Ghoriba Bahla – Moroccan Shortbread Cookies with Almonds and Sesame

These Moroccan shortbread cookies have a pleasantly surprising crunch and great flavor, thanks to the dough’s sandy texture and now-traditional additions of toasted sesame seeds and almonds.

They’re a family favorite in many Moroccan homes, and so deliciously crumbly that you’ll probably want to hold a napkin under the cookie when you bite!

Cracks in the surface of the cookie have led to the cookies being known as ghoriba bahla (ghriba behla), a name which loosely translates to “silly” cookies but really means “silly stranger.”

Others may offer you a different translation. For example, a Moroccan tour guide I work with 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 a number of round Moroccan cookies which are traditionally shaped by hand. For this particular version, the cracks are essential in order for the cookie to earn its name of silly, or bahla; otherwise, it is simply a ghoriba.

How to Make Bahla Shortbread Cookies

But now let’s move on to see how to make the bahla cookies with their requisite crackled surface. The photos below will walk you through the process. The printable recipe appears at the end of the post.

The Ingredients

As is the case with many shortbread cookie recipes, the ingredient list for ghoriba bahla is not long. It’s always easiest to measure out ingredients before you begin mixing.

This shortbread uses a mix of unsalted butter and vegetable oil, granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar, and a pinch of salt. For traditional flavor and crunch, I add a half cup of toasted unhulled sesame seeds.

I could use toasted and ground almonds instead, or a mix of sesame and almonds. Ground pecans would also be fabulous, but pecans are not traditional.

Begin Mixing the Dough

Begin by combining the sugar, unsalted butter, and vegetable oil in a large bowl. A heavy wooden spoon will make short work of this task, but use your hands if you prefer. In fact, using your hands is most traditional!

Next mix in the sesame (and almonds, if using), vanilla sugar, and salt. If you’re using liquid vanilla extract instead of vanilla sugar, it can be added with the wet ingredients in the next step.

Work the Flour Into the Dough

Time to mix in the flour and baking powder. Do this in increments, adding the baking powder with the first addition of flour.

You might not need all of the flour, and this step is best done by hand since the dough will become increasingly stiff and crumbly.

My bowl is big enough to accommodate my hands, but many Moroccan cooks prefer to use a large wide, shallow dish called a gsaa when mixing cookie dough. A gsaa is also used when making and serving couscous or mixing and kneading dough for Moroccan bread.

Knead by Hand or With a Stand Mixer

With enough flour mixed in, the dough should now be too crumbly to pack well. To make it manageable, it must be kneaded and mixed further.

You can do this by hand for a good 20 minutes or longer – indeed many Moroccans would insist on hand kneading – but a stand mixer with paddle attachment at low speed takes only 10 minutes and will leave you free to clean up or do something else.

The Dough Is Ready

So what is the correct texture of the dough after kneading? Well, it should resemble what’s shown here – dry enough to crumble between your fingers yet moist enough to easily squeeze and mold into a pliable ball.

If the dough does not have this texture toward the end of your 10-minute kneading, an adjustment will need to be made.

If it’s too dry and crumbly, work in a tablespoon of oil. If it’s too moist and has formed a uniform mass, work in a little more flour. In either case, continue kneading long enough to fully incorporate your addition.

Now it’s time to move on to shaping and baking.

The Bakeware – Special Ghoriba Mold or Regular Pan

The traditional pan for making ghoriba bahla is a molded baking sheet like the one shown here.

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.

Preheat Your Oven

There are two baking methods to choose from. Select one or plan to try both to see which you like better:

• Preheat your oven to 338° F (170° C) with the rack in its lowest position. This oven temp will be used in combination with the broiler or grill element for a few minutes, after which time the rack will be re-positioned and the oven used alone.
• Preheat your oven to 400° F (200° C) with the rack positioned up high, in the top third. This method requires no adjustments other than a pan rotation from front to back if you feel it’s necessary.

The day I took photos for this post, I tried both methods to see how they affected the cracks in the cookies. We want the cracks to be well defined but not so deep or wide as to distort the round shape of the cookie.

Shaping the Cookies

Take a little dough and squeeze it back and forth in your hands a few times to press it together and make it pliable. Shape it into a smooth ball of about 1 1/2″ (3.5 cm), then flatten it slightly in the palm of your hand without cracking the edges.

If using the special pan, gently press the dough onto the top of a mold. Otherwise, arrange the dough on a regular baking sheet.

Note that the dough shown here is shaped on the thick side. You can be a bit more particular if using the molded pan by shaping the dough a little flatter and by pressing the edges even thinner so that the dough curves better over the mold. This will yield a thinner cookie with a notable cup-shaped bottom which is preferred by perfectionist Moroccan bakers.

Bake the Cookies – Two Methods

Note that every oven behaves differently, so you may need to make small adjustments to get a good result.

• If your oven was preheated to 338° F (170° C), turn on the broiler or grill element. Place the cookies in the oven with the rack in the lowest position for 5 to 6 minutes. Turn off the grill and move the rack and baking pan to the upper third of the oven. Continue baking for another 15 minutes, or until the cookies have cracked and are colored.
• If your oven was preheated to 400° F (200° C), bake the cookies on the rack in the top third of the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the tops are cracked and the cookies are nicely colored.

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool and set on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.

Ghoriba Bahla – Comparing the Results

I test-baked the ghoriba bahla on both types of pans with both baking methods. The results are shown here. Note that the color of the cookies in the photo is a bit off because of the brightly-hued paper I used for labeling. (Oops! Photography lesson learned!)

The traditional mold (left side of photo) yielded cookies with the deepest cracks, although they may have been too deep and wide had I not shaped the cookies as thick as I did.

The cookies on the conventional baking pan (right side of photo) have finer but acceptable cracks. Perhaps a higher positioning of the rack would yield deeper cracks, but I was out of dough for experimenting further.

I’ve concluded that both methods are acceptable, but that the oven-grill method will give a slightly more dramatic crackling effect, particularly when combined with the traditional ghoriba mold. Depending on your dough’s consistency, that effect may be too much as drier dough will develop thicker, deeper cracks.

A Look at the Bottom of the Ghoriba Bahla

Here’s what the bottom of the cookie will look like when baked on the ghoriba mold. Had I shaped the dough into a flatter disc and molded it down over the mounds on the special pan, my ghoriba would have had an even deeper cup and thinner edge. My result was definitely an amateur attempt.

Cooling, Storing, and Serving the Moroccan Shortbread

Allow the ghoriba bahla to cool completely before storing 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 best flavor if they aren’t likely to be consumed in the first week. 

They make an excellent addition to a Moroccan tea time table and are generally served alongside other Moroccan ghoribas, cookies or pastries.

For a completely different textured ghoriba (ghrieba) cookie, try classic Moroccan Almond Macaroons.