In the village of Mashghara, West Bekaa of Lebanon, Holiday Cookies are called “Akras” or “Krass” أقراص referring to the cookies pieces and the way they are shaped in the palm of the hand. These cookies are usually prepared in every house in Mashgharah during winter time for their high caloric content, but also for “El Fitr” and “Al Adha” Holidays.
This is a family recipe shared by Ms. Nadiya Ibrahim.
Total servings: 120 cookies
Preparation time: 3-4 hours
Ingredients:
3 kg of flour
2 kg of semolina
600g of unsalted butter
2 tbsp. of margarine
1 cup of olive oil
2 L of milk
2 Kg of sugar
50g of Kaak Spices (Anise seeds, fennel, cinnamon and cardamom)
100g of nutmeg
50g of dry marjoram leaves
2 tbsp. of yeast
2 tbsp. baking powder
Sesame for decoration
Preparation steps:
In a big bowl, mix the flour, semolina, nutmeg, yeast and baking powder
- Finely pound the marjoram and Kaak spices then add them to the flour mixture
- In a cooking pot, boil the milk then add the butter, margarine and sugar and stir well until all the ingredients are well mixed
- Leave the milk mixture aside to cool down
- Add the olive oil to the flour mixture and stir well then combine it with the milk mixture
- Mix all the ingredients and knead well until you get a smooth dough
- Form the dough into small balls and press them to obtain a flattened rounded shape. Special wooden or plastic molds are pressed against the flat cookies to make unique impressions
- Sprinkle sesame on the cookies and bake in a heated oven (350˚C) for 25mns or until their edges are gold
- Dash the warm cookies with liquid milk and leave them to cool. The milk will give the cookies their special texture