Moroccan Ghriba Cookies

These Moroccan ghriba cookies are a traditional, not-too-sweet cookie with a nutty, cinnamon-laced base and rolled in just a little powdered sugar.

In my current and new iteration as a homeowner, I've mentally fallen prey to the idea that my house should be "finished" before I invite anyone over. Fortunately we have not given way to this in reality as I've realized it will never be "finished" and old couches can be slipcovered and there's no time like the present to have friends over for a meal! We've been doing some lunch parties and a few dinners and when my husband does the cooking he always makes a big couscous feed -- vegetable tajine and a lamb dish -- I make a cucumber-tomato salad, and we finish with these little cookies.

Morocco ... six years ago we were about to leave for that adventure and it is starting to feel like a long time ago. But I am blessed - or cursed - with a very vivid memory and so sometimes the days there still feel very close. I can't say we ate ghriba in Casablanca but we probably did and I just didn't know what they were called.

The simplest ingredients are blended together to create a dense, not-too-sweet morsel in this recipe for Moroccan ghriba cookies. Walnuts are the star so if you love walnuts you'll be very pleased. If you don't, try almonds instead. A bit - but just a bit - of powdered sugar makes these cookies into the little treats they are supposed to be, and I love one or two cookies with a late morning cup of coffee. There's no white horse clip-clopping his way past my kitchen window but we have ample birds and the merest glimpse of a goat in the field behind our backyard. No palm trees but redwoods and old oaks. There are lots of mourning doves cooing through the morning fog, however, the sound of whom will always take me straight back to our time in North Africa and the Middle East. The same but oh so different.

What You'll Need to Make Ghriba Cookies

• Unsalted butter
• Egg
• Sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• All purpose flour - sub whole wheat pastry or almond flour.
• Baking powder
• Walnuts - sub almonds.
• Powdered sugar

How to Make Moroccan Ghriba Cookies

1. Beat egg and butter. In a large bowl, beat the egg and butter together with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add sugar and cinnamon and beat well to combine.
2. Whisk flour. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
3. Mix in. Beat the flour into the batter and then add the walnuts. Mix on low speed until smooth.
4. Chill. Place bowl in fridge and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Prep pans. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place powdered sugar in a bowl.
6. Form cookies. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on baking sheet 1- inch apart.
7. Bake. Place in the oven and bake for four minutes; then rotate sheets and bake cookies until they are golden, firm at the edges, and slightly cracked on top, another 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool, and dust with more powdered sugar before serving.

Serving Suggestions

• With coffee! Ghriba are so lovely with coffee, and for fun you can make Turkish/Arabic coffee to serve in little cups alongside.
• With tea, especially Moroccan mint tea. It's worth trying your hand -- and pour - at making Moroccan mint tea, which is delicious and so fragrant.
• As dessert. You could serve glasses of lemon sorbet with ghriba for garnish, or a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and ghribas.
• On a cookie plate. You could absolutely tuck these cookies on a holiday cookie plate or on a general cookie plate when you have guests over (for tea or coffee ... of course!).

Storage

Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 5 days (between you and me they last longer than that). They also freeze well - place cookies in a freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature to serve.

Recipe

[print_this] Ghriba

Makes about 20 cookies.

1 large egg
¼ cup sugar
½ tablespoon butter, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 ¼ cups walnut pieces, coarsely ground
1 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat the egg and butter together with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add sugar and cinnamon and beat well to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Beat into the batter and then add the walnuts, Mix until smooth. Place bowl in fridge and chill for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place powdered sugar in a bowl.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on baking sheet 1- inch apart. Place in the oven and bake for four minutes; then rotate sheets and bake cookies until they are golden, firm at the edges, and slighly cracked on top, another 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool on the sheet, and dust with more powdered sugar before serving. [/print_this]