Ghraybeh cookies
Ghraybeh cookies literally melt in your mouth. Made with just 3 main ingredients.
These cookies are very popular in the Syria, Levant and Mediterranean countries. They are not too sweet, buttery and have an amazing texture to them on the inside and have a light crisp to them.
Ghraybeh is made with flour, ghee (clarified butter, some use butter) and powdered sugar. It’s baked just to perfection, and does not bake until it’s brown on the outside, like other shortbread cookies.
The nuts on top give that little extra decoration and crunch but are also nostalgic and traditional to this Arab butter cookie.
These cookies are often made around Ramadan, Eid, Christmas and Easter to serve guests. They stay fresh for a long period of time if sealed properly at room temperature.
Ingredients
- 60 grams powdered sugar
- 125 grams ghee/butter
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- pistachios
Preparation
- First you need to mix the ghee/butter with the powdered sugar by hand. Then add the flour to the mixture and mix until it’s well combined. The dough should be nice and soft and should not stick to your hands.
- Place the dough ball into a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- After you take it out of the refrigerator, let it rest for 15 minutes. Gently knead the dough for a few seconds and start shaping dough balls (each should approximately weigh about 6 grams), place it on wax paper on a baking tray, flatten it using your hand and press a pistachio into each cookie.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 150c for 10-15 minutes (but this depends on what kind of oven you use, when done the bottom of the cookies should be golden in colour but be careful as these cookies burn very easily).
- Make sure you give the cookies enough time to cool down because they’re very delicate and are easy to break.
Lara Khouli