“Q-U-R-A-B-I-Y-A, I googled it.” Silva Mermer tells our producer Ani as they set up the kitchen. A household favourite for many years, Silva and her family just call it shortbread.
This shortbread-like cookie is most commonly found in Turkey, and there are many variations which use different types of nuts and garnishes. Silva’s version is made with almonds. Lots of almonds. Crushed almonds, almond flour, whole almonds, almond extract…
Watch our video below and follow along at home to make your own qurabiya, Silva’s almond shortbread.
Silva’s Qurabiya Tips
Some qurabiya recipes call for sugar, but Silva mixes icing sugar with her butter as the base. It makes the dough much softer, all told.
Adding almond extract is a personal preference. If you don’t have, or don’t like almond extract, it can be replaced with any type of liqueur. Silva’s seen it made with ouzo.
With the dough mixed, she lays out a sheet of aluminum foil, and then a sheet of parchment paper on top, and rolls the dough out on the paper. She rolls it out into a log, and then uses the parchment paper to smooth it out.
Before it goes into the fridge, Silva gets out a bag of almond flour (pistachio flour will do too), and rolls the log into the flour to coat the outside. With that done, she puts it in the fridge for an hour.
The refrigeration makes it easy to cut the log into little cookies. The dough cuts like butter. With each cookie she rolls it in a little more almond flour so that the whole thing is dusted.
She packs them tightly on a baking sheet. “These won’t rise, so we can put them close to each other.”
Silva also shows us some other ways to make the cookies. She rolls out some dough into three little balls and arranges them like a flower. “They have to be pretty small so they bake.”
With her sheet of cookies--and one solitary flower-shaped cookie--baked. Silva dusts each with icing sugar.
This dessert will be sure to please any crowd.
Dietary Notes:
Peanut free (contains products which often may contain peanuts), Vegetarian
What you’ll need:
1 cup (240 mL) softened butter
½ cup (120 mL) icing sugar, and more to garnish
2 cups (480 mL) flour
1 teaspoon (5 mL) almond extract
½ cup (120 mL) ground almond
Almond flour
The Steps
Cream your butter by beating it in a mixing bowl, until it’s fluffy and creamy.
Beat in icing sugar, flour, almond extract, and ground almonds. Mix until the dough is soft.
Lay out the dough on a sheet of parchment paper, and roll it into a log, about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter.
Sprinkle almond flour on top of the log, and roll the dough to coat the entire outside.
Wrap the log in the parchment paper, and wrap that in aluminum foil. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat your oven 350°
Slice your chilled dough log into ¾ inch (4 cm) cookies. Roll each cookie in more almond flour, and lay out the cookies on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. The cookies will not rise, so do not need to be spaced.
Bake for 15-20 minutes
Once baked, sprinkle your cookies with icing sugar.
Enjoy!