Christmas Treats...

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
I have promised to share a recipe today with one of my lovely Twitter friends and so decided there might be others who would enjoy it as well!

It comes to me from The Embassy of Greece in Washington, DC.  When I first lived in Washington, I worked for an office where the Vice President would take us for a Christmas treat to The Choral Arts Society to see a performance of Christmas music at The Kennedy Center and then to The Mayflower Hotel afterwards for an elegant dinner, sponsored by a different embassy each year.  The first year I attended, the dinner was sponsored by the Embassy of Greece and tied to our goodie bags was this delicious recipe for Kourabiedes, a traditional Greek cookie, which has become a part of my Christmas traditions.  They are the perfect last-minute cookie gift because they can be made so quickly but also, are a lovely, delicate, not-too-sweet cookie, perfect with tea any time, so please don't save the recipe for just Christmastime!

Kourabiedes

1/2 cup butter (recipe calls for sweet,

but I happen to prefer salted)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

Additional powdered sugar

(if desired)

In mixer, cream butter and powdered sugar.  Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.  Add flour and powdered sugar.  Mix until just incorporated.  Chill for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  You may form the dough into 1-inch crescents for a traditional look.  I prefer to scoop out portions with my melon baller, roll them into balls and then flatten them to make small circles instead.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cookies should be pale and not browned.  Traditionally, they are dusted with powdered sugar, however I generally skip this step and just serve them without.

Makes approximately 20 cookies.