These Egyptian cookies are perfect — sweet in the middle, and crispy on the outside.
Are you not comfortable with baking or cooking? I find these cookies really easy to bake—there isn’t much that I feel is wrong with them. These are Egyptian sweet cookies that never fail to satisfy my sweet tooth. The cookies taste becomes more syrupy when I bake them on Eid-ul-Fitr. What I love to add a little filling to them are chopped pistachios, walnuts, and dates (Yummy!) The story behind these cookies is all about celebration. So, share it with your family and friends on the next special occasion!
Ingredients to bake the best Egyptian Sweet Cookies
- 2 tablespoons (heaped) (20 grams) of white sesame seeds
- 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
- 4 cups (500 grams) of all-purpose flour, add more if needed
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) ghee, melted
- 1/2 cup (57 grams) powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
Follow these Directions!
- Preheat the oven to 395°F and line three sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a dry skillet over medium temperature, toast the sesame seeds. Shake it constantly until golden brown. Reserve the skillet and transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Mix toasted sesame seeds, milk, baking powder, vanilla extract, flour, and salt.
- Melt the ghee in the same skillet, bring it to a simmer, remove it from the heat, and make a shallow well in the mixture of flour.
- Pour the melted ghee slowly into the well. Mix it with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon in the shallow well area.
- As the hot ghee is poured in, you will hear a slight sizzling sound. Once it is added, finely mix the dough. Make sure it is formed fully and there are no dry bits of flour remaining. Set it aside for five to ten minutes until it is cool enough to touch.
- Twist the dough a few times, if it still seems wet, then add some additional flour, ¼ cup (30 grams) at a time. Or, if the dough looks dry, add some water, a splash at a time.
- The dough should look like a smooth softball. Make sure it is not sticky. Cover the bowl and let it sit for around 10 minutes.
- Use a cookie scoop to spare out the mixture of dough. Then scoop a rounded tablespoonful of dough rolling into a ball in your hands.
- Place half of the cookies on the prepared sheet pans around 2 inches apart from each other. Flatten them slightly because they will spread more while baking.
- Lightly press a fork into each cookie. Do not flatten more while creating the pattern. Bake the sweet cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bottom edges are lightly browned. Repeat with the second half now.
- Cool the cookies completely before dusting generously over the powdered sugar.
ENJOY!
These Egyptian sweet cookies are a bit different from the other cookies. Their sweetness comes from powdered sugar dusted over the top of the baked cookies. The recipe is super easy to follow, and the result always comes good. My 4yo sister extremely enjoys eating the cookies; she has a lot of fun licking the tops of powdered sugar. This brings me back to my favorite childhood memories of eating these cookies.
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