Grandma Chrysoula’s Kourabiedes

Originally published: December 1, 2014 – Updated: December 2025

This is a post I’ve been meaning to share for a long time. I’ve been blogging since 2012, and year after year, around this season, I would think about it. Well, ladies and gents, I guess it is about time! Since I have a lot of photos to share and I want to provide several details in both Greek and English, I thought it would be neater to present everything in two separate posts—otherwise, you might have had to scroll through an infinite amount of content.

So let’s get down to the details. Kourabiedes, pronounced [ku-rub-yeh-thes], are famous sugar & butter cookies, fluffy inside and crispy on the outside, with a melt-in-your-mouth crumbly texture. They are traditional Christmas cookies, but in some parts of Greece, they’re also offered as a treat at weddings and christenings since they’re sprinkled with powdered sugar, and their white color is associated with innocence & purity.

My Grandma’s Kourabiedes

This recipe was passed down to my mother from her mother (my grandmother Chrysoula). It is hand-written with a blue-ink fountain pen (unknown by whom—my grandmother couldn’t read or write, so she must have dictated this to someone and then had it sent to my mom), and if you look closely, despite several spelling mistakes, you can distinguish the diacritics (accents) of the Greek polytonic orthography system above certain vowels. I had to laminate the piece of paper because it was falling apart, but I so wanted to keep it!

Two Tricky Ingredients

1. Lye Water – The Ashes of Tradition

Before we delve into the actual recipe and the how-tos, I’d like to draw your attention to a very particular ingredient, the wood-ash “lye” water. Lye water seems to be an extremely confusing term, and googling it will most likely add to your confusion! I had to read through a lot of articles before I could make any sense of it myself, and here’s what I’ve come down to:

What It Is and What It Isn’t

Wood-ash “lye” ≠ sodium hydroxide.
Traditional wood-ash leachate (what home cooks historically called lye) is primarily potassium carbonate (potash) with some sodium carbonate (soda ash) and other soluble salts—not sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH). It’s alkaline, but chemically different from commercial caustic soda. Composition and strength depend on the wood species, combustion conditions, and extraction method, making it inconsistent compared to standardized, food-grade chemicals. That’s why traditional recipes that call for “lye” can be ambiguous.

Modern “Food-Grade Lye”

Food-grade lye sold today = sodium hydroxide (NaOH).
In modern contexts, “food-grade lye” typically refers to sodium hydroxide, a strong caustic alkali that’s FDA-recognized for specific food uses when handled and rinsed properly—think pretzels, olives, lutefisk, century eggs, or hominy. It’s powerful, it’s safe if used correctly, and it’s absolutely not the same as what your grandmother made in a fireplace.

Asian Lye Water and Modern Substitutes

Chinese/Asian lye water (kansui / 枧水 / jian shui) refers to alkaline carbonate solutions—typically potassium carbonate and/or sodium carbonate—not NaOH. It gives noodles their bounce and mooncakes their tender chew. Commercial formulas vary, but many home cooks use baked baking soda (sodium bicarbonate heated to form sodium carbonate) as a mild, safe substitute.

A Quick Comparison

• Wood-ash “lye” → Potassium & sodium carbonates; weak, variable.
• Modern “food-grade lye” → Sodium hydroxide; strong, precise, caustic.
• Asian kansui / lye water → Potassium & sodium carbonates; controlled strength.
• Baking soda (NaHCO₃) → Very mild; can be baked to form sodium carbonate.

In Greek Tradition

The rustic “lye” used in older Greek and other rural recipes refers to ash leachate (water filtered through wood ashes), which yields that mild potash-soda mixture. It’s alkaline but far gentler than modern NaOH. Because its strength depends on how it’s made, every batch behaves a little differently—one more reason traditional recipes taste subtly unique from household to household!

Today’s Kitchen Reality

Nowadays, when we say food-grade lye, we mean sodium hydroxide (NaOH), a standardized, powerful alkali used under controlled conditions. For home cooks, though, there’s no need to venture into the realm of caustic soda. You can safely use Chinese or Asian lye water (kansui) in this recipe. It’s readily available and ideally suited for the task. But if you happen to have a fireplace (or know someone who does), I’ll also show you how to make your own traditional wood-ash version—it’s a simple, old-world process that’s far less daunting than it sounds.

2. Ouzo – The Spirit of the Aegean

On a lighter note, another special ingredient is ouzo, the anise-flavored aperitif widely consumed in Greece and Cyprus. You could replace it with several other anise-flavored liqueurs, such as the French Anisette or Pastis, the Italian Sambuca, the Spanish Ojen, or with Arak, the traditional aperitif of Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, and Iran.

Prep Like a Greek (a Little Chaos, a Lot of Butter)

Make sure to prepare the lye water, almonds, and clarified butter a couple of days ahead. Trust me, future you will thank present you. The lye needs time to settle, the almonds need to cool completely after their toasty debut, and the butter takes its sweet time turning into gold. Think of this as the calm before the powdered-sugar storm: a little patience now means smoother baking later. Now, let’s make some magic—and a mess!

