Cookies/Cakes/Dwaz Atay!



Moroccan Cookies/Cakes/Biscuits!
Petits-Fours/Friandises/Gâteaux Marocains!

مجموعة من الحلويات المغربية بالصور

Dwaz Atay  =  دواز أتاي  
Article and Photos by Mamatkamal 
In Morocco, there are a variety of special cookies and biscuits, all are a wonderful luxury treat for any time!  Generally, these Moroccan cookies speak of home and are produced from natural ingredients, using no artificial colours or flavours and are served with hot fresh mint tea and this is why we call them in Morocco "Dwaz Atay" =  دواز أتاي  which means = Cookies that are accompanied by tea. Serving Moroccan tea with rich cookies is widely used throughout the whole country, and it could be after a meal, or after school, or for an afternoon tea, or simply for the fact it is the weekend, or for any occasion, either special or a family reunion.

This is the show-off territory!  Most of Moroccan home-made cookies/cakes recipes are so simple, however when we make them, they are meant to make our friends, guests and family members "Wowed" as soon as they take their first bite! We absolutely want to impress everyone who tastes them, and this is the reason why an authentic Moroccan recipe will focus on the combination of  "Great flavour Taste" with "Great-Looking"!

Some Moroccan cookies (Especially Ghriba, Fekkas and Kaab el Ghazal), carry fond memories of a childhood weekends tea-time.  When my mother presented a plate of home-baked cookies, we (my brothers and sisters) could stare at these goodies forever!  We would examine attentively those lovely cookies at length and at width to choose the biggest one! It was an agonizing choice, who would get the Big Top Ghriba or Corne de gazelle?   I still  remember Summer Days when Mum and I would amble around all the Souks  = السّوق  in our local town Casablanca, and often the sun would force us to retreat and seek shelter in some of our favourite Pastry Shops (called, Mahlaba in Moroccan language = محْلبة or Pâtisserie in French).  Then, Mum would ask me to choose our snack, and my choice was always the same : Four Kaab Ghzal (Cornes de gazelle), two Ghriba Bahla, and two large glasses of Rayb (Raib), flavoured with mint.  Then, we would go to the basement where there was a small Café for customers to enjoy these goodies, and I still remember those fresh smells of moroccan cookies, rising from the kitchen bakery above us, those smells could bring anyone from the whole neighbourhood.  Such a delight to the senses!

Some say that "Cookies and Cakes" are not "good", and considered to be "unhealthy", some even believe they can live without them, etc....., but frankly, who would want to?  I do believe all cookies/cakes have something special about them which cheers us up and put a smile on our children's face, and this is quite enough for me to make these treats for my four lovely boys whenever I can.

Baking ingredients:

Baking powder: A raising agent which is a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar.  Use a measuring spoon and scrape the excess off the top of the spoon with a knife.  You must measure accurately the baking powder or you will get disappointing results.

Flour:  You can use any type of flour you wish: plain flour, white flour, wheat flour, rice flour, hard unbleached flour all puprose etc......

Butter: I always use real butter. It gives better flavour than margarine.  I do not recommend to use margarine in Moroccan cookies or biscuits or Ghriba etc...  Unsalted butter is mostly preferred, but it is all down to personal taste and preference.  If the recipe indicates using "soft butter", please make sure that the butter is kept at room temperature before starting making the cookies.  "Soft butter" does not mean "Melted butter", and if you use melted butter in my recipes that require soft butter, this might cause the cookies to spread too much during baking and lose their shape.

Oils: I use sunflower oil, but you can use vegetable oil or any variety with less strong flavour. Sometimes I use Argan or Sesame oil but only in small quantities.

Sugar: I often use muscovado or molasses sugars (unrefined and more natural variety).  I also use caster or granulated sugar, preferably golden varieties.

Spices: Some spices are usually added to the dough for more flavour such as: ground cinnamon or ground ginger or ground gum arabic (Maska Horra), etc....  I also use some whole spices, such as aniseed and nutmeg, ground or grated.

Nuts: I use almond so often in my recipes but you can choose the variety of nuts you prefer.  You can use them whole, chopped or ground as stated in the recipe. If you cannot find skinless raw peanuts, buy ones with skin on, then bake them in the oven at medium temperature for about 7 to 10 minutes until they start popping.  Remove them from the oven, and place them in a kitchen towel, then cover them and start rubbing them vigorously to remove the skin.

Salt: I use finely ground sea salt.

Eggs: With no doubt, for me when it comes to choosing eggs, they have to be free-range.  Happy hens, happy eggs.


Tools and kitchen equipment:

In fact, you do not need anything complicated and expensive for baking Moroccan cookies or cakes.  Just an oven, a measuring jug, measuring spoons, baking sheets (For certain cookies, it is preferable to use a  Ghriba mold, but it is not a MUST, wire rack and a big bowl or Kassriya for mixing.

