Mkhabez are fancy cookies, mainly made of almond and glazed with royal icing. I have used an eggless icing in this recipe.
Mkhabez is supposed to be thick but I made my cookies thinner ( I did not stick to the rule, sorry ๐).
The preparation time in this recipe didnโt include the chilling time of the dough and the time needed to let the icing dry.
It takes usually 2 hours minimum for the dough to chill in the fridge and 1 hour minimum for the icing to dry.
Some recipes donโt require the chilling time but I do recommend it as it makes it easy to work with the dough (I use less flour toย roll outย the dough).
๐ฉ๐ฟ Algerian Glazed Almond Cookies – Mkhabez
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zests of 2 lemons
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup flour for rolling the dough
Icing
- 1/4 cup milk (any type)
- 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1/4 cup rose water or orange blossom water
- Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Food coloring of your choice
- Metallic food coloring or edible dust (color of your choice)
Garnish
- Decorative flower bouquet for cookies.
Instructions
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In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, sugar, and the lemon zests. Set aside.
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Beat the 2 eggs in a small bowl and pour little by little on the almond flour mixture and mix with your hand until the sugar is dissolved and you obtain a soft combined mixture (sticky mixture). You may not need to use all the eggs ( depends of the size of your eggs). I have used 2 medium eggs in this recipe.
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Gather the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap.
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Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
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Flour your working board and roll out the dough to your desired thickness. Mkhabez comes usually thick ( about 1 inch or a little less).
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Use a cookie cutter of your choice to cut out the dough.
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Place the cut out cookies (dough) in a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
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Bake in a 350 ยฐF preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
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Let cool completely.
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Prepare the icing by mixing with a wooden spoon the milk, oil and rose water in a bowl.
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Add the sifted powdered sugar, little by little while continuously mixing until obtain a nice consistency( thick and pourable).
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Add the lemon juice and mix it well.
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Add the food coloring at this step and mix it well.
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Dip each cookie in the bowl of icing and put on a cooling rack, placed on a tray (to catch the drips of icing).
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Put some of the icing in a piping bag or a ziploc bag. Set aside.
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Let the iced cookies dry for a bit then decorate with the icing left in a ziploc bag ( cut a corner of the bag, just a little bit).
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Let the cookies dry completely.
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Use a knife to clean out the cookies from excess icing in the bottom and edges.
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Dust the cookies with the metallic food coloring or edible dust ( color of your choice), using a small brush. This will give the cookies a glossy finish.
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Place a decorative flower for cookies on each cookie(anywhere you like it). Make sure to cut a part of the stem first before placing it.
Recipe Notes
- If your icing is too thick, add rose water. If it is thin add powdered sugar until you obtain a thick, pourable consistency.
- The number of cookies you obtain depends on the size of the cookie cutter you have used and the thickness of your cookies.
- I use US cups in my recipes.
- You can use vanilla powder instead of vanilla extract.
- The almond dough in this recipe is the same as Makrut Ellouz dough.
- I recommend chilling the dough to allow sugar to dissolve but If you are in a hurry, you can skip the chilling of the dough.ย
- You can make your cookies thicker.