sense.

            That said, if this recipe worked well with Bob’s Red Mill then it should also work well with Carol’s Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour.

          3. ioulia
            January 23, 2022

            Thanks for the clarification!

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