Ghorayeba is an Egyptian recipe for biscuits. The traditional recipe is made with ghee or clarified butter. I didn’t fancy extracting the water out of the butter to make it more caloric, hence I’ve used butter. I think it works great with butter, the flavour is lovely. Another thing I loved about these biscuits is that they are so easy to make. Unlike other biscuits where I have to roll the dough or shape them by hand. With Ghorayeba is easier, the dough is made into a roll, refrigerated, then cut. So easy!

On top of the Ghorayeba can be put cloves, almonds, and pistachios. I had only the first two when I made the biscuits. I imagine they would be delicious with the pistachios too. Their texture is lovely, it is very similar to a shortbread. A bit crunchy and buttery, not too sweet.

Ingredients for 12 Ghorayeba biscuits:

– 100g butter at room temperature
– 50g icing sugar
– 200g plain white flour
– 6 cloves
– 6 almonds

Using the mixer, beat the soften butter until it becomes creamy. It should take a minute or so. Now add the icing sugar over the butter and beat for a couple of minutes. It is ready when the sugar has dissolved into the butter. The next step is to add the flour. Continue to use the hand mixer to incorporate the flour into the butter mixture. When is starts resembling bread crumbs, tip it on the worktop and knead by hand until it forms a dough. If is not wet enough, add a spoon of water, no more.

When the dough is ready, even if is crumbly, put it in cling film and make a roll. Make sure the roll is even, then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes, take the dough out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to 190C or 170C for fan ovens. While the oven is heating, make the biscuits. The dough will harden in the fridge and it will be easy to cut.

Cut 12 slices from the dough roll. I would suggest using a bread knife, it worked great for me. It also makes those nice swirls in the biscuits. Now transfer the slices on the baking tray that was previously lined with baking paper. Press a piece of clove or an almond on top. Continue with the rest of the dough. Depending on how thick the slices are, it will take a bit longer or shorter to bake, it also means that you might be able to make a couple more biscuits.

Put the baking tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. If, like me, you have 12 biscuits, flip the baking tray and leave it in the oven for 2 more minutes. The Ghorayeba should keep their pale colour.

Take the biscuits out of the oven and transfer them onto a cooling rack. Leave them to cool completely before serving them.

Do you like baking biscuits? Would you like to try the recipe for Ghorayeba?