Vegan Moroccan Cookies

I have been feeling like Arabic pastries lately and was looking for something fast and easy to make. I remembered ghoribas and realized that the recipe I have is vegan! Indeed, some recipes use butter but this one uses oil. They also have a light almond and cinnamon taste.

What makes these Moroccan cookies special is their crumbly, sandy texture. I feel like this is the kind of cookies that you either love or hate. You definitely want to have a drink when eating them. Why not a nice Arabic coffee or a Moroccan mint tea for example?

The only tricky part with ghoribas is the baking. They should stay white with a light golden color on the bottom. Over-baked, they are too hard and lose that crumbly texture.

Before baking, sprinkle with cinnamon powder, you can also add a whole almond on top. Another option with these cookies is to switch the vanilla extract with orange blossom.

Ghoribas are very safe to keep for a few weeks in a metal tin container as they contain no butter or eggs. Place parchment paper in the bottom of the container and in between the layers.

Ghoribas – Vegan Moroccan Cookies

Almond and cinnamon cookies with a crumbly texture.

You don't need a stand mixer for this recipe, you can mix the dough by hand!

Recipe for 10 to 12 cookies.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Snack

Cuisine Moroccan

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

• 1½ cup + 1 tbsp flour 250 g
• ½ cup + 1 tbsp canola oil 125 g
• ⅔ cup icing sugar 80 g
• ¼ cup almond flour 32 g
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• cinnamon powder to sprinkle

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F – 180°C.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer, put the flour, icing sugar, almond flour and the vanilla extract.
  
• Start pouring the canola oil slowly while mixing on low speed with the paddle attachment.
• When you can gather the dough in between your hand and form a ball, stop adding oil. You might need a bit less or more depending on the flour and almond flour you're using,
  
• Take some dough in your hand and roll it to form a ball, use the bottom of your palms to shape as a spinning top. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon powder.
  
• Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F – 180°C. The ghoribas need to stay white, if you over-bake them, they will get too hard.
  
• Keep in a metal tin container on parchment paper for a couple of weeks.
  

Notes

I used my stand mixer with the paddle attachment but you can mix by hands, it works fine too.

Keyword Almond and cinnamon, Ghoribas, Moroccan cookies, Vegan arabic cookies