Kaab el Ghazal (Gazelle Horns)
The crown jewel of Moroccan patisserie—delicate crescent cookies with a paper-thin warqa-style dough wrapped around a lush almond paste scented with cinnamon and orange blossom water. Named “gazelle horns” for their curved shape, they melt on the tongue and appear at weddings, Eid tables, and afternoon tea alongside sellou and chebakia.
Recipe byChef YoussefIngredients
Scaled from 24 base servings — local only.
- 2egg yolks
- 250 gall-purpose flour
- 60 tbspvegetable oil
- 0.25 tspsalt
- 300 gblanched almond flour
- 200 gicing sugar
- 3 mlorange blossom water
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- 80 gunsalted butter
Instructions
For filling: pulse almond flour, half the sugar, cinnamon, one yolk, butter, and 2 tbsp orange blossom until a pliable paste. Roll into small logs; chill.
For dough: mix flour, remaining sugar, oil, one yolk, salt, and remaining orange blossom with just enough water to form a smooth, elastic dough. Rest 30 minutes.
Roll dough very thin. Cut circles; place a filling log on each and fold into a crescent, pinching edges.
Bake at 180°C (350°F) 15–18 minutes until pale gold—not brown. Cool and dust with icing sugar.
Reviews
★ 5 average · 1 review
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- Guest Chef★★★★★
Tastes like the bakery in Rabat.
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