Sid Sisters: (Late) Holiday Edition

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season spent surrounded by family, friends, good food, and love! I'm sorry that us sisters have been kinda AWOL. We have been enjoying each other and other family for the holidays, as well as recuperating from some germs that have been going around. Although the holidays are over, I really wanted to share two of my favorite cookie recipes from Christmas time. One is a classic here in the States: chocolate chip cookies. I know there are so many chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, and I have tried so many, but these cookies are truly the BEST that I have ever had! Seriously, just try them for yourself! The second recipe is a tradition in Greek households. Kourabiedes are Greek butter-almond cookies that are always made around Christmas and New Year's Day. So without further ado...

Don't these photos look great? That's because I took them on my new DSLR camera that Hubster got me for Christmas! I love it!

Eleni's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies: 

• 3/4 c. butter (I normally use salted butter, but they still taste great with unsalted)
• 1 1/2 c. sugar 
• 2 T. maple syrup 
• 2 t. vanilla 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 c. flour 
• 1 t. baking soda 
• 1/2 t. salt 
• 1/2 a bag-1 whole bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use close to 3/4 a bag. I like these chocolatey!) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 
2. In small saucepan, melt the butter on low heat until butter is frothy. Take pan off heat and set aside to cool butter to about room temperature. *Edit: I've tried this recipe at "about" room temperature and get some mixed results within the batch. Usually the first round comes out a littler flatter than the rest, which are perfect. I have now made two batches perfectly by waiting for the melted butter to cool completely to room temp, including the outside of the saucepan reaching room temp.
3. In large bowl, combine cooled, melted butter, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and eggs. Mix until well combined. 
4. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir until flour is fully incorporated. Add chocolate chips and stir until chips are evenly distributed. *Edit: after this step, put dough into fridge for 5-6 minutes. I put the dough in, clean up my ingredients, wipe the counter, set up the cookie sheets and wire racks, then take the dough out and begin to form the cookies.
5. With a small spoon, scoop dough into hand. Form a ball and place onto ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat this step until dough is gone. 
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until bottoms of cookies are slightly golden brown. In my oven, 9 minutes is perfect. 
7. Remove pan, let cool on counter for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. 

This recipe makes 3 dozen cookies. They are sweet, buttery, soft, chocolatey, and delicious! I put them into an airtight container and they hold for up to a week, not that they EVER last that long. 

Ok. Onto Greek Christmas cookies! 

 Bad me eating the cookies before they are coated. Oops! But they are too hard to resist!

Sidiropoulos Family Kourabiedies Recipe: 

• 2 1/4 c. butter, softened 
• 1 c. powdered sugar 
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla 
• 1/2 c. almonds, chopped (you can used raw or roasted, just make sure they are not salted. I personally prefer raw. I also chop these in my bullet. Makes the process much faster.) 
• 4 c. flour 
• More powdered sugar for coating 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. I use my hand mixer, but obviously a standing mixer works great, too. 
   
3. Slowly add 1 c. powdered sugar and mix until thoroughly combined. Add vanilla and almonds and mix until combined. 
4. Slowly add flour and mix until dough is no longer sticky. I stop halfway through this process and use a rubber spatula or spoon to do the rest. You might also need an extra pinch of flour to ensure your dough is not sticky. 
   
   
5. Use a small spoon to scoop dough into hands. Form a ball, then press in one side of the ball to form a crescent shape. Place crescent on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat this step until dough is gone. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Bottoms of cookies should be a golden brown, but tops should just have a hint of gold. 
7. Allow cookies to fully cool. Take each cookie and toss in a small bowl of powdered sugar until fully coated. 

These cookies are soft, light, and buttery. They literally just melt in your mouth. If your kourabiedes come out dry or a little hard, cook the next batch 1-2 minutes less. Also, this recipe makes a slightly ridiculous amount of cookies. But in our culture, you make a batch to last until New Year's. It is also a great cookie to share, so I gave some out as gifts as well and had to make another batch.

I hope you enjoy these two Christmas traditions from our family. Now to finish of this holiday themed post, I want to share a few pictures from our Christmas celebrations!  

 

 Christina was in town! We got her to ourselves for a few days before we all went to Παππου's house a few days before Christmas

I think we all, T-Rex and Hubster included, got spoiled this holiday! I hope you did, too! Until next time. 

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni