Irene’s Cretan biscuits (Greek almond cookies)

These traditional Greek Cretan biscuits are here courtesy of Irene, the very Greek mother of my very Greek hairdresser. Does it surprise anybody that I spend most of the time at the salon discussing food with everybody and anybody? 😂

Meet Irene, beloved local Greek grandmother and baker

If you love buttery shortbread biscuits and almond cookies, you will adore today’s Greek Cretan Biscuits. But first, I want you to meet Irene!

My hairdresser Deange Hair is run by two Greek sisters, Angela and Diane, in a small shop attached to their parents’ house. On any given day, the salon buzzes with customers getting their hair done as they nibble homemade cookies while young children dart around the shop. Irene, the family matriarch, holds court with clients as she interjects with “advice” for her daughters as they work with delicious aromas wafting in from her kitchen.

You might even catch her doing a weekly audit of her biscuit sales to ensure her daughters aren’t shortchanging her. “Make sure this money goes to your mum!” I sternly remind Angela and Diane every time I buy some. 😂

It’s a wonderfully familiar scene that provides much amusement to regulars.

Of all the homemade cookies I’ve tried (and I’m pretty sure I’ve tried them all!), the Greek Cretan biscuits have been my favourite. Thank you Irene for sharing your recipe!

Ingredients in Irene’s Cretan Biscuits

Here’s what you need to make Irene’s Cretan Biscuits.

biscuit dough

• Blanched almonds – These are skinless almonds that have been blanched (did the name give it away?? 😂) meaning they have been briefly boiled in water so the skin comes off easily. These almonds are softer and have a more subtle almond flavour than regular roasted almonds. They are also chosen for aesthetic reasons when you don’t want the dark brown almond skin in foods, like in these Cretan Cookies.

  Can you use regular almonds with skins? Yep, you sure can and the flavour will be similar. But prepare yourself for little dark brown bits inside your cookies!

• Butter – Gives these cookies the divine buttery flavour reminiscent of shortbread cookies. I prefer to use unsalted then add my own amount of salt. But if you only have salted that’s fine, just skip the salt in the recipe.

• Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour. Note: Irene’s original recipe called for self raising flour. See FAQ for what and why I deviated from her original recipe!

• Baking powder – This is what makes the cookies rise into those wonderful little mounds! ⚠️ Don’t substitute with baking soda (bi-carbonate soda), the cookies will taste metallic. Also, if your baking powder has been lying dormant for months in your pantry, check it’s still alive before starting the recipe (instructions here, it’s dead easy).

• Egg – Use a “large egg” which is sold in cartons labelled as “large eggs”. They are ~50g/2 oz each in shells. Eggs in a carton are not all the same weight because those darn hens, they’re so selfish, how dare they not lay eggs exactly the same weight every time! The point of providing a size guide is so you don’t use a gigantic ostrich egg or tiny quail egg….the recipe will not work! 🙂

  Make sure your egg is at room temperature, not fridge cold. else you will struggle to get it mixed into the butter properly.

• Vanilla extract – For flavour. Vanilla extract trumps vanilla essence (imitation). I wouldn’t use pricey vanilla beans in a recipe like this!

Decorating

• Egg white – Used to brush the top of the biscuits to make the almond flakes stick. Use the yolk plus leftover egg whites for your morning scrambled eggs or omelette!

• Almond flakes – For decorating the surface. Not critical, but a nice to have for both extra almond flavour plus visual. I would plough ahead with this recipe if I was out!

How to make Irene’s Cretan Cookies

This is a straightforward cookie recipe. However, this section has a fair amount of descriptions so even novice bakers can have confidence making this recipe. For pro bakers, head straight to the abbreviated directions on the recipe card below!

1. crushed ALMOND BITs

1. Roast almonds – Pop the almonds in the oven for 7 minutes to toast them lightly. This will intensity the almond flavour but won’t make the almonds too brown (we want them to stay white so it’s invisible in the cookies).

   Roasting is not an essential step because the cookies are lovely as is. But it does bring out the almond flavour. It’s especially good to do this if you are using almonds a little on the old side. 🙂

2. Bash or blitz – Use a food processor or a ziplock bag and rolling pin to bash the almonds into little crumbs. We’re not going for finely ground almonds here. If we were, the recipe would use almond meal instead! I describe the pieces as “coarse sand plus some larger bits” because whichever method you use, it’s hard to get the almonds all uniform in size. And that’s what we want, because it’s actually really nice to have little bits of almonds in the cookies!

2. BISCUIT MIXTURE

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together then put them aside.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy, like soft spreadable butter. It takes about 1 1/2 minutes on medium high.

   Tool – I prefer to use a handheld beater because you can move it around the bowl so you don’t really need to scrape the sides down. If you want to use a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and scrape down the sides of the bowl at least twice.

3. Egg and vanilla – Then beat the egg and vanilla into the butter mixture. It might look a little curdled but don’t worry, it will come together once we add the flour.

   ⚠️ Important to ensure the egg is at room temperature as it will incorporate into the butter mixture more easily. Fridge cold egg will not mix in properly.

4. Flour mixture in 3 lots – Beat in the flour mixture in 3 lots. By this, I mean add 1/3 of the flour and beat on medium speed until the flour is just about mixed in ie some specks of white is fine, about 5 seconds with the beater. Start on low then increase the speed to medium (if you start on high there will be a flour storm!). Then repeat this twice more until all the flour is used up.

