Ghorabieh

Ghorabieh - Persian Almond and Coconut Macaroons

Welcome to my ultimate Persian Christmas.

There is so much to pack into the next few days so I'm kicking it off with a mouth watering cookie come macaroon sweet all the way from Tabriz, the capital city of East Azerbaijan province in north western Iran, called Ghorabieh.

I've added some festive colour with a splash of gorgeous red from the cranberries and baked the Ghorabieh in red cupcake cases.

Ghorabieh is made with almonds and coconut and a good amount of egg white to bind the mixture together. I'd bought some gold leaf some time ago and they went perfectly on top, which gave this sweet that final applaud!

Ingredients

120g ground almonds

50g desiccated coconut

1/2 tsp baking powder

200g caster sugar

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp almond essence

For the garnish

1/2 tbsp ground pistachio

2 tbsp almond flakes

1 tsp ground rose petals

Makes 12 cookies / macaroons

Note: Oven 150°C or Gas Mark 2 for 30 minutes

Method

Step 1

• Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they form soft peaks

• Add the sugar and whisk for 1 minute so that the egg whites become glossy

• Add the ground almonds, coconut, almond essence and baking powder

• Whisk altogether for 10 minutes

Step 2

• Pre-heat the oven at 150°C or Gas Mark 2

• Place 1 tbsp of the mixture into each cupcake case (medium / small), if you have some left over, add a little to each cupcake case

• Sprinkle with almond flakes

Note: If you're not using cupcake cases you can place the mixture on a baking tray, ensure you grease your baking tray and you have at least 2 cm apart between each cookie to allow for spreading.

Step 3

• Place in the oven at 150°C or Gas Mark 2 for 30 minutes

Note: Your cookie should be a cream colour when taken out of the oven. It will be soft and slightly chewy when warm.

Step 4

For the garnish

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with ground pistachio and rose petals whilst hot so the garnish sticks to the cookie. Allow to cool completely.

You can save these for Christmas or any other occasion, they freeze well so you can save yourself time and make them in advance :)

Enjoy with lovely Persian tea. :) Noosh-e-Jaan :)

Ghorabieh - Persian Almond and Coconut Macaroons