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A pile of ghraybeh on a blue plate.
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4.85 from 26 votes

Ghraybeh (Ghoraybeh) Recipe

A delicate, rich and fine textured cookie with a distinctive ghee flavor. Ghraybeh is a the Middle Eastern shortbread cookie with a minimal bite to it.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time15 mins
chilling time:20 mins
Course: dessert-cookies
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Diet: Halal
Servings: 35 cookie
Calories: 73kcal
Author: Amira

Ingredients

  • 250 g all purpose flour 2 cups
  • 150 g cold ghee ⅔ cup. You can use clarified butter too.
  • 85 g powdered sugar ¾ cup

Optional for garnish:

  • Pistachios.

Instructions

  • In your stand mixer bowl, add flour and powdered sugar and mix with a spoon to combine.
  • Add cold ghee and start mixing on low for 4-5 minutes. Your dough will look like a wet sand then it will come to a more dough form.
  • Increase the speed to medium low and continue mixing for another 10 minutes. By then your dough will be very creamy more like a good hummus.
  • Spoon the dough into a plastic wrap then freeze for 15-20 minutes until firm to handle.
  • Preheat your oven to 320F place an oven rack in the middle.
  • Divide the dough into 4 equal sections. Take one out leaving the rest in the fridge.
  • Scoop out a piece of the dough (11-12grams), roll with the palms of your hands and place directly on an aluminum baking sheet.
  • Press the top lightly to flatten and add a pistachio in the middle if you chose to.
  • Bake for 15 minutes and do not wait for it to change color, we need it to be pale yellow.
  • Let them cool down on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes then transfer them to a cooling wire rack and leave to set completely for at least 2 hours.

Video

Notes

  • I cannot stress enough the importance of using a scale for this recipe. Although I have given you the measurements in cups but this is just a rough estimate. A cheap kitchen scale is all we need.
  • It is better to add the ghee cold, not frozen but just cold. Adding melted ghee is not right so to get us out of this dilemma of your kitchen temperature and whether you are baking ghorayeba in summer or winter just use cold ghee.
  • Some recipes call for 170 grams of ghee this made the baked ghraybeh so crumbly and I could not even hold it. Other recipes called for 135 grams, again I have found this ghraybeh to be a bit crunchy and did not meet the melt in your mouth characteristic.
  • Also many recipes call for 75 gram powdered sugar, when I did so the cookie came our bland. Believe it or not only 10grams more made it perfect.If you go over that the cookies might get crunchier.
  • Homemade powdered sugar will not work in this recipe.
  • This dough is so sticky and cannot be shaped by hand until it is really cold. You can also put the batter in a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe the Ghraybeh onto the baking sheet in 1 ½ inch (3 cm) circles. Refrigerate the sheet for 10 minutes then flatten the top and continue with the recipe as directed.
  • This is a very delicate cookie that needs to cool down and set for some time before you can handle it. To know if your cookies has set they should not leave residue on your finger when you touch them and your fingers should not make a dent in the cookies when you left them off the cookie sheet.
  • In Egypt Ghraybeh only flavored with ghee no vanilla or anything need to be added. In other parts of the Middle East it is flavored with orange blossom water or rose water this is very common in the Levant area.
  • Make ahead:
    • The dough can stay (rolled or as a ball) in the fridge for up to 3 days. Dough can also stay in the freezer for up to 3 month. It is easier to roll the ghraybeh then freeze than freezing it as a dough ball. Frozen cookies will take a minute or two longer to bake.
  • To store:
    • Store Ghraybeh in a regular container on your counter for 2-3 weeks.

Nutrition

Calories: 73kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 8mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 1mg