Greek Wedding Cookies

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Greek Wedding Cookies take less than an hour to make, use simple pantry ingredients, and are so crumbly, soft, and tasty! Perfect for the special occasions and the holidays. Enjoy them with your family, or give them as a gift!

Crescent-shaped Greek wedding cookies in a white dish

Kourabiedes or kourabiethes, are a shortbread cookies with sweet, buttery flavor and a soft, crumbly texture. They're also known as Greek wedding cookies, butter cookies, and Christmas cookies. These sweet butter cookies are popular for events and holidays - especially Christmas!

Greek Butter Cookies

I love, love, love baking cookies for the holidays!

Admittedly, there was a point in my life where I was not much of a baker. But, homemade cookies are irresistible, and as my kids were growing up, I knew I wanted to learn how to make special desserts for them just like I did with our Sunday suppers.

Cookies were easiest for me to start with, and after all my years of experimenting, I developed plenty of cookie recipes.

Now, some of my favorites include my coconut cookies, pumpkin frosting cookies, no-bake oatmeal cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip, and double-chocolate!

Two Greek wedding cookies with a plate of cookies in the background

Almonds: Almond is a key ingredient in Greek wedding cookies, contributing majorly to the flavor. I'm using ground almonds.
Butter: You will want to use unsalted butter. This is important, as this recipe should not have added salt. The butter should be soft enough to cream, but still cold. Don't let it get too warm!
Powdered Sugar: You will need this both for the cookie mixture and for rolling the cookies in sugar later.
Egg: You only need an egg yolk, so separate the egg white from the yolk and only keep the yolk.
Vanilla Extract: Vanilla and almond go together so well. I love adding vanilla extract to my Greek cookies. You can also use Mexican vanilla extract.
All-Purpose Flour: For the dough!
Baking Powder: This lightens the texture of the cookies.

How to Make Wedding Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spread ground almonds in a shallow baking pan. Toast for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Reduce oven heat to 325°F.
In a bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar, and mix well. Stir in almonds and vanilla extract.
In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing together until smooth.
Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough and shape them into crescents. Add them to a non-greased baking sheet, spacing the cookies 1-inch apart.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Allow the cookies to cool on racks for 5 minutes after removing from the oven.
Sift half of 3 cups powdered sugar over wax paper. Transfer the cookies to it. Sift the remaining powdered sugar over the cookies to coat them. Let them stand until cooled, then store in an airtight container until ready to enjoy.

Sprinkling Greek butter cookies with confectioner's sugar

Greek Cookies Expert Tips

Greek wedding cookies can be rolled into a few shapes, but I like to make mine in a crescent shape.
You might need to bake them for a few extra minutes if you form them in a large ball shape, since they will most likely turn out larger than the crescents shown here.
You can also use almond extract if you don't want to use real almonds. I would recommend that for this you halve the vanilla extract and use half almond extract instead, or use all almond extract.
Avoid over-working your dough, which can make the cookies too dense.

A jar of Kourabiedes with a festive ribbon

Greek Butter Cookies FAQ

What is the difference between kourabiedes and melomakarona?

Although both Greek wedding cookies (kourabiedes) and Greek honey cookies (melomakarona) are typically served for holidays like Christmas, they are very different. Melomakarona cookies are moist honey cookies with spices and a less crumbly texture.

Why are my kourabiedes flat?

If your Greek cookies come out of the oven flat, then you might have over-worked the dough or your butter was too warm. I recommend making sure your butter is still somewhat cold, and don't overwork your dough.

Christmas Recipes