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Ghoriba Bahla is a tasty shortbread-type biscuit with an enchanting crumbiness and sweetness.
The dish is insanely popular in Egypt, Morocco, Libya, and other nations in the neighboring region.
The cookies are a perfect companion for Libyan tea, Maghrebi mint tea, and Arabic coffee. There are plenty of Ghoriba variants throughout the region, but they all share a signature crumbly texture.
What is Ghoriba Bahla?
Ghoriba is the Arabic word for cookie. It’s a generic term that can mean any of several different types of Moroccan cookies.
Cracks in the surface of the cookie have led to the cookies being known as ghoriba bahla (ghriba behla), a name that loosely translates to “silly” cookies but means “silly stranger.”
Others may offer you a different translation. For example, a Moroccan tour guide refers to bahla as “stupid” cookies, such a funny description that her guests often want to try them!
The word ghoriba itself means stranger and is used to refer to several round Moroccan cookies which are traditionally shaped by hand.
For this particular version, the cracks are essential for the cookie to earn its name of silly, or bahla; otherwise, it is simply a ghoriba.
Ghoriba Recipe
The traditional pan for making ghoriba bahla is a molded baking sheet.
It’s large enough to make a full batch of the shortbread cookies, and although it’s not a must, using it will allow the cookies to bake with a desirably concave, cup-shaped bottom.
If you don’t have the mold, a regular baking sheet will work fine, although your cookies will, of course, have a flat bottom.
Neither pan requires greasing, but I’m using parchment paper for the regular pan for the sake of easy cleanup.
Ghoriba bahla is pale on top, golden on the bottoms, and crumbly like shortbread. Not too sweet, they are a wonderful Moroccan cookie you should get to know! Check the recipe card below for the full recipe.
Storing and Serving Suggestions
Allow the ghoriba bahla to cool completely before storing it in an airtight container. You’ll want to use waxed paper, plastic wrap, or foil between the layers to avoid crumbs from cookies above ruining the appearance of the cookies underneath.
The cookies will keep well at room temperature for a week or two, but freezing will ensure the best flavor if they aren’t likely to be consumed in the first week.
They make an excellent addition to a Moroccan tea timetable and are generally served alongside other Moroccan ghoribas, cookies, or pastries.
Be sure to recreate this incredible delicacy. Enjoy!
GHORIBA BAHLA RECIPE | MOROCCAN “SILLY” SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Ingredients
- 40 grams sesame seeds
- 40 grams blanched slivered almonds
- For Frying almonds: about 1/2 cup of neutral vegetable oil
- 125 grams granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla sugar or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 125 grams unsalted butter softened
- 97 grams neutral vegetable oil
- 28 grams sesame oil (not toasted) or, for a lighter sesame flavor, use a total of 125 grams neutral oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 500 grams approximately--I used 450 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- Set a rack in the top third of the oven and preheat to 400F.
- Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment and set aside.
- Put the sesame seeds in a dry skillet and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally and then constantly as the sesame seeds begin to take on a bit of color. Toast the sesame seeds to a light golden brown. Spread out on a paper towel to cool.
- Wipe out the skillet in case any sesame seeds are stuck to the bottom (just to be safe) and fill with about 1/4" vegetable oil. Allow the oil to get hot. Test by dropping in a piece of slivered almond. It should begin to gently bubble in 1-2 seconds.
- Add the rest of the almonds and fry, stirring constantly, until a very pale golden color. The nuts will continue to take on color for an additional couple of minutes, so be sure to remove them from the oil before you think they're ready.
- Pour the nuts into a strainer set over a heat-safe bowl and then spread them out to cool completely.
- Coarsely grind the nuts in a small food processor or mini chopper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the granulated sugar, vanilla sugar (or extra granulated sugar plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract), butter, oils, and salt.
- Beat until reasonably well combined (it may look a bit lumpy. That's okay).
- Mix in the sesame seeds and ground almonds.
- Whisk together about half the flour and baking powder, and then add that to the mixer. Mix on low speed until you have a sticky dough.
- Add enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff, crumbly dough that holds together when you squeeze it. I ended up using 450 grams of the total of 500 grams of flour. You may need a bit more or less depending on your flour and the humidity.
- Once the dough is the right consistency (and even if it doesn't crack, it will be delicious, so don't get upset), weigh it and divide the weight by 40. I ended up needed 22 3/4 grams of dough per cookie, so some I scaled at 22 grams and some at 23 grams and it all worked out just fine.
- Form each piece of dough into a fairly smooth ball (you won't be able to roll it, because it will crumble, so just form it with your hands). Flatten each ball of dough between your palms so the edges are thinner than the centers. Try to make them as round as you can, but it's not the end of the world if they're lopsided.
- Place each shaped cookie on the prepared sheets--20 per sheet.
- Bake one tray at a time for 7 minutes. Then rotate the pan 180 degrees, reduce the heat to 375F and bake an additional 3-6 minutes (depending on your oven) until very pale golden around the edges. With all the seed and nut oils, they'll take on color quickly, so keep an eye on them.
- Remove the sheet from the oven and carefully transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies will be soft, but they will crisp and crunch up as they cool. By the time they are completely cool, they'll be perfect!
- Bake the second sheet (remember to turn the oven back up to 400 first). The second batch might take slightly less time to bake than the first batch. Mine did.
- Try not to eat all of them. Enjoy!
Notes
As to the shaping of the cookies, you: form/press them into balls (you can’t really roll them or they crumble)
flatten them between your palms so the edges are thinner than the middles.
Traditionally, there’s a special pan you are supposed to bake them on so they end up with concave backs. I think that might also encourage even more cracking, but shaping them by hand and baking them on plain old parchment-lined sheets works just fine.