5. Crushed almonds – Then lastly, add the bashed almonds and beat until the flour is fully mixed in.

6. Finished dough – This is what it looks like. Shaggy but soft, rollable into a smooth ball.

3. MAKING THE COOKIES

Use whatever method you find easiest to roll 30 x 2 tablespoon balls (30 ml). The steps below depict the method I find to be the fastest to make even size cookies.

1. Trays – You will need 2 large baking trays. Lightly grease with butter or spray with oil then cover with baking paper (parchment paper).

2. Scoop first – Use a #40 (2 tbsp) cookie scoop to scoop and dollop the cookie dough into mounds on baking trays. You should just about get 30 cookies if you fill the scoop without air bubbles and “smear” it up the side of the bowl to level the surface.

3. Roll and flatten – Working one cookie at a time, I roll the dough into a smooth ball then slightly flatten to about 2 cm / 0.8″ thick.

   Then place the cookies 4 cm / 1.6″ apart on the trays. I do 15, being 3 rows of 5 cookies on each tray They don’t expand outwards that much but we want sufficient heat circulating around each cookie so they cook properly.

4. Almond topping – Brush the top with the egg white them place a pinch of almond flakes on top (no need to press in, egg glues them on).

5. Bake both trays together for 20 minutes or until the cookies in the middle are light golden and the ones of the edge of the tray are slightly more golden.

6. Cool 5 minutes on the tray then transfer onto a rack to cool for at least a further 10 minutes before attacking! (Hot cookies = fragile / mouth burns. Either situation is not ideal). While typically eaten at room temperature once cooled, they really are extra special when warm and fresh out of the oven.

Matters of storage – and the most important thing

Once fully cool, store in an airtight container in the pantry, not the fridge. They stay fresh for 5 days and still very, very good at 7 days, making them excellent for…..oh, I don’t know. Selling at the counter of your hair salon? 😂

While shelf life information is useful, I know what you’re all waiting for – Irene’s review of my Cretan Biscuits! Very happy to report that she gave them a big thumbs up. 👍🏻 PHEW!!! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Greek Cretan Biscuits (almond cookies)

Servings30 cookies

Tap or hover to scale

Recipe video above. A recipe for traditional Greek almond cookies, given to me by Irene, the proudly Greek mother of my Greek hairdresser! Tastes like almond shortbread cookies. Love the mound-like shape, feels substantial biting into it.See FAQ about difference in measures between countries, no need to tweak this recipe, works as written.

Cook ModePrevent screen from sleeping

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

• Toast almonds 7 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), cool bash or blitz. Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients in 3 lots, then beat in almond. Roll 30 x 2 tbsp balls (#40 scoop). Slightly flatten, brush with egg white, top with flakes. Bake 20 min until light golden.

Almond bits:

• Roasting (optional, Note 1) – Roast the almonds for 8 minutes on a small tray, shaking once halfway. Cool almonds on the tray.

• Bash/blitz the almonds using a food food processor or ziplock bag with a rolling pin until they resemble coarse sand with some small lumps (little almonds bits in the cookies are nice). (Note 3)

Cookie dough:

• Dry ingredients – Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

• Cream butter and sugar – In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar using a handheld beater until it is soft and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed, ~1 1/2 minutes on medium high. (Note 2 stand mixer) Add the egg and vanilla, then beat until mixed in. (Note 4)

• Add the flour mixture in 3 lots, beating in between until the flour is mostly mixed in (some visible white flour is ok). Start the beater on low and increase to medium, about 7 sec each go.

• Add the crushed almonds then beat on medium until you can no longer see flour.

• Form cookies – Roll 30 x 2 tablespoon balls (#40 cookie scoop) then slightly flatten to about 2 cm / 0.8″ thick. (Note 5 for my method). Place the cookies 4 cm / 1.6″ apart on the trays. Brush the top with egg white them place a pinch of almond flakes on top (no need to press in, egg glues them on).

• Bake both trays together for 20 minutes or until the cookies in the middle are light golden and the ones of the edge of the tray are slightly more golden.

• Cool 5 minutes on the tray then transfer onto a rack to fully cool. Attack!

Recipe Notes:

1. Blanched almonds are the skinless almonds sold in packets labelled “blanched almonds” (I know, shocking! 😉 ) Almonds with skins on works but you’ll get little brown bits in the cookies. Roasting intensifies the almond flavour but it’s not recipe critical.
2. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and scrape down sides as needed. For this recipe, I find a handheld beater easier because you can move it around so probably don’t need to scrape down the sides.
3. Almond bashing – We’re not aiming for fine almond meal / almond flour here, we want lots of tiny little bits!
4. If the mixture looks a little split when you add the egg that’s ok, it will come together when you add the flour.
5. My cookie forming method: scoop and dollop all the dough onto trays, then roll and flatten. I find this the fastest way to make even sized cookies. (I also do this with meatballs!)
Store cookies in an airtight container for 5 days (once fully cool). Do not refrigerate. 
Nutrition per cookie.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 144cal (7%)Carbohydrates: 14g (5%)Protein: 2g (4%)Fat: 9g (14%)Saturated Fat: 5g (31%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 23mg (8%)Sodium: 5mgPotassium: 97mg (3%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 216IU (4%)Calcium: 37mg (4%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

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