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These Ghraybeh cookies are literally melt in your mouth cookies. Made with just 3 main ingredients, these cookies are to die for. These shortbread cookies are very popular in the Middle East. They are not too sweet, buttery and have an amazing texture to them on the inside and have a light crisp to them.
Ghraybeh is basically the shortbread cookie of the Middle East. It’s made with flour, ghee (clarified butter, some use butter) and powdered sugar. It’s baked just to perfection, and does not bake until it’s brown on the outside, like other shortbread cookies. Ghraybeh Cookies are usually made during occasions like different Islamic Eids, Christmas, Easter etc.
If you love Middle Eastern cookies, you will definitely need to try my Maamoul Date Cookies, and Pistachio Maamoul Cookies.
Why you will love this Ghraybeh Recipe
- Staple Ingredients. The ingredients needed for this recipe are found in your pantry already. You don’t need to go looking for any complicated ingredients.
- Great for sharing. Make a big batch and share in a holiday cookie box with friends and neighbors. Also great for cookie exchange parties.
- Adaptable. You can make these cookies into many flavored variations. Simply choose your favorite jam flavor and substitute the pistachio on top.
Graybeh Ingredients
- Ghee– Bring your ghee to room temperature before starting on the dough.
- Sugar – This recipe calls for powdered sugar/confectioner sugar. Do not use granulated sugar as a substitute. Sift them for best results.
- Flour- use all purpose flour, sifted for best results.
- Pistachios– use pitted pistachios for the topping. You can also use jam if you like.
- Vanilla Extract– Completely optional. Use just a few drops of pure vanilla extract to achieve best flavor. You can also substitute for almond extract.
How To Make Ghraybeh Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Make your dough: In a stand mixer, mix the ghee, powdered sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract on low speed for about 1 minute.
- Flour: Add in the sifted flower gradually and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds until very well combined. At first it will look dry, but as it mixes, it will start holding up together to form a pasty dough. Right when it incorporates and the cough collects together, turn off the mixer and scrape the sides. Knead by hand to collect all the dough together. Add more flour if needed, 2 tbsps. at a time.
- Cool: Transfer the dough to a zip lock bag or wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Form Balls: Use a small cookie scoop to portion the cookies and form into 1.5 inch balls. Slightly press down just a bit to flatten it a little and place on the baking sheet.
- Thumbprint: Press the middle softly with your thumb to form a small indent and add the piece of pistachio on top. If you decide to use Jam, make a deeper thumb print indent and add in the jam.
- Bake: These cookies bake at a low temperature heat of 350 F for 15 minutes. The cookies will not need to change color. They stay white. To know if they are done, they will feel firm to touch and leave a dough residue on your finger.
- Let them completely cool before serving.
Tips to make these Middle Eastern Shortbread Cookies
- Be sure to sift the dry ingredients to have the perfect texture for these cookies.
- No chilling is necessary but you can always chill the dough for 20 minutes before forming the balls if the temperature is too warm in your kitchen.
- At first the dough will look dry, but as it mixes, it will start holding up together to form a pasty dough. Scrape the side every couple minutes to ensure everything is getting mixed well.
- Either divide the dough by forming a log and cutting into even sized pieces or use a small spring release cookie scooper.
- Baking time will depend on the size of your cookies if you make them bigger than 1.5 inch balls. Be sure to use a small cookie scooper to make 1.5 inch size portions and have all cookies at the same size to bake evenly.
- Cool completely before serving.
- Do not wait for the cookies to get brown or else they will become too dry and you will loose the soft, buttery texture. It needs to stay white.
- If you have nut allergies, replace the pistachios with jam or make them plain.
Frequently Asked Questions
These cookies are eggless and have no milk, so they will last in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
These cookies freeze very well. You can freeze them right after they cool down completely.
I prefer not. Butter has around 20% of moisture, while ghee is 100% fat that has been separated from the butter’s moisture. This will add unnecessary moisture to the cookie, and it wont have the same texture as using ghee. If you have to use butter, you can use unsalted butter and may need to couple more spoons of flour to absorb the extra moisture of the butter.
Typically they will feel set to the touch, firm but not too hard and will leave dough like residue on your finger when you touch them.
