Ghraibeh with Cream
Tender ghraibeh cookies made with ashta.
A shortbread-style Middle Eastern cookie made with cream.
Like a buttery cookie that melts in your mouth.
Handle the dough gently so the cookies stay tender and crumbly.
Ingredients
- half a kilo Flour
- 200 g Powdered sugar
- 250 g Animal ghee
- 4 tablespoons Sugar syrup
- about half a kilo Cooked ashta
- for garnish Aleppo pistachios
- a pinch A pinch of flour
- a little A little water for soaking the pistachios
- a light coating A light coating of ghee for greasing the baking tray
Instructions
- Place 250 g of animal ghee and 200 g of powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, then rub them together for about five minutes until the mixture becomes creamy white.
- Sift the flour through a sieve over the mixing bowl, then add the half kilo of flour to the ghee and sugar mixture in the mixing bowl.
- Rub the flour into the ghee and sugar mixture in the mixing bowl until a smooth, uniform dough forms.
- Add 4 tablespoons of sugar syrup to the dough in the mixing bowl, then rub the dough again until combined.
- Flatten the dough in a metal tray, then place the metal tray in the freezer for about ten minutes to a quarter of an hour, until the dough is cold and firm.
- Remove the dough from the freezer, then prepare about half a kilo of cooked ashta in a piping bag or another suitable filling tool.
- Lightly grease the baking tray with ghee if necessary, depending on the type of tray.
- Cut off a piece of dough according to the size of the mold, then shape the dough in an ashta ghraibeh mold or with a mentioned alternative tool, such as a lemon squeezer lined with kitchen plastic wrap.
- Fill the dough with cooked ashta inside the mold, using the same method as filling kibbeh, then seal the piece well.
- Use a pinch of flour on the mold or dough as needed so it does not stick during shaping.
- Arrange the ashta-filled ghraibeh pieces on the baking tray.
- Soak the Aleppo pistachios in a little water, then place Aleppo pistachios on top of each piece for garnish.
- Place the baking tray in the freezer for about 40 minutes, until the pieces are well frozen and firm.
- Preheat the oven to its highest temperature, 250°C, with both top and bottom heat on.
- Place the baking tray in the middle of the oven while the pieces are frozen, then bake the ghraibeh for about 7 minutes, and no more than 10 minutes, until nicely colored.
- Remove the baking tray from the oven, then serve the ashta ghraibeh.