Egyptian Ka'k Shortbread Cookie

The perfect Eid cookie! A melt in your mouth buttery shortbread cookie that is PERFECT with turkish coffee or espresso. They look fancy but are super easy to throw together and you can have them ready in a tin for when your guests pop in.

Basic Egyptian Ka'k (shortbread)
Approx. 60 cookies

4 cups flour
50 g powdered sugar + extra for dusting
3/4 tsp baking powder

sprinkle of salt (1/16 tsp)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp Ka'k essence  (or ground mahlab, which comes from the pit of a cherry giving it that almost almond like essence)



Whisk all of the above.

Add until absorbed:

300 g ghee or clarified butter at room temperature, it's creamy textured (or 1 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp)

Splash of orange blossom water

Incorporate the milk until dough forms:

40 g milk at room temperature, or add up to 80 g if needed

Mix all together and roll into balls. Use a tbsp sized scoop if you have one and put evenly sized balls of dough onto your baking sheet.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F for 22-25 minutes until firm to touch and golden all over. Remove from oven and cool

Lay on a tray or flat surface and dust with powdered sugar using a fine sieve and tapping the edge from a height over the cookies.

Store in a container, these will keep for a very long time.