Chebakia Recipe - Moroccan Sesame and Honey Cookies

Ingredients

• Sesame seeds

  Seeds, whole, roasted and toasted

  7 oz or 198g

• Wheat flour

  Whole-grain

  4 cup or 480g

• Baking powder

  Leavening agents, double-acting, sodium aluminum sulfate

  ½ tsp or 2g

• Salt

  Table

  ½ tsp or 3g

• Anise seed

  Spices

  1 ½ tsp, whole or 3g

• Cinnamon

  Spices, ground

  1 ½ tsp or 4g

• Saffron

  Spices

  ½ tsp or 0.3g

• Turmeric

  Spices, ground

  ½ tsp or 1g

• Sugar

  White, granulated sugar

  ¹⁄₁₆ tsp or 0.3g

• Egg

  Whole, fresh eggs

  1 large or 50g

• Butter

  Unsalted

  ¼ cup or 57g

• Olive oil

  Salad or cooking

  ¼ cup or 54g

• Vinegar

  Cider

  ¼ cup or 60g

• Orange juice, frozen concentrate, unsweetened, diluted with 3 volume water

  ¼ cup or 62g

• Watermelon

  Raw

  0.02 cup, balls or 3g

• Honey

  1.02kg

• Orange-flavor drink

  Breakfast type, powder, prepared with water

  1 fl oz or 34g

• Vegetable oil

  Natreon canola, high stability, non trans, high oleic (70%)

  6 cup or 1.34kg

• Sesame seeds

  Seeds, whole, dried

  ½ cup or 72g

Directions

1. Ahead of Time - Clean and Toast the Sesame Seeds
2. Unhulled sesame seeds are used twice in the recipe: first when making the dough and then again as a garnish. Ahead of time, pick through the sesame to remove any debris, then toast them until golden. You can do this in a heavy skillet over medium heat, or by spreading the sesame on a baking pan and toasting in a 400 F (200 C) oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Allow the sesame to cool thoroughly before using or storing in an airtight container
3. Make the Chebakia Dough
4. Grind 1.5 cups of toasted sesame in a food processor until powdery, then process a little longer until the powder becomes moist enough to pack.
5. In a large bowl, combine the ground sesame with the flour, baking powder, salt and other dry ingredients. Add the yeast mixture and remaining wet ingredients, and mix with your hands to form a stiff but pliable dough similar to Play Dough in texture. Add more flour or more orange flower water if necessary to achieve that consistency.
6. Knead the dough by hand for 7 to 8 minutes or in a mixer with dough hook for 4 to 5 minutes. Divide the dough into four portions, shape each into a smooth mound, and place the dough in a plastic bag to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Roll Out and Cut the Dough
8. Lightly flour your work surface. Take one of the portions of dough, and roll it out to the thickness of a thin piece of cardboard.
9. Use a fluted pastry cutter to cut the dough into rectangles about the size of your palm. In each rectangle, make four evenly spaced cuts that extend almost the length of the rectangle. The resulting rectangles will have five strips of attached dough.
10. Fold the Chebakia
11. Take a rectangle and thread your right middle finger through alternating strips of dough. With the rectangle draped over your finger in this way, use your left hand to pinch together the outer corners that hang below your fingertip. This will form the center of the flower shape.
12. Continue holding the pinched corners with your left hand, and allow the strips of dough to slide off your right finger while gently turning them inside out around the pinched corner. Pinch the opposite corners closed once the dough is turned inside out. If done correctly, you'll have formed the dough into an elongated flower shape.
13. Place the folded chebakia on a baking sheet or tray. Repeat the process with the remaining rectangles and mounds of dough. As you work, gather your scraps of dough to mold together into a mound, and return them to the bag to rest before you try rolling them out again.
14. Use up all of your dough in this manner. Cover the trays of folded dough with a towel until ready to fry.
15. Cooking the Chebakia
16. Set up your work area. Begin by heating one inch of oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium-low heat. At the same time, heat the honey almost to boiling in a large pot. When the honey is frothy but not bubbling, add the orange flower water to the honey and turn off the heat. Set out a large bowl with strainer.
17. When the oil is hot, cook the chebakia in batches. Adjust the heat as necessary to slowly fry each batch of chebakia to a medium brown color. This should take about 10 minutes if the oil is the correct temperature. If the oil is too hot, the chebakia will color quickly but the insides will not be cooked crispy.
18. Remove the golden brown chebakia from the oil with a slotted spoon or strainer, and transfer them directly to the hot honey. Gently push down on the chebakia to submerge them in the honey, and allow them to soak for 5 to 7 minutes. They'll turn a rich, glossy amber color as they absorb the honey. In the meantime, you can begin frying another batch of cookies.
19. When the chebakia have finished soaking, remove them from the honey to a strainer or colander, and allow them to drain for only a few minutes. Gently transfer them while hot to a large platter or tray and sprinkle the centers with sesame.
20. As you finish soaking other batches of chebakia in the honey, simply drain and add them to the platter in a mound, garnishing each batch with sesame.
21. Storing Chebakia
22. Allow the chebakia to cool for several hours before putting them in an airtight container for storage. They'll keep at room temperature for a month or longer and will freeze well for four or five months.
23. Recipe by: Christine Benlafquih | Taste of Maroc (source: https://tasteofmaroc.com/chebakia-recipe-moroccan-sesame-cookies-with-honey-mkharka/)

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