Moroccan Meat Cigars (Briouats)
Crispy Moroccan pastry rolls filled with savory, spiced ground beef or lamb, aromatic herbs, and warm spices. These delicious appetizers are tightly rolled and fried or baked to golden perfection.
Dish type
Pastry recipes
Browse 6 authentic Moroccan pastry recipes. Each dish includes scaled ingredients, step-by-step instructions, and prep times so you can cook with confidence.
Rghaif (Oven-Baked Stuffed Msemen)
Rghaif elevates laminated msemen dough into a savory showpiece: the same butter-brushed, semolina-sprinkled layers are wrapped around spiced ground beef, sweet onions, and roasted peppers—or a classic suet-and-herb filling—then baked until the pastry shatters and the filling steams inside. Unlike pan-fried msemen, the oven dries the edges into a crackling shell perfect for cutting into squares at gatherings.
Fekkas (Moroccan Biscotti)
Twice-baked almond biscotti packed with toasted nuts, sesame, and plump raisins—fekkas are built for dunking in mint tea or coffee. Logs are baked until firm, sliced on a bias, then returned to a low oven until completely dry and shatteringly crisp. Every Moroccan grandmother has her ratio of almonds to raisins; this version balances sweetness and crunch.
Ghriba (Cracked Almond Cookies)
Ghriba are Morocco’s “smiling cookies”—chewy-centered, crackled-top rounds made from ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites with almost no flour in the classic version. As they bake, the tops split open like smiles. Variations use walnuts or coconut; orange blossom and a dusting of powdered sugar make them irresistible with tea.
Krachel (Sweet Anise Rolls)
Krachel are brioche-like sweet rolls perfumed with anise, sesame, and orange blossom—Fez and northern Morocco’s answer to the French brioche, with a North African spice cabinet. A long, cool proof develops an open, cotton-soft crumb; an egg wash and sesame crust glisten from the bakery window. Tear one open for breakfast with jam and café au lait or mint tea.
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.