Chebakia (Sesame & Honey Flower Cookies)

Name: Chebakia (Sesame & Honey Flower Cookies)
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 400 g Plain flour; 120 g Toasted sesame seeds; 1 tsp Ground anise; 1 tsp Ground cinnamon; Saffron threads; 1 tsp Instant yeast; 60 ml Olive oil; 1 tbsp (15 ml) White vinegar; 2 tbsp (30 ml) Orange blossom water; 120 ml Warm water; 1/2 tsp Salt; 500 g Honey; 800 ml Oil for frying

Spiced dough pinched into a flower shape, deep-fried, then plunged hot into honey and showered with toasted sesame — the sticky, crunchy sweet that opens Ramadan tables.

Source

Recipe by Moroccan home kitchens · 🏺 Traditional · Moroccan household cooking

Moroccan Ramadan sweets — Shebakia (chebakia) is a Maghrebi sesame cookie folded into a flower shape, deep-fried, coated in honey and sprinkled with sesame. It is eaten in Morocco especially during Ramadan, served alongside harira to break the fast. There is no single author; the shaping style and spicing vary by family, and it is made in large batches at home.

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⏱ 120 min🍽 10 servings🔥 200 kcal🇲🇦 Morocco

VegetarianHalalDairy-free

Steps

Mix the flour, ground sesame, anise, cinnamon, yeast and salt. Work in the saffron water, oil, vinegar, orange blossom water and just enough warm water to make a firm, smooth dough.
Knead 8 minutes until elastic, cover and rest 30 minutes.
Roll the dough thin, cut into small rectangles, make four parallel slits in each, then thread and pinch the corners through to form a flower or rosette shape.
💡 The folding is the fiddly, patient part and takes practice — but the shape is not just decoration. All those folds and holes are what catch and hold the honey. Do a few slowly; you will find the rhythm.
Warm the honey in a wide pan until runny but not boiling, and keep it warm on the lowest heat.
Heat the frying oil to 170°C and fry the flowers a few at a time until deep golden and crisp, 3–4 minutes.
Lift each straight from the oil into the warm honey and leave to soak 4–5 minutes, then remove and drain over a rack.
💡 Hot cookie into warm honey is the rule: the heat difference lets the honey soak deep inside instead of just glazing the surface. Cold ones sit on top of the honey and stay dry within.
Sprinkle at once with the whole toasted sesame seeds and cool completely — they keep for weeks in a tin.

💡 Tips

Chebakia is the sweet of Ramadan in Morocco, made in big batches before the month starts and eaten every evening to break the fast alongside harira. It is meant to be sticky, honey-soaked and heavily sesame-crusted — not a dry, crisp biscuit.
This is the one advanced recipe in the batch, and the shaping is why. If the flower folds defeat you, cut the rolled dough into simple strips, knot each once, fry and honey them the same way — the taste is identical.