Welcome to one of the easiest cookie recipes you’ll ever try! Ghraybeh are buttery, delicate cookies from the Middle East that use only 3 ingredients. This post shows you exactly how to make them in about one hour, including the special technique for mixing the dough.
Why You’ll Love These Ghraybeh Cookies
- Melt-in-Your-Mouth Texture: These cookies are famous for their delicate, snowy texture that literally dissolves on your tongue.
- Only 3 Ingredients: You only need flour, powdered sugar, and ghee. No eggs, no leavening, no fuss.
- Authentic Flavor: Using real ghee (clarified butter) gives them that traditional, nutty, and rich flavor that regular butter just can’t match.
What You Will Need:
- 2 cups of flour
- 3/4 cup of powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup of ghee (clarified butter)
What is Ghee?
What is ghee? Ghee is butter that has had the milk solids removed after melting the butter. Ghee is very important for making ghraybeh cookies. I have tried using regular butter and they did not turn out the same. Ghee can be purchased at most grocery stores or you can make your own.
Mixing the Ingredients
Add the flour and powdered sugar to the mixing bowl that you are using. Give the flour and powdered sugar a mix and let them get to know each other a bit. Next add the ghee. The mixture will go through about three stages. First it will look sandy. After a few more minutes the mixture will combine into a wet, hard dough. Next, the dough will start to get soft and look whipped. The whole process takes about 10 minutes or so and is worth the wait! Look at the video for how it is done. After the dough is done mixing, wrap the dough and cool for about 20 minutes in the fridge.
The 3 Stages of Mixing
- Sandy: First, it will look like dry crumbs.
- Hard Dough: Then, it will come together into a dense, wet ball.
- Whipped & Soft: Finally, it will relax and become soft, pale, and airy (like whipped frosting). This is when it’s done.
Rolling and Baking the Ghraybeh
After the dough has cooled, roll the dough out in about 11 gram balls, or about a large teaspoon sized ball. The balls do not change size very much when baking, so you can place them on a lined baking sheet about two inches apart. Once the balls are rolled and placed on the lined baking sheet, press a pistachio or almond into the top of the ghraybeh cookie dough. This is optional. You do not have to put the nut in the cookie if you don’t want to. You can put candied fruit or whatever you like. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes at 325 degrees F.
For another holiday cookie, try my soft and chewy gingerbread cookie recipe!
Please visit my cookies page for more ideas!
FAQ’s:
Ghraybeh are traditional Middle Eastern butter cookies that have a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture. They are known for their rich, buttery flavor from the use of clarified butter (ghee).
Ghee is clarified butter that has had the milk solids removed. Using ghee is crucial for ghraybeh cookies because it gives them their distinct buttery flavor and helps achieve the tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture that regular butter cannot.
The dough will go through three stages when mixing. It will start sandy, then become a hard dough, and finally become soft and whipped after about 10 minutes of mixing, which is the desired consistency before chilling.
The cookies should be baked for about 10-12 minutes at 325 degrees F. The cookies will not change color very much, so you should take them out of the oven when the bottoms are a light golden color.
Yes, the nuts on top are completely optional! You can press any nut you like, or even use candied fruit or sprinkles to customize the cookies.
Yes, the dough is chilled for 20 minutes before rolling. You can also make the dough a day ahead and store it in the fridge, allowing you to have it ready to bake when you need it.
Melt-in-Your-Mouth Ghraybeh (Easy 3-Ingredient Recipe)
Method
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and flour.
- Add ghee to the flour mixture and blend until whipped and smooth. About 7-10 minutes.
- Chill dough for at least 20 minutes.
- Roll dough to a ball about 11 grams or a teaspoon size.
- Press an almond or pistachio (optional) into the rolled cookie.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes at 325 degrees F.
- When baked, place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.
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