Cinnamon Pecan Kourambiethes (Greek Butter Cookies)

This recipe for Cinnamon Pecan Kourambiethes (Greek Butter Cookies) are traditional Greek cookies that are served at major holidays like Christmas and Easter. These butter cookies are soft, dense, and have a melt in your mouth delicious texture. With a hint of cinnamon and pecans, these cookies are covered in powdered sugar, making them the perfect pairing to a glass of milk.

If you are looking for more Greek recipes, be sure to check out Chicken Sausage Greek Salad, Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes, or Greek Avocado Toast.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

• Recipe Name: Cinnamon Pecan Kourambiethes (Greek Butter Cookies)
• Ready In: 33 minutes
• Makes: 48 cookies
• Main Ingredients: salted butter, powdered sugar, cake flour, pecans
• Flavor Profile: rich buttery, melt in your mouth cookies
• Dietary Info: no seed oils
• Difficulty: Easy!
• Why You’ll Love It: traditional Greek butter cookies

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Traditional Greek Cookies: This recipe Cinnamon Pecan Kourambiethes (Greek Butter Cookies) is a take on the traditional greek cookies, but with the addition of cinnamon and pecans that pairs so beautifully with butter and sugar!
• Buttery & Sweet: These organic cookies are dense, buttery, and they completely melts in your mouth.
• 15 Minutes: These Greek butter cookies only take 15 minutes to prep, then just bake, dust with powdered sugar and serve!
• Make Ahead: These Greek butter cookies are a great make ahead recipe as they keep well just out on the counter. So, they are perfect for prepping for parties or bake sales.
• Greek Christmas Cookies: It is not Christmas for me without these cookies. So if you have a Greek friend, bake them these for the ultimate cookie gift!

What are Kourambiethes?

Kourambiethes (pronounced KorUm-bI-ethies) is a traditional Greek cookie that is made up of a ton of butter, little bit of sugar, whiskey, flour, and then covered in plenty powdered sugar. This is similar to an Italian wedding cookie or a snowball, but these are not dry! These perfect Kourabiedes (or Kourambiethes), same meaning, just different English spellings can be used, are the only Greek butter cookie you'll ever want to make!

I promise, these are buttery, melt in your mouth cookies that are way better than any other powdered sugar cookie ball you've had. My recipe for my traditional YiaYia Cookies is in my book Cookies for Everyone. But, this one has the addition of cinnamon and pecans, which all of my friends have become obsessed with!

YiaYia (which means grandmother in Greek) was what we called my dad's mom, because she was 100% Greek. We lovingly called these YiaYia Cookies growing up, because we could not pronounce Kourambiethes! And it's still how I refer to them today. No holiday or celebration is complete without YiaYia Cookies, they are perfect for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, weddings or any gathering!

Ingredients

• Butter: Be sure to use a high quality butter as these cookies are heavily butter based, so the butter really matters! I love Sierra Nevada or Nancy's Organic for these butter cookies. Read more about my top butter choices in this post Best Salted Butter for Baking. Make sure to use room temperature butter
• Vanilla Extract: Use a high quality organic vanilla extract, not imitation. Unlike Italian wedding cookies that use almond extract, I use vanilla extract here.
• Eggs: You'll just need the egg yolk. You can save the egg white in an airtight container in the fridge and use it in another recipe or add to your breakfast eggs.
• Whiskey: I use Seagram's 7 American Blended Whiskey, which is why my YiaYia used. This will give these the most true flavor (especially if you have eaten these at my bakery!).
• Cake Flour: I use my Homemade Organic Cake Flour, store bought also works.
• Cinnamon: I use organic ground Korintje cinnamon, which is my favorite kind of cinnamon with the flavor I like. For more info on cinnamon, be sure to check out my post the Best Cinnamon to Bake With.
• Pecans: I use pecans because that's what my YiaYia used, but almonds or walnuts also work if you want to use those instead.

*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.

Baker's Tips for Cinnamon Pecan Kourambiethes (Greek Butter Cookies)

• Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
• I use my stand mixer here, which I recommend over a hand mixer. This is because there is a lot of butter and a lot of flour in these cookies, so it will make it much easier!
• Use high quality butter in these Greek Christmas cookies because this is the majority of what is in the cookie!
• I list the exact whiskey my YiaYia used in this recipe, it's not fancy, but it's what makes these taste nostalgic for me! And I've tried many other higher quality whiskeys, so try this one out!
• Make sure to allow the cookies to cool completely before adding the powdered sugar on top. If you don't let the cookies cool completely, the powdered sugar will just melt into the cookies and you'll have to add even more!
• Store these in a cool dry place.
• High Altitude — Bake at 325°F for 17 to 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the bottoms.

How to Make Cinnamon Pecan Kourambiethes (Greek Butter Cookies)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.

2. Mix on low until combined.

3. Add in the egg yolk, whiskey, cake flour, cinnamon, and sea salt in that order.

4. Mix on low until combined into a smooth dough.

5. Add in the pecans and mix to combine.

6. Using your hands, form the dough into 48 balls and place them close together on the prepared cookie sheets (they won’t spread while baking, so 24 should fit on each cookie sheet). Flatten each ball slightly. They should look like disks that are about 2 inches in diameter.

7. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on the bottoms. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).

8. Sift powdered sugar generously over the tops of the cook­ies. Store in a cool, dry place for up to 1 week.

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