Kourabiedes (Greek Cookies with Brandy)

Objective
To make my grandma's recipe for Greek cookies. Many recipes for Kourabiedes use ground almonds. Another similar recipe adds cloves for flavor. I remember these cookies from Christmas Eve when I was a child, because my grandma wouldn't let me eat them. However, when I was old enough to dare to disobey, they quickly became a favorite!

Hypothesis: This recipe will make small, light, melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

Materials
1 pound unsalted butter (2 cups or 4 sticks)
2/3 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, plus extra for rolling
1/2 cup orange juice
4 cups all-purpose flour
brandy

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 300°.
2. Cream the butter and sugar for 15 minutes.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla. When fully incorporated, add powdered sugar and orange juice. Finally, add the flour and mix until fully incorporated.
4. Drop by teaspoon into powdered sugar, shape into a ball and flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Immediately brush tops lightly with brandy, then move onto waxed paper coated with powdered sugar and sift with more powdered sugar.
6. Let cool and store in a plastic bag for 24 hours before serving.

Results
My cookies took over 25 minutes to bake (I wanted them to be firm when I pulled them out of the oven) because I made them too big. The cookies are light and fluffy and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth! The flavor was excellent. They were best from 24-48 hours, but were still good for the next week and a half.

Discussion and Future Directions
This recipe makes a lot of cookies. I cannot give a good estimate because I made mine too big. Even halving the recipe, I had at least two full cookie sheets (far over 2 dozen). However, they are delicious and there was no trouble making them disappear. Next time I make these, I may try adding a bit of ground cloves just to see what it does to the recipe. These were great as holiday cookies and would be a great cookie to gift (for adults only--although there is such a small amount of alcohol per cookie that anyone could really eat them)!