Almond Briouates

DifficultyAdvancedPrep Time2 hrsCook Time30 mins

The ingredients:

250 g Blanched Almonds

250 g Fried Almonds

½ tsp Cinnamon

45 g Powdered Sugar

50 ml Orange Blossom Water

65 g Melted Butter

2 g Mastika Gum

1 l Vegetable Oil

500 g Honey

About the Recipe:

Almond briwat or بريوات باللوز are one of the best Moroccan sweets there is. It's a blend of simple but fantastic ingredients, almonds, honey, butter, cinnamon...They have an amazing mouth feel because they are crunchy from the outside but chewy and juicy from the inside. Each bite is a sensational taste buds rollercoaster. To enjoy with some fresh Moroccan mint tea !!!

Here’s How It’s Done:

Fry half the almonds
- 500 g blanched almonds (boiled & peeled) → split in half.
- In ~750 ml vegetable oil over medium-low, fry 250 g almonds. Start from cool oil so they cook through.
- Stir until evenly golden. Drain well and let cool.
Grind almonds (two textures)
- In a food processor, grind 2 g mastic gum (optional) with the raw 250 g almonds until fine “couscous-like”.
- Grind the fried 250 g almonds until fine (they’ll be slightly clumpy from oil).
Make the filling & portion
- Combine both almond batches. Add 45 g powdered sugar + ½ tsp cinnamon.
- With mixer running, stream in 50 ml orange blossom water + 65 g melted butter until the mix clumps.
- Form a big ball, then portion into 42 balls of 14–15 g each.
Prep wrappers
- Use spring-roll pastry (thaw in the fridge).
- Stack several sheets, fold into thirds, cut into strips ~19 cm × 6 cm. Keep covered so they don’t dry.
- Mix a thick flour-water paste (or use egg white) for sealing.
Fold briouates (double-wrap)
- Lightly oil work surface. Lay down two strips; brush lightly with oil.
- Place an almond ball at one corner, press gently to flatten.
- Fold into a triangle, pressing the corner at each turn.
- On the second strip, repeat; before the last 1–2 folds, brush the edge with paste and seal both open sides well.
Dry the pastries
- Cover and rest on the counter for a few hours or overnight to dry slightly. This helps them stay sealed.
Fry gently & soak in honey
- Top up pan with ~250 ml fresh oil if needed. Heat to 140 °C / 285 °F (medium heat).
- Fry briouates until light golden, flipping for even color — think gentle browning, not dark frying.
- Immediately transfer into warm clear honey (500–700 g). Keep each batch in honey while the next batch fries; then swap.
- Drain in a sieve. Garnish with sesame or almond slivers if you like.
Serve
- Best with Moroccan mint tea. Crisp outside, chewy almond center, honey-glossed finish.

Notes & Swaps

Mastic (mika gum) is optional; it adds subtle chew and aroma. Skip if unavailable.
Seal well: paste on the final folds and along open edges prevents leaks in honey/oil.
Oil temp: keep around 140 °C; hotter oil browns fast and leaves the inside pale & fragile.
Honey bath: warm, not boiling. Too hot will thin the honey and soften the crunch.
Make-ahead: fold and freeze raw on a tray, then bag. Fry from frozen at the same gentle temp.
Wrappers: spring-roll pastry is easiest. Keep covered while working so it doesn’t crack.