Kourambiedes (A Greek Christmas Cookie) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 cups butter, at room temperature or 450 g butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 -4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups almonds, chopped and roasted
orange flower water (available in many ethnic groceries) or ouzo
extra icing sugar, for rolling the cookies in

Preparation

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer for 15 minutes, until it begins to turn white. Mix in the baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add the egg yolks, the brandy, vanilla extract, and gradually add the flour, until you have a dough that is neither too soft nor too firm (you may need to add slightly more than the amount I've written); stir in the almonds.
Let the dough stand for an hour at room temperature, covered with a clean dish towel.
Next, with small amounts (about 1 1/2 teaspoons of dough), shape small rounds by gently rolling the dough around between the palms of your hands.
Arrange the round cookies on a buttered pan and flatten ever so slightly on top with your hand.
Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.
Immediately upon removing the kourambiedes from the oven, sprinkle them with rose water (or orange water or ouzo. I do this by putting a small amount of the liquid in a bowl, wetting my fingertips, and shaking the droplets over the hot cookies a few times. The scented water or ouzo gives the cookies a very delicate fragrance).
Roll the hot cookies in icing sugar to cover and let cool.
When cool, arrange on a pretty holiday platter, sieving more icing sugar between the cookie layers to give a snowdrift effect.