Ghraiba

Ingredients

Dough

• 250 gghee or clarified butter, samneh, at room temperature
• 150 gicing sugar
• 400 gplain flour
• a pinch of salt

Flavour

• 1 tspground cardamom, or a little vanilla
• or 1 tbsp orange blossom water

To finish

• a blanched almond or a pistachio for each biscuit
• icing sugar for dusting

To serve

• at Eid, with Arabic coffee or mint tea

Directions

1. Use ghee or clarified butter rather than ordinary butter. Ghee is pure fat, which coats the flour completely and prevents gluten forming at all.
2. Beat it until it is genuinely pale, light and fluffy, which takes longer than seems necessary. Use icing sugar rather than granulated, since granulated sugar leaves a gritty texture and encourages spreading.
3. Sift the flour in and fold it through gently with a spatula or your fingertips. Stop the moment it comes together into a dough.
4. Roll walnut-sized pieces into balls and either flatten them slightly or form them into small rings. Press an almond or a pistachio into the centre of each. Set them on a lined tray with space between them. Bake at 160°C, which is lower than most biscuits.
5. Bake them for fifteen to eighteen minutes, and take them out while they are still pale. They must stay pale and must not brown, since a browned ghraiba is overbaked and loses its melting quality.
6. Leave them on the tray until they are completely cold, without touching them. They are extremely fragile while warm and will fall apart in your fingers, and they firm up only as they cool.
7. Dust them with icing sugar once cool. They keep two weeks and are served with Arabic coffee or mint tea.

Technique

• Clarified butter rather than ordinary butter is what gives the crumbling texture.
• No liquid of any kind goes into the dough.
• They must stay pale and must be left to cool completely before moving.

Substitutions

• Any good ghee in place of samneh.
• Vanilla or orange blossom water in place of cardamom.

Variations

• Made with ground almonds worked into the dough.
• Shaped into rings, as is usual in Libya.
• Flavoured with orange blossom water.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ghraiba?

Ghraiba is a dessert from Libya: crumbly clarified-butter shortbread rings, baked for Eid.

How long does Ghraiba take to make?

Ghraiba takes 25 min plus 1 hr chilling of preparation and 18 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ghraiba?

Yes, within limits. Any good ghee in place of samneh. Vanilla or orange blossom water in place of cardamom.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ghraiba?

Use ghee or clarified butter rather than ordinary butter. Ghee is pure fat, which coats the flour completely and prevents gluten forming at all.