Name: Moroccan Harcha Recipe
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 6 Pieces
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 500 g Fine Semolina (3 Cups); 75 g Powdered Milk (3/4 Cup); 75 g Vegetable Oil (1/3 Cup); 1 tsp Salt; 10 g Baking Powder (2 tsp); 25 g Honey (1 Tbsp); 300 ml Cold Water (1 1/4 Cups)

Moroccan Harcha Recipe

DifficultyBeginnerPrep Time1 hrCook Time35 mins

Dough:

500 g Fine Semolina (3 Cups)

75 g Powdered Milk (3/4 Cup)

75 g Vegetable Oil (1/3 Cup)

1 tsp Salt

10 g Baking Powder (2 tsp)

25 g Honey (1 Tbsp)

300 ml Cold Water (1 1/4 Cups)

About the Recipe:

Moroccan Harcha is one of the simplest and most comforting breads you can make at home. This traditional semolina flatbread is crispy on the outside, soft and slightly crumbly on the inside, and ready in minutes with just a handful of ingredients. In Morocco, harcha is often served for breakfast or afternoon tea, warm from the pan and spread with butter, honey, amlou, or jam. It’s made with fine semolina instead of flour, which gives it its signature golden color and sandy texture. This easy Moroccan harcha recipe create a perfectly balanced dough that cooks directly in a pan — no yeast and no oven required. It’s beginner-friendly, reliable, and works every single time.

Here’s How It’s Done:

Harcha is Morocco’s crumbly, semolina-based flatbread — no yeast involved, just baking powder for lift, cooked on a dry skillet until both sides turn golden. The texture sits somewhere between cornbread and a dense pancake, slightly gritty in the best way.

A Yeast-Free Semolina Bread

Skipping yeast means harcha comes together fast, with no rise time needed before it hits the pan. I usually serve it warm, split open and spread with butter and honey or amlou, the same way I’d finish a baghrir pancake at breakfast.

Mix the dry ingredients
Add to a bowl: 500 g fine semolina.
Add 75 g powdered milk.
Add 1 tsp salt.
Add 10 g baking powder.
Mix well with your hands (no machine needed).
Add the fat + sweetener
Pour in 75 g vegetable oil.
Add 25 g honey.
Rub everything together with your hands until the semolina feels evenly coated (Moroccan: “katbessbessha”).
Hydrate + rest the dough
Add 300 ml cold water.
Mix with your hands until it comes together into a soft dough.
Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Shape the harcha
Portion into pieces of about 135 g each.
Use a mold around 10 cm wide and about 2 cm thick (bigger gets too bulky, smaller feels too small).
Coat your work surface with a generous layer of medium semolina (for that rough, street-style texture).
Press each portion gently into a round.
Coat both sides with more medium semolina.
Rest the shaped harcha on the counter for 30 minutes.
Preheat the pan
Heat a pan on medium-high (cast iron is best, nonstick works too).
Wipe a thin film of oil over the pan with a paper towel.
Sprinkle a generous layer of medium semolina on the pan surface.
Cook the harcha
Place the first harcha in the pan.
Sprinkle a little more medium semolina on top.
Neaten the edges by lightly “shaving” the sides with a spoon (purely cosmetic).
Cook about 3 minutes per side.
Flip and cook the other side about 3 minutes.
Aim for a golden surface with a little crisp—no burning, and cooked through.

Notes & Swaps

For the classic “street” feel, coat with medium semolina (fine semolina alone won’t give that rough crust).
Resting matters: the semolina hydrates and the harcha cooks more evenly.
If the outside browns too fast, drop to medium so the center cooks through without burning.
You can make this with regular supermarket semolina (Germany/UK/US) — no special Moroccan brand required.
Want it richer? Swap part of the oil for melted butter (same total grams).