Delicious and delicate Middle Eastern cookies that melt in your mouth…
These cookies have the ability to transport me back to my childhood. There is something about their creamy like texture and the way they just melt in your mouth. It’s incredible! I remember having these cookies around since I was a little kid, either store bought or home baked by my Mum. And we still bake or buy them from the store from time to time. They come in different shapes, but the taste is always amazing!
Ghraybeh is incredibly easy to make. It consists of only a few ingredients. Once you try them you will fall in love! The ingredients are: butter or ghee, flour, powdered sugar, and pistachios! To bake these tasty middle eastern cookies you start off by mixing the butter/ghee with the powdered sugar using your hand, then add the flour and mix until it’s well combined. The dough should be nice and soft that it doesn’t stick to your hands (If you like vanilla you can add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract to the mixture). Place the dough ball in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about an hour. If you decide to use butter, then you have to brown the butter by placing it in a saucepan on medium heat until the butter is golden in colour, let it cool for 5 minutes then combine with the powdered sugar.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Gently knead the dough for a few seconds. Start shaping dough balls that weight about 6 grams each, place on wax paper on a baking tray, flatten and press a pistachio into each cookie! Bake for 10-15 minutes at 150C. But be careful not to burn the cookies as the indicated temperature depends on the type of oven you are using, and these cookies could be burnt easily if the oven is too hot! To make sure that they’re ready to come out the oven, check the bottom of a cookie, it should be golden in colour!
After taking the cookies out of the oven, make sure to give them enough time to cool down because the cookies are very delicate and can break easily. Serve with a cup of unsweetend tea or coffee and enjoy!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ghraybeh (Middle Eastern Shortbread Cookies)
cookies
Ingredients
- 60 grams powdered sugar but this depends on how sweet do you like them, if you in general like sweet cookies, then add 40 more grams
- 125 grams ghee/butter
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- pistachios
Instructions
- First you need to mix the ghee/butter with the powdered sugar by hand. Then add the flour to the mixture and mix until it’s well combined. The dough should be nice and soft and should not stick to your hands.
- Place the dough ball into a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- After you take it out of the refrigerator, let it rest for 15 minutes. Gently knead the dough for a few seconds and start shaping dough balls (each should approximately weight about 6 grams), place it on wax paper on a baking tray, flatten it using your hand and press a pistachio into each cookie.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 150c for 10-15 minutes (but this depends on what kind of oven do you use, when done the bottom of the cookies should be golden in colour but be careful as these cookies burn very easily).
- Make sure you give the cookies enough time to cool down because they’re very delicate and are easy to break.
Notes:
Ghee may be substituted with clarified butter at its solid state.
Store in a box (not airtight container) at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Rudy sayegh says
I have made these 2 times and both times they come out flat … and I’m following the recipe exactly, what am I doing wrong ? I use unsalted warm butter … it’s my favorite cookie but it’s not cooperating
Mina says
All of your ingredients must be at room temperature. Make use that u heat your oven properly. When u schock the cookies with heat, it does not get flat. Also if you wanna guarantee , after preparing the dough, put it into the refrigerator for 30 min before putting into the oven
Mary mayberry says
Could you please make the recipe in cups I,don’t know how to convert this thank you mary
Carolyn says
My Armenian grandmother made these cookies and we called them Shaker Lama. If you don’t use butter what do you use? I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. I’ll comment on my results.
Jamila says
I thought this was the best recipe I’ve come across for Ghraybeh. The only thing is I think you meant 16 gram balls, not 6. Otherwise perfect and my Lebanese father loved them. Thank you
Nadia's Healthy Kitchen says
Ooo I love these cookies! We used to have them during Eid although we called them ‘shakar lama’ not sure where that names comes from haha. And we also add cardamom 🙂
Geneveieve says
one of my mother’s friends made it with cloves
ssss says
Shaker means sugar. I don’t know what “lama” means.
Emily Rahal says
I believe “sugar” in Arabic is SUKARR….not Shaker….