Hello everybody!

It’s time for one of my favorite treats known as Cornes de Gazelle in French or literally translated Gazelle Horns. These are actually traditional Moroccan and Algerian pastries which I have always enjoyed while I was living in France. I mentioned several times the influence of Arabic cuisine in France and these are some of their most popular pastries.

I must admit that I do not know the original Arabic name but all I can say is that they are REALLY good! Truth is that I never made them myself before since I could buy them very easily but it seems that there aren’t many Moroccans in Toronto and so …. no pastries for me. I decided to challenge myself and try making them from scratch and I was actually quite pleased with the result so I’m sharing this fantastic recipe with you!

So what makes them so good? First of all there are 2 textures in these cookies. The first layer is a buttery and crumbly dough and the second is a soft and sweet almond filling. Besides the texture, I also really love how flavorful this cookie is thanks to orange blossom water, cinnamon and nutmeg.

It truly is a fantastic pastry! Even though they are rolled in icing sugar, they are actually not too sweet and they go so well with any kind of drink (even though I enjoy it most with tea). If you have some time on your hands, this is a great recipe to try, especially if you are interested in trying Arabic pastries other than baklava.

Let’s start baking!

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 425 g ground almonds
• 150 g sugar
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 15 g butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 50 ml water + 2 tbsp orange blossom water

Dough:

• 400 g flour
• 150 g butter
• 1 egg white
• 100 ml water + 2 tbsp orange blossom water
• Pinch of salt

Preparation:

1- In a mixing bowl, add the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well.

2- Add in the honey and butter and start mixing by hand. Add the water mixed with orange blossom water and mix well with your hands until you get a solid paste. Cover and let it rest.

3- In another mixing bowl, add in the flour, salt and egg white. Mix well.

4- Melt the butter and add it into the bowl. Mix well, then add the water mixed with orange blossom water and start kneading until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.

5- Cut the dough in 4 and start rolling it until it is about 1 cm thick. Then cut squares of 7 cm.

6- Preheat the oven at 355 F. Take about 1 tsp of filling and start forming a crescent with it. Place it on the square of dough and fold both corners together (see below).

Then seal all of the edges by pressing down the dough. Shape into a crescent and repeat until you used all the dough and filling. Bake for 20 min.

7- Once the cornes de gazelles have cooled down, brush them with some orange blossom water. Roll them in icing sugar and enjoy!

These little Arabic pastries are a pure delight and an absolute must try! They have just the right amount of sweetness and I love the crunchy outside and soft inside. They are great paired with Moroccan mint tea or coffee.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe! Let me know in the comment section what you think about this recipe and if you liked it.

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