Lye Water (Rural Chemistry 101)

If you’ve ever dreamed of making your own old-world ingredients from scratch, here’s your moment. This is the way our grandmothers’ grandmothers did it—though I’ll also show you a modern, easier (and safer) shortcut below.

Before you begin, make sure your ash is pure wood ash—nothing more, nothing less. You can use ash from your own fireplace or a neighbor’s, as long as no one has burned:

• firelogs with petroleum or bio-wax
• sawdust or coffee-ground firelogs
• newspaper or “eco” logs
• corn or wood pellets
• treated or painted wood
• random throw-ins like napkins, tissues, or cigarette butts

What you want is clean, natural hardwood ash, ideally from oak, olive, or beech.

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How to Make Wood-Ash “Lye” Water

Yeild: ½ a glass (about 110 ml / 3.7 fl oz)—enough for roughly 2 lb of flour

Equipment

• small pot

Ingredients

• 2 glasses water (preferably filtered or rainwater)
• 3 rounded tbsp wood ash clean, sifted

Instructions

• Safety first: Even mild alkaline water can irritate skin and eyes. Slip on gloves, protect your counter, and use glass, ceramic, or stainless-steel cookware (never aluminum).
• Prepare your ash: Sift it through a fine sieve to remove any black charcoal bits or debris.
• Bring one glass of water to a boil in a small pot.
• Carefully add your 3 tablespoons of ash, then pour in the second glass of water. Stir gently once or twice to wet the ash—then stop stirring!
• Simmer briefly: Bring the mixture back to a gentle boil for 2–3 minutes. Turn off the heat and set it aside.
• Let it rest: Allow the pot to sit undisturbed for several hours (or overnight) until the ash has completely settled and the top liquid appears pale and clear.
• Strain carefully: Without shaking the pot, use a ladle to draw off the clear liquid from the top. Strain it through a very fine mesh or a coffee filter to remove any trace of ash.
• Use or store: The result is a mild alkaline water—the “lye” of centuries past. Use about ½ glass for a dough made with 2 lb of flour, or store it in a sealed, labeled glass jar for up to a week.

Notes

Please note that this is a traditional, approximate method, rather than an exact science. The alkalinity will vary depending on the type of wood, the temperature at which it burned, and how long the water sat. Wear gloves, work gently, and if the liquid smells smoky or looks cloudy, discard it and start over. It should feel slippery but not burn the skin—if it does, it’s too strong. Add more water to dilute it.

If you’d rather skip the fireplace chemistry, there’s a neat kitchen hack: bake your baking soda!

Spread ½ cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) on a baking sheet and bake it at 250°F (120°C) for 1 hour. The gentle heat drives off carbon dioxide and water, converting it into sodium carbonate—a stronger, food-safe alkali similar to what’s found in traditional ash lye. To use it, dissolve one teaspoon of your “baked baking soda” in ½ cup of warm water and use that in place of the wood-ash lye water. It’s odorless, predictable, and won’t require you to raid the fireplace.

Toasty Beginnings

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How to Blanch & Toast Almonds

Time: blanching 1-2mins/toasting 10-15mins

Equipment

• small pot
• rimmed baking sheet

Ingredients

• raw unsalted almonds (this kourabiedes recipe calls for 8.8 oz/250 g)

Instructions

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil.
• Place your raw almonds into the boiling water. Let them boil for merely 1 to 2 minutes. Don't leave them longer than that because they will start to soften.
• Drain the almonds immediately in a colander or strainer and rinse them with cold water to cool them down.
• Blot them dry with a paper towel.
• You'll notice that the skins will be slightly shriveled. Use your fingers to gently squeeze the almonds and loosen their skin off.
• Once you remove the skins, cut them lengthwise in thirds or fourths and lay them on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake them in a preheated oven at 350 ºF/180 ºC for 10-15 minutes until they're golden brown (careful, they burn easily). They need to be completely cooled before you use them in the recipe.

Notes

True story: if you squeeze too hard, they’ll shoot across the room—which will be highly entertaining (to others… not you). Try squeezing them from one hand to the other to prevent launching!

This is what your almonds should look like when cut in fourths:

Butter, Clarified & Glorified

One more step before getting down to the actual recipe: Since we’re speaking the language of yiayiades and their mystical “glasses,” we need to decode the darned glass! In traditional Greek recipes, a ποτήρι (glass) almost always refers to a classic water glass, with a capacity of approximately 200–250 ml.

So 5 glasses of butter are ≈ 1000-1250 ml or 900‐1150 g. And if we convert that to US equivalents, we’re looking at 900 g of butter ≈ 2 lbs (4 US cups), or 1150 g of butter ≈ 2½ lbs (5 US cups). Are you still with me? I’m having a slight headache, but nonetheless, we’re going for 5 cups (1100 ml) of clarified butter, and (since butter has a density of about 0.911 g/ml) we’ll need approximately 3 lbs (1.36 kg) of whole butter for that!

