Almond Ghoriba- Moroccan Cookies

Today for the 13th day we travel to Morocco, officially The Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in North Africa. It is one of the three countries to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. I have tried some recipes from Moroccan cuisine. After an elaborate preparation, I wanted to make a simple cookie today. The rustic looking almond cookies are so easy to make and very delicious to eat. Today is yet another great day for me. At Sai Bakes, we have started making some north Indian gravies which will be sold at a shop near my house. So for the past two days,the preparations for that was also going on. I usually cook for three and if I have guests, then it would be an additional 2-3 members. But making a huge batch of paneer butter masala was something new. So for the whole of evening, I was doing some very hard work. Though I am feeling so tired at the end of the day, I hope this gives me the satisfaction I need. 

My day started at 4am today. The very first thing I did at once I woke up was to make some blanched almonds for these cookies. This cookie needs both almond flour and sliced almonds. The flour gives a nice crumbly texture while the sliced almonds give a crunch to the cookies. The cookies are dusted withicing sugar. But hubby dear has started hating the dusted cookies as I am flooding our house with that type of cookies for the past two weeks. So I made it plain. I removed the cookies when slightly brown for the first batch and those cookies were soft and crumbly. The second batch, I left them an extra five minutes to brown nicely and the cookies were so crispy. I liked both the types. If you are a fan of soft cookies then remove them when the base is golden, but if you prefer crispy cookies then wait until the cookies’ top changes to golden colour.

Recipe Source: Indian Simmer

Makes 20 Cookies

Ingredients:

Ghee/ Butter-3 1/2 tbs

Oil-3 tbs

Flour/ Maida-1 cup

Almond Meal/ Almond Flour-1/2 cup

Icing Sugar-5 tbs

Zest of one orange ( I used two small candied ground orange peels)

Rose Essence-1/2 tsp

Water-1 tbs

Cardamom Powder-1/2 tsp

Chopped Almonds-1/3 cup

Procedure:

In a bowl mix together butter, oil, sugar and orange zest.

Add the almond meal and mix well.

Add flour, cardamom powder and mix well.

Add the chopped almonds and mix.

Add the rose essence and water and knead to make a crumbly dough.

Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175°C.

Take a small portion of the dough and roll it into a ball.

Slightly flatten it and there will be cracks on the edges. It is fine.

Arrange the cookies on a greased tray 1″ apart.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Cool on wire rack and store in airtight jar.

 Here are the recipes I tried from Moroccan Cuisine:

Ghoriba/ Moroccan Almond Cookies

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Ingredients

  

Ingredients

• Ghee/ Butter-3 1/2 tbs
• Oil-3 tbs
• Flour/ Maida-1 cup
• Almond Meal/ Almond Flour-1/2 cup
• Icing Sugar-5 tbs
• Zest of one orange I used two small candied ground orange peels
• Rose Essence-1/2 tsp
• Water-1 tbs
• Cardamom Powder-1/2 tsp
• Chopped Almonds-1/3 cup

Instructions

 

Procedure

• In a bowl mix together butter, oil, sugar and orange zest.
• Add the almond meal and mix well.
• Add flour, cardamom powder and mix well.
• Add the chopped almonds and mix.
• Add the rose essence and water and knead to make a crumbly dough.
• Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 175°C.
• Take a small portion of the dough and roll it into a ball.
• Slightly flatten it and there will be cracks on the edges. It is fine.
• Arrange the cookies on a greased tray 1" apart.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes.
• Cool on wire rack and store in airtight jar.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44

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