Moroccan tea biscuit – Riffaat
A few months ago, when some friends told us that they are coming to visit I fell into a baking mood. Although I do cook regularly, and some may say that I’m quite good at it, baking is a whole different ball game. However, friends were coming over and my mother always said, “you just can’t serve tea without cookies.” My mom had been gone a long time; my Dad is not with us either so where can I find a good cookie recipe? Luckily in one of my visits to Israel I met Aunt Dina, Uncle Moshe’s wife, who is known in the family for her baking talent, and she was willing to share with me the recipe for her… “cookies? I have an amazing recipe for you, easy as pie.”
“Ok, I’m writing”, I said while typing into my phone. She brought her thumb to the bottom of her finger and raised her hand a bit, marking the quantities as she started to dictate. “One cup water, one cup oil, a cup and a bit sugar, a bit? -How much is a bit? About a quarter cup, half a cup sesame seeds,” here she adds another finger and continues, “two table spoons anis stars, two vanilla, two baking and as much flour as it takes…that’s it. You mix it all then you open the dough and cut into squares.” “What heat should the oven be?” I ask “medium, not too hot.” “For how long? -Until they are brown, but not really brown, so that they don’t burn, a light brown.”
Simple, right? It truly was easy as pie, and what a success. The guests didn’t even leave any crumbs.
So I decided to rewrite the recipe a bit for my sister’s sake, she doesn’t really work well with “as much flour as it takes,” so all of you benefit from that:
1 cup water
1 cup oil
1 ¼ cup sugar, (I use just one cup, and if you want a smoother texture then you can exchange the sugar with one cup sugar powder)
½ cup sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons anis stars (crush with a metal steak hammer or grind with a herb grinder for a smoother texture)
Two bags of vanilla sugar (20 grams or 2 table spoons)
Two bags of baking powder (20 grams or 2 table spoons)
5 cups flour
Preparations
Heat the oven to 350/180 degrees
Mix all ingredients into smooth dough. If the dough is sticky add some flour, one table spoon at a time. If it’s too dry add one tablespoon of oil. Let dough rest for about 20 minutes.
On a smooth area powdered with flour flatten the dough with a roller into a rectangle 1/4 inch (about 6-7 mm) thick. Using a serrated pizza cutter divide into 3×3 inches squares. (I like different sized cookies so I’m not that precise)
Place squares on a baking tray covered with baking sheet, leaving space between each one, and spear each cookie a few times with the fork. Bake for about 15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the cool off on a metal grid. Taste one to see how they came out, another just to be sure, a few more to make sure they all taste the same, and if you have any left place in a sealed tin box for three to four days.