Kab El Ghazal (Horn of the Gazelle)

This is my favorite cookie from Morocco! My husbands parents brought numerous amounts of cookies over from Morocco on their visits to us. This was my first time making this cookie and I was really unsure how it would turn out. It took a couple times to actually get the shape of the cookie down. My husband said it tasted good, not to mention he almost ate the entire plate which says something about it!


Dough Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 cup water
5 Tbsp butter (also equals 1/3 cup)
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp blossom water (You cannot find this at a regular grocery store. Check online or around town for a middle eastern store that sells specialty foods and ingredients.)

Filling Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups blanched almonds (if not blanched boil regular raw almonds for 45 seconds)
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp blossom water (also known as orange blossom water)

Dough:
Melt butter. Making the dough by hand requires you to knead the dough for about 20-30 minutes. Otherwise you can use a food processor. Add the flour to the food processor, then add the salt, then add butter, egg. Cover and turn on the food processor for a couple of seconds. Then add water through the top and turn on again for about 10 seconds. Open and add the blossom water. Turn on food processor for several minutes. Make sure dough is properly mixed. You may have to hold the food processor down. The final product should be a smooth elastic dough.
Filling:
Roast the almonds in a pan to enhance the flavor for a few minutes. Again in a food processor add your almonds, sugar, cinnamon, butter, and blossom water. Mix until the filling is paste like with no chunks.

Now its time to roll the Kab El Ghazal. Roll out the dough very thinly. Take a small handful of filling and place it on the dough. Cover the filling with the dough and shape the cookie into a crescent shape. Use a cookie cutter to cut the cookie out of the rest of the dough. Then reroll the dough thinly and continue until all the filling is used.
Use aluminum foil or parchment paper on a baking sheet. If you don't have either you can use nonstick cooking spray directly on the baking sheet. Place the Kab El Ghazal on the baking sheet. Use a fork to poke holes in the sides of the dough to allow heat to escape when baking. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook for 15-20 minute. Serve.