These Moroccan almond cookies are deliciously crumbly and perfect served with traditional mint tea or whatever beverage you fancy.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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We are currently in Morocco, one of my favourite countries to visit, with so many memories of travelling up and down the coast back when I had no kids to think about!
One of the first things I did when we got here was to get my hands on some Ghriba, or Moroccan Almond Cookies, perfectly crumbly with just a touch of chewy and yes, perfect for dunking! But be warned, only dunk for a second or two or they’ll land at the bottom of your cup!
One of my favourite teatime treats, these Moroccan Almond Cookies remind me of so many other nut based cookies like the festive biskut kacang (peanut cookies) in Singapore and Malaysia and especially, sbrisolona, an Italian cookie made with ground almonds and cornmeal.
Moroccan Almond Cookies Recipe
Now, mind you, as with any popular recipe, Ghriba has many variations. As they are almond cookies, the almond tends to stay constant but the biggest difference is the addition of flour, whether plain or cornflour (cornstarch).
I much prefer the pure almond ones as I absolutely love the crumbly nature of the cookie made without any starch, and of course, that makes it gluten free too. Our local patisserie here has a few variations too, with pistachios and/or walnuts as well as vanilla and rose scented ones. I did like the rose scented ones!
This recipe is one I obtained ages ago here in Morocco from a little boulangerie and has been waiting forever to be published. I’m glad that not only am I finally doing it but I’m able to do it while sitting in our apartment here in Salé, a tiny town on the north west coast of Morocco, founded sometime in the 11th century.
The house above is one of many along the seafront, very close to where we are. Salé is a little off the beaten track, most folks tend to hit the bigger towns of Marrakech, Fes and Tangier and if they get anywhere near here, it’s usually just in Rabat but en route to somewhere else.
What is the Capital of Morocco?
We ought to be heading down to Rabat sometime next week; did you know that it’s the capital of Morocco? That’s right, most people assume that Marrakech is.
So, here’s the recipe I’ve been using for well over a decade now to make Ghriba, I’ve not changed it much from the original apart from leaving out the lemon zest as I don’t like bits in my cookies and doing away with the icing/powdered sugar coating as I find it too sickly, even if it does create prettier cookies.
I shall leave both up to you, I’ve included them as optional in this recipe, so you can experiment. As far as the icing sugar is concerned, coat half of them, you can then decide which you prefer. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Images by LinsFoodies
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And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Moroccan Almond Cookies (Ghriba)
Ingredients
- 250 g ground almonds (dry almond flour or almond meal)
- 125 g caster sugar (fine sugar)
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 70 g salted butter
- 4 small egg yolks
- 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon optional
- 1 tsp orange blossom water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F / Fan 160°C).
- Mix the ground almonds, the caster sugar, the salt and baking powder thoroughly in a medium sized bowl and set aside.250 g ground almonds, 125 g caster sugar, pinch of salt, 1 tsp baking powder
- In another bowl, mix the butter and egg yolks together with a wooden spoon for about a minute, you won't get a smooth mixture, don't worry about it.70 g salted butter, 4 small egg yolks
- Add 1 tsp of the lemon juice, lemon zest if using, and orange blossom water and mix again.1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, zest of 1 lemon, 1 tsp orange blossom water
- Add the dry ingredients (almonds, etc) to the egg yolk and butter mixture and stir with the wooden spoon to mix as best as you can.
- Finish off with your hands, using only the tip of your fingers as we don't want to knead the dough. Bring it all together, it will be a soft dough.
- Form little dough balls, roll them in the icing sugar (if you like, optional) and place on a baking sheet, leaving some space between each cookie. No need to press down, they will naturally spread.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes, depending on how hot your oven gets. You are aiming for a light, golden colour.
- Leave to cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. You can even freeze them, well covered for up to 3 months.
Aslin,
These are delicious. Thank you.
I made some for my family and though they tasted great, they didn’t look great.
My dough was very sticky. Should it be?
And should I shape them before cooking? Mine were flat and had rough edges and were not at all consistent.
I’d like to make them look a lot nicer for a dinner party.
Thank you.
Hi Tony, if your dough was very sticky, just add a little more ground almonds to it, and even 1 Tbsp of cornflour (cornstarch in US) to help bring it all together.
All ingredients are different, so can react differently.
Just one point to note: your ground almonds were dry, right? Not the moist kind used in some countries?
I’ll have to update this article with a video soon!
Moet die basterdsuiker wit of licht bruin zijn?
Should that caster sugar be white or light brown?
Hi Leo, unless otherwise stated, sugar in recipes is always white.
Delicious. Turned out perfectly! Bonus- this recipe is very diabetic friendly . I substituted half monk fruit sugar, and skipped the rolling of the balls of dough in icing sugar. I did not have the orange blossom water. I look forward to trying that variation.
I’m really pleased to hear that, Deanna. And thank you for the information on making it diabetic friendly, very helpful.
They sound really tasty and I like to make them as a gift for my maroccan brother in law. Now I just wondered about the salted butter? Did you all take the salted one or is it also possible with the normal butter? Thank you for helping!
HI Elfie, by salted butter, I actually mean normal butter. I used to just say butter, but had so many readers asking salted or unsalted, that I started writing “salted butter”. So just regular butter that you buy is what you need. Good luck, let me know how it goes.
I have so many Middle Eastern and Moroccan recipes that you might be interested in cooking for your brother in law: https://www.linsfood.com/middle-eastern-recipes-moroccan-recipes/
Mine came out flat is there any reason why they didn’t swell
Hi Barbara, it sounds like you had too much moisture in the dough. Although there are so many reasons that cookies go flat.
1. Is your almond flour dry or moist? We want the dry sort.
2. Another culprit could also be baking powder that is no longer fresh.
3. Oven may also be too hot, are you using a fan oven? The temp has to be reduced accordingly.
I just made these a couple of days ago, naturally using the exact recipe, and they’ve all come out fine.
You could try chilling your cookies before baking.
Hi Azlin, thank you so much for the recipe. I tried it, the aroma is so unique. I used orange blossom water, it’s subtle and enticing! I read another comment asking about the texture, I thought it was going to be crumbly, as you described so. But mine turned out to be chewy, I used Kirkland almond flour from Costco, which I believe could be
more moist than dry. Any suggestions on making this less chewy and more crumbly?
Hi there, it’s not always easy following recipes from different parts of the world sometimes, given the different ingredients, size of eggs and so on.
The eggs play a big part in the texture of cookies. Egg yolks give cookies a chewy texture, while egg whites add crispness.
So here’s a suggestion. Use 2 eggs (both white and yolks) instead of just egg yolks. That ought to cut down on the chewiness.
Get back to me and let me know how they turn out.