Ghraybeh: Lebanese butter biscuits
Ghraybeh – try pronouncing that correctly. The name of these delicious Lebanese butter biscuits doesn’t really roll off the tongue easily for most people. So it’s perfectly OK if you just say “butter biscuits” 😀
Okay, I’ll explain the pronunciation briefly. But only because you force me. In Arabic, the Gh is pronounced like an R without the roll. The R, on the other hand, is pronounced with a roll. Now try to pronounce an R without and an R with rollers one after the other… Cool, isn’t it?
All right, let’s talk about biscuits instead. Ghraybeh are super fine butter biscuits made with ghee, icing sugar and flour. You don’t really need much more than that. My mother also always perfumes the ghraybeh with a touch of rose water. Ghee, by the way, is clarified butter that gives the biscuits a taste of fine nut butter. Ghee also makes the biscuits more durable and they don’t burn so quickly in the oven.
What you have to bear in mind with Ghraybeh is that the dough is really super buttery and initially looks more like a firm cream after kneading. Don’t panic, just park the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour, then it will become firmer.
However, you should be a bit quick when shaping the biscuits, otherwise the dough will start to melt in your hands. Sounds like a lot of work? But it really isn’t. The butter biscuits are really easy and taste wonderfully crumbly. They almost melt in your mouth. Believe me, you’ve never had butter biscuits like these. You probably already know: It takes more effort to pronounce the name correctly than it does to bake the biscuits 😉
Equipment
Ingredients
- 300 g Flour sifted
- 200 g Ghee clarified butter
- 100 g Powdered sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1/2 TSP Rose water
- 1 TSP Vanilla essence
- Pine nuts, pistachios or blanched almonds
Zubereitung
- Preheat oven to 150 ° C.
- Beat the butter with the icing sugar and salt until creamy and fluffy. The beating is very important so that the dough becomes nice and fluffy.
- Add the rose water and vanilla.
- Gradually work in the flour.
- Then cover the dough and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Remove approx. 2 tsp. of dough and shape into a ball, gently flattening the ball with the palms of your hands.
- Gently press the kernel or nut into the centre of the biscuit.
- Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Bake the biscuits for approx. 20 – 25 minutes.
Notes
Nährwerte
Would you like more biscuits? Then be sure to check out the pistachio biscuits, sesame biscuits or the filled semolina biscuits.