More Lebanese Desserts
- Lebanese Nights Dessert (Layali Lubnan)
- Homemade Walnut Baklava
- Homemade Pistachio Baklava
- Atayef with Ashta
- Pistachio Bird Nest Baklava
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you including this delicious and simple Graybeh recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
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Lebanese Ghraybeh Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all purpose flour, sifted, plus more if needed, Max ½ cup more
- 1 cup confectioner sugar, sifted
- 1 cup ghee, room temp, not melted
- 28 pieces pistachio, whole
- 1 packet Vanilla sugar, Or 3-4 drops vanilla extract, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Make your dough: In a stand mixer, mix the ghee, powdered sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract on low speed about a minute.
- Flour: Add in the sifted flower gradually and mix on low speed for about 30-1 minute until very well combined. At first it will look dry, but as it mixes, it will start holding up together to form a pasty dough. Scrape the sides to ensure everything is getting mixed well. Do not over mix. Continue to knead with hand to collect the dough together and add more flour if needed, up to 1/2 extra.
- Cool: Optional, Transfer the dough to a zip lock bag or wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Depends on the environment you are working in.
- Form Balls: Use a small cookie scoop to portion the cookies and form into 1.5 inch balls. Slightly press down just a bit to flatten it a little and place on the baking sheet.
- Indent: Press the middle softly with your finger to form a small indent and add the piece of pistachio on top. If you decide to use Jam, make a deeper thumb print indent and add in the jam.
- Bake: These cookies bake at a low temperature heat of 350 F for 15 minutes until the side get a slight golden color. The cookies will not change color or become golden brown. They stay white. To know if they are done, they will feel firm to touch and leave a dough residue on your finger.
- Cool: Let them completely cool at room temperature before serving.
Notes
- Use to sift the dry ingredients to have the perfect texture for these cookies.
- Use more flour if needed to obtain a non stick consistency, because all flours are different.
- No chilling is necessary but you can always chill the dough for 20 minutes before forming the balls if the temperature is too warm in your kitchen.
- At first the dough will look dry, but as it mixes, it will start holding up together to form a pasty dough. Scrape the sides to ensure everything is getting mixed well.
- Either divide the dough by forming a log and cutting into even sized pieces or use a small spring release cookie scooper.
- Baking time will depend on the size of your cookies if you make them bigger than 1.5 inch balls. Be sure to use a small cookie scooper to make 1.5 inch size portions and have all cookies at the same size to bake evenly.
- Cool completely before serving.
- Do not wait for the cookies to get brown or else they will become too dry and you will loose the soft, buttery texture. It needs to stay white.
- If you have nut allergies, replace the pistachios with jam or make them plain.
- Mix the dough on low speed only and do not overmix more than the time states
Hi Mariam,
I can’t wait to try these! What can I do if I don’t have a stand mixer?
Thank you!
Hi Jen!
You can knead everything by hand. Originally that’s what should be done. But I take a shortcut😅. The mixing on the stand only takes like 30 seconds anyways. By hand, you can’t go wrong with over mixing so that’s perfect to do.
Maybe I did something wrong, but followed the instructions carefully. The dough was super wet. Baked the cookies for the designated time. The results were inedible – no sweetness and oily. Looked nothing like the pictures that were shown. Maybe butter rather than ghee would have worked?
That’s weird. did you melt the ghee? the recipe has been tested many times. No don’t use butter. Use your hands to mix the dough, do not melt the ghee. You can add more sugar for sweetness and a little more flour is you need to adjust the texture.
Hi Mariam –
Your recipe was amazing. The cookies remind me of the ghraybeh cookies that I used to get from Amal Bohsali bakery in Beirut as a child when I would go to Lebanon with my parents. I had to adjust a bit because my dough was too dry – something that I often run into when I measure flour and sugar by volume as opposed to by weight. Do you have a version of your recipe that lists the dry ingredients by weight as opposed to volume?
Thanks for providing the delicious recipe!!
Hi Ken,
I don’t have the measurements in volume. But don’t stress about it because you can’t go wrong. If you mix the dough in a cake mixer bowl for 30 seconds, it will incorporate well. You can also add 1 tbsp of extra ghee. But the cake machine should do it, just for about 30 seconds and you can continue by hand. The more you mix the more the dough will get soft. If you over mix, just use extra flour and knead with your hand.
Do these cookies spread out when they cook ? Mine did not.
Hi Surati,
No they are not supposed to rise or spread 🙂 You did it right.