1-Oven: It is important to preheat the oven before baking any cookies, otherwise it will not be properly cooked in the time stated in the recipe. It is obvious that every oven is different and has its own special foibles.  Some cook slightly quicker and some slightly slower.  For some ovens, you need to turn the mold or baking sheet to prevent half of your cookies from browning too much than the other half.  Two or more trays of cookies can be placed in the oven at the same time, provided that there is enough space between them to allow proper heat circulation.  I have a Fan-forced oven which can bake about 3 trays of cookies at a time without the need to alternate shelf positions.  It is up to you to choose the best way for baking your cookies in your own oven.

2- A hemisphere Ghriba Mold: To bake Ghriba Bahla, generally a special mold is used (see picture below), and which you don't need to grease or dust with flour. It is a sort of Hemisphere Mold and you place the uncooked dough balls at the top and it helps to give to Ghriba L'bahla this plump cracked lovely look.  This mold is not expensive, if you want to buy one, don't pay more than 40Dh, which is about " £3 =British Pound Sterling (GBP)" or "3.5 Euro", or "$ 5 US Dollar".

3-Baking sheets: If you don't have that special Ghriba mold, use any baking sheets, that should be rigid and sturdy, so they don't buckle in the heat.  It is also important to use trays with no or very shallow sides, this will allow the heat to circulate freely.  It is recommended in all my recipes to use baking paper, but if you prefer to grease your baking sheets, don't over-grease them, since this can cause the cookies to burn on the bottom.

4-Wire rack: Necessary for cooling your cookies.

5-Fluted Pastry Wheel : If this is known as a "Jagger" in UK, in Morocco, it is known as "Jrrara" = جْرّارَة. Traditionally used to cut the dough of Kaab el Ghazal and Chabakiya or Mkharqua and other dough for filled pastries.  It creates a fluted edge to give baked cookies a neat finish and a nice edge.

6-Cooking Time: It depends on type of the oven you have.  There is no such accurate and exact baking time.  All these recipes, I am posting and I will be posting in the future about Moroccan cookies, are all tested in my own oven, so baking time in my recipes are a guide only.  It might take you 20 minutes to cook a cookie which took me 15 minutes only, so here, using the common sense is the key.  However, generally speaking, all cookies are soft in the oven and become firmer when cold (Except for Ghriba which should stay soft), so to make sure it is cooked, push very GENTLY with your finger on top of a cookie and if you can touch it gently without breaking it, so it is normally cooked.


Storage:

I bet a delicious well-made cookies will not hang around for a long time, but it can be stored in a biscuit tin with a tight lid for several days.

Fakkas or Fekkas - Moroccan Cookies (Click on the links to read recipes):
فْقّاسْ 

2-فْقّاسْ / Mint-Tea and Amlou Fekkas / Fakkass au Thé à la Menthe et Amlou

 

3-فْقّاسْ / Fa9ass ou Fakkass Marocain au Chocolat Blanc et Oranges

 

5-فْقّاسْ مالْحْ / Moroccan Mini-Fekkas or Mini-Fakkas With Dried-Tomatoes And Cumin Seeds!/ Mini-Fekkass ou Mini-Fakkass Marocain Aux Tomates Séchées Et Graines De Cumin !






















Moroccan Ghriba or Ghriyba or Ghoriba (Click on the links to read recipes): 


1-How To Make Moroccan Ghriba or Ghriyba?















2-Moroccan Peanut Ghoriba (Ghriba) L'bahla / Ghoriba (Ghriba) L'bahla Marocaine aux Cacahuètes

 

 3-Moroccan Sesame Seeds Ghriba / Ghriba Marocaine Aux Graines De Sésame

 

4- Moroccan Almond Ghoriba or Ghriba or Ghriyba or Moroccan Macarons!/ Ghoriba ou Ghriyba ou Ghriba Marocaine aux Amandes ou Macarons Marocains!

 

5-Moroccan Ghoriba L'bahla or Shortbread with Chocolate / Ghoriba ou Ghriba Marocaine Lbahla au chocolat !

 

6-Moroccan Ghoriba Lbahla or Shortbread with Amlou and Chocolate / Ghoriba Marocaine Lbahla au chocolat et Amlou!

7-Ghoriba ou Ghriba Marocaine à la poudre de cacao amer et noix de cajou / Cashew nuts Moroccan Ghriba!
 

Biscuits / Almonds Treats

1-Biscuit Marocain d'Anis et Amandes


















 1-To Blanch Almonds And The Almond Blossom Festival of Tafraout! / Blanchir des Amandes Entières et Festival Annuel à Tafraout!
 
 

3-Dough for Moroccan Sweet Pastries / Pâte Pour Pâtisseries Marocaines!

 


4-سبيعات اللوز / Almond Fingers / Doigts aux Amandes!


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