It doesn't matter if you know them by Ghriba, Rayvah or Jrieva these cookies are addicting. When I make them I have to hide some so that my family won’t devour them before they are chilled. I can’t really remember the first time I ate them, it seems as if they were always there, part of my mom’s Shabbat cookies. Over time I forgot about them.
As every youngster that thinks he knows everything, definitely better than his parents, I searched for more sophisticated cookies, the kind described in the newspaper food section as “ a fascinating combination of butter, sugar and flour that caramelizes and produces an addictive pastry…” or “mega Cookie with an innovative spring design of autumn leaves upgraded with creamy patisserie cream”. It’s not that the cookies weren’t good, they were, and some of them even very good despite the description. It took me quite some time to return to my childhood cookies and rediscover how the Ghriba cookies melt in your mouth, without the need of poetic description.
Ingredients
1 cup oil
1 ¾ butter sticks
1 cup sugar powder
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp rose water
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
Whole almonds for decoration
Heat oven to 350 F. in a mixer bowl with batter paddle cream oil, butter and sugar powder into a fluffy airy mix. Add all other ingredients beside the almonds and mix only to make dough. Do not over mix. Roll into ping pong size balls, place on a baking sheet covered with baking paper (or silicone baking sheet). Press an almond on each cookie and bake for about 12 minutes. Cookies should still be tender when you take them out. They will harden while chilling.