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How to Clarify Butter

Yield: about 5 cups (≈ 37 fl oz / 1.1 L) clarified butter

Equipment

• medium-sized pot

Ingredients

• 3 lbs unsalted butter (≈ 1.36 kg)

Instructions

• Melt gently: Place the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Let it melt slowly—patience here keeps the milk solids from burning.
• Skim the surface: As the butter melts, a light foam will rise to the top. Skim it off carefully with a spoon.
• Let it rest: Remove from the heat and allow it to stand, undisturbed, for 30–40 minutes. The clear golden butterfat will separate from the milky solids that settle at the bottom.
• Strain and store: Pour the clear layer slowly through a fine mesh sieve (or one lined with a coffee filter) into a clean, dry container, leaving the residue behind.

Notes

Strain while still warm, and store in a sterilized jar. Clarified butter keeps for weeks at room temperature and even longer in the refrigerator—ready to lend that unmistakable richness to your kourabiedes!

So, without further ado (and with everything prepped, cooled, and clarified), here’s the basic recipe:

5 from 5 votes

Kourabiedes

Athina

Kourabiedes, pronounced [ku-rub-yeh-thes], are shortbread-type biscuits (with versions found in most Arab, Balkan, and Ottoman cuisines) that are the perfect companion to your coffee or tea throughout the year!

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total cooking time for 3 batches 1 hour hr

Course Cookies

Cuisine Greek

Servings 70 cookies*

Calories 199 kcal

Equipment

• stand mixer

Ingredients

  

• 5 cups melted, clarified butter – about 37 fl oz / 1.1 L, rendered from 3 lbs / 1.36 kg whole butter (see instructions in this post)
• 3-5 pinches pure vanilla powder – careful, not paste nor extract
• 1.3 fl oz / 40 ml ouzo
• 5 level tbsp powdered sugar
• 3.7 fl oz / 110 ml wood-ash lye water – enough for a 2-lb-flour dough; see instructions in this post
• 1 large lemon peel – make sure it’s one big, thick chunk so it won’t get caught in the mixer whip
• 8.8 oz / 250 g blanched, toasted almonds – cut lengthwise into thirds or fourths (depending on size; see instructions in this post)
• 2 lbs / 1 kg all-purpose flour
• 2 lbs / 1 kg powdered sugar – for coating only; not added to the dough. This will coat about 70 cookies.

Instructions

 

• Place the clarified butter in the mixer bowl, add the vanilla, and beat on low speed for about 5 minutes.
• Add the ouzo and 5 level tablespoons of sugar; continue beating for another 10 minutes.
• Add the lye water and increase to medium speed. Beat until the mixture turns into a smooth, pale cream — about 1 hour.
• Tip: Drop a chunk of lemon peel while it beats, but make sure it's large enough not to get caught in the whisk.
• Transfer the mixture to a large bowl — from this point on, the mixing and kneading are done by hand.
• Add the cooled almonds and mix gently, then remove the lemon peel.
• Gradually incorporate the flour, mixing until you have a dough that’s soft but not sticky — it should hold its shape without clinging to your fingers.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet with butter and preheat the oven to 350–390°F (180–200°C).
• Using a spoon or small ice-cream scoop, portion even mounds of dough and shape them into small patties. Use your thumb to make a shallow curve on top.
• Bake on the middle rack until golden and lightly cracked on the surface — about 20–30 minutes per batch.
• Meanwhile, prepare the sugaring station: cover your counter with paper towels, lay parchment on top, and sift a thick layer of powdered sugar over it.
• When each batch comes hot out of the oven, place the cookies directly onto the sugar.
• Sift another generous layer of powdered sugar over them — they should be blanketed, not just dusted.
• Repeat with the remaining batches. Allow the cookies to cool completely, preferably overnight, spread out and resting in the sugar. Resist the urge to stack or move them too soon — patience is the secret ingredient. Tomorrow, you’ll thank yourself.
• Once they’ve cooled and “settled,” gently shake off the excess sugar and arrange them in boxes, tins, or serving plates.

Notes

*The original recipe claims to yield about 120 cookies, but in practice, I’ve found it makes closer to 70, depending, of course, on how generous you are with your shaping. (Let’s just say mine lean toward “festive” rather than “bite-sized.”)

Keyword Christmas Recipes, Traditional Recipes

See how clear clarified butter looks? It makes a significant difference to the taste and texture of the end product.

And this is what it should look like after you’ve beaten it for an hour:

This is what your “patties” should look like:

And here they are out of the oven:

See those cracks I was talking about? They are essential for taking in the necessary amount of powdered sugar later on and also indicate that the kourabiedes are baked to perfection.

I realize that with all the prep required, this might seem a bit intimidating, but I do hope you’ll give kourabiedes a try, they’re so worth it. Enjoy!

*images by Athina D. Pantazatou for Kicking Back the Pebbles