Moroccan Fekkas with Almonds and Raisins - Fekkas Msseoues

Fekkas or fakkas is a famous twice-baked Moroccan cookie very much like biscotti. In Morocco we find them in different shapes and sizes and with different additions. This recipe is for a classic version called fekkas msseoues with almonds and raisins. The term msseoues refers to the small holes or spots that show up in the cookie around the seeds, almonds and raisins. Sometimes those ingredients fall out and leave bigger holes.

In Fez it's tradition to serve broken bits of fekkas or small fekkas (about 0.4"/1 cm large) in a cup or bowl of milk as a breakfast for children. This used to be my bowl of "cereal" when I was little and you'll still find families enjoying fekkas this way.

Variations of Fekkas

As a variation, the recipe can be prepared with only sesame seeds and anise seeds. Raisins or almonds can be omitted and in modern variations other nuts such as pistachio or hazelnuts might be used in place of almonds.

You will find the word "fekkas" also used in reference to some small sweet or savory shortbreads; krichlates or fqiqssat fall under this category. This sort of biscuit does not require double-baking and hence is ready in lesser time.

There are a few recipes for fekkas.  The most basic of them is one made from krachel (a sweet enriched bread) that had gone stale. The rolls would be cut and baked again to make bejmat, a word used to identify plain fekkas in some areas of Morocco. We can also make fekkas using a krachel dough which we shape into large or tiny long cylinders, bake, cut and bake again. The latter version is nut-free.

Fekkas is relatively easy to make as long as you know your oven well and you learn to remove the logs of dough from the oven after their first baking before they become too hard to cut later. This reduces the chance of having a lot of broken biscuits.

Always keep fekkas for in an airtight container. They will last a few months this way.