Moroccan Chebakia with Sesame and Honey
Chebakia is a sesame and cinnamon dough shaped into a rose, fried, and dipped in hot honey. Unlike most sweets: here the honey is hot and the chebakia is hot too — that is what makes it absorb the honey internally rather than leaving it sitting on the surface.
- Prep
- 60 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Total
- 100 min
- Calories
- 210
Chebakia is Morocco's foremost Ramadan sweet, eaten with harira at iftar. Making it is a family tradition — women gather a week before Ramadan and produce enough to last the whole month.
Method
-
1
Knead
Mix the flour, ground sesame, almonds, cinnamon, aniseed, saffron, yeast and salt, then add the butter, vinegar and water gradually and knead for fifteen minutes.
⏱ 20 min -
2
Rest
Cover the dough and rest it for an hour. It should be firm and slightly stiff — not soft like bread dough.
⏱ 60 min -
3
Roll thin
Roll the dough very thin, about two millimetres. Thick dough gives heavy chebakia that will not absorb honey properly.
⏱ 15 min -
4
Shape the roses
Cut rectangles of eight by five centimetres, make four lengthways slits in each, then thread alternate strips over your finger and pinch the end — it opens into a rose.
⏱ 30 min -
5
Fry
Fry in medium oil, around 160°C, until deep golden, about three to four minutes. High heat browns the outside while the inside stays raw.
⏱ 20 min -
6
Soak in hot honey
Warm the honey with the orange blossom water over low heat without boiling. Dip the hot chebakia into the hot honey for three to four minutes until it drinks it in.
⏱ 10 min -
7
Drain
Lift them onto a rack and scatter sesame over immediately while still sticky, then leave them to drain for an hour before storing.
⏱ 60 min
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Tips that actually matter
- Hot into hot — the opposite of most sweets. That is what gets the honey inside rather than on top.
- Roll the dough very thin: thick chebakia comes out heavy and does not take up honey.
- The vinegar in the dough is not a mistake — it stops it absorbing too much oil during frying.
- They keep a month in an airtight tin, which is why they are made in bulk before Ramadan.
People also ask
Why did my chebakia not absorb the honey?
Either the honey was cold or the chebakia had cooled. Both must be hot, and the soak is three to four minutes, not seconds.
Why did they come out heavy?
The dough was rolled too thick. It needs to be two millimetres — thin enough that you can almost see your hand through it.
How long do they keep?
A full month in an airtight tin somewhere cool and dry. That is exactly why they are made a week before Ramadan.
Can I bake them instead of frying?
The oven gives a completely different result, closer to a biscuit. Frying is essential to both the texture and the shape.
Cook mode
Moroccan Chebakia with Sesame and Honey
-
1
Knead
Mix the flour, ground sesame, almonds, cinnamon, aniseed, saffron, yeast and salt, then add the butter, vinegar and water gradually and knead for fifteen minutes.
-
2
Rest
Cover the dough and rest it for an hour. It should be firm and slightly stiff — not soft like bread dough.
-
3
Roll thin
Roll the dough very thin, about two millimetres. Thick dough gives heavy chebakia that will not absorb honey properly.
-
4
Shape the roses
Cut rectangles of eight by five centimetres, make four lengthways slits in each, then thread alternate strips over your finger and pinch the end — it opens into a rose.
-
5
Fry
Fry in medium oil, around 160°C, until deep golden, about three to four minutes. High heat browns the outside while the inside stays raw.
-
6
Soak in hot honey
Warm the honey with the orange blossom water over low heat without boiling. Dip the hot chebakia into the hot honey for three to four minutes until it drinks it in.
-
7
Drain
Lift them onto a rack and scatter sesame over immediately while still sticky, then leave them to drain for an hour before storing.
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