Vanilla Sables - Vanilla Crescent Cookie Recipe

Enjoy Moroccan style Vanilla Sables - Vanilla Crescent Cookie Recipe..They make a beautiful addition to a tea time table, or they can be served alongside other holiday or special occasion cookies.

Ingredients: 

 --- For the Dough --- 

• 3 1/3 cups flour (430 g) 
• 1 1/3 cups (11 oz. or 300 g) unsalted butter, softened 
• 2/3 cup (150 g) granulated sugar 
• 2 egg yolks 

--- For the Decoration --- 

• 3/4 cup (170 g) vanilla flavored sugar (see directions below) 
• 2 oz. (60 g) dark or semi-sweet chocolate

Preparation: 

• Preheat your oven to 360° F (180° C).

• Measure the flour, butter, sugar and egg yolks into a bowl. With your hands, mix and knead the ingredients together until a smooth, homogeneous dough forms. 

• Break off small pieces of dough and roll into 1" balls. Roll each ball of dough between your palms to shape sticks of dough about the size of a small finger. Bend each stick into a c-shape or crescent shape, and place 1" apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (For variety, you can leave some of the cookies in a stick or log shape.) 

• Bake the cookies, one pan at a time, until barely golden, about 12 to 15 minutes. Loosen the cookies from the pan, and immediately roll the warm cookies in the vanilla sugar (see below). The cookies will be fragile, so handle them carefully. 

• Crowd the cooled, sugar-coated cookies together onto a single pan. Melt the chocolate and place it in a small plastic bag, twisting the top to close it as you would for a pastry bag. Pierce a bottom corner of the bag with a toothpick, and drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies with a back-and-forth or zigzag motion. Leave the chocolate to set before storing the cookies. 

Vanilla Sugar 

• To make the vanilla sugar instantly, combine 3/4 cup sugar with 1 to 1 1/2 packets of vanilla sugar (available in Morocco). Or, ahead of time, combine 2 cups of sugar with a whole vanilla bean, sliced down the middle and cut into several pieces. Cover and leave to sit for one to two weeks before using.

Easy Moroccan Orange Cake Recipe - Meskouta with Orange Juice

We love Cake but its not so easy to make it at our home in a short time. For you I share with you a simple Moroccan cake recipe..This Moroccan Orange Cake Recipe is quick and easy to make, and delicious without frosting.Meskouta is a Moroccan Arabic word which refers to a traditional Moroccan cake, often one made with either yogurt or orange juice.Lets enjoy and try it..

Ingredients: 

----- Conventional Measures ----- 

• 4 eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups sugar 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 2 cups flour 
• 4 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 
• zest from 
• 1 or 2 oranges 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

 ----- Traditional Moroccan Measures ----- 

• 4 eggs 
• 1 level soup bowl of sugar 
• 1 tea glass of vegetable oil 
• 1 heaping soup bowl of flour 
• 2 sachets of baking powder 
• pinch of salt 
• 1 tea glass of fresh orange juice 
• zest from 1 or 2 oranges 
• 1 sachet of vanilla sugar

Preparation: 

• Preheat your oven to 350° F (180° C). Grease and flour a tube pan. If using fresh oranges, zest and juice them. 

• With an electric mixer or by hand, beat together the eggs and sugar until thick. Gradually beat in the oil. 

• Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt, and then the orange juice. Beat until smooth, and then mix in the zest and vanilla. 

• Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake tests done. 

• Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 7 to 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.