Last updated: June 2026
Moroccan sweets are intensely flavoured, often intensely sweet, and eaten in small portions alongside mint tea for a reason. Go in expecting dessert-sized servings and you’ll be disappointed. Go in expecting one or two pieces with a glass of tea and you’ll be very happy.
I’ve been visiting Morocco since 2017 - six trips across Marrakech, Fez, Chefchaouen, the Sahara, the Draa Valley, and the Atlantic coast - and Moroccan pastries are one of the things I genuinely look forward to each time. Not every sweet is for everyone, and the sugar levels vary wildly, so this guide gives you the honest version of what to expect.
Browse our Morocco food and culture guide for the wider picture, or jump straight to the sweets below.
Kaab el Ghazal (Gazelle Horns) - Start Here
If you try one Moroccan pastry, make it kaab el ghazal. These small crescent-shaped cookies are the most elegant thing on any patisserie tray - a thin, semi-crisp shell of orange blossom-scented dough wrapped around a smooth almond paste flavoured with cinnamon and more orange blossom water.
The outside is dry and pale, almost like a shortcrust; the inside is soft, slightly sticky, and deeply fragrant. They’re not cloyingly sweet - the almond paste has real nuttiness to it, and the orange blossom lifts everything without overpowering. Two pieces with a glass of mint tea is genuinely one of Morocco’s best snack combinations.
You’ll find them in every patisserie in the country, usually displayed on large trays. Price is typically 60-80 MAD per kilo (roughly £5-6.50). They pack and travel well, which makes them one of the best things to bring home.
Chebakia - A Ramadan Staple With Serious Flavour
Chebakia is the pastry most strongly tied to Ramadan. It’s made from a dough seasoned with anise, sesame, cinnamon, and orange blossom water, shaped into a rough flower form, deep-fried until golden, then submerged in warm honey syrup and showered with sesame seeds. The result is sweet, sticky, dense, and extraordinarily fragrant.
The honest version: chebakia is not a casual snack. It’s quite heavy, deeply sweet, and best eaten in the context it was designed for - breaking the Ramadan fast (iftar), alongside harira soup, where the combination of hot soup and sticky pastry is a cultural ritual rather than just a food pairing.
Outside of Ramadan you can still find chebakia in patisseries, but it’s at its best in the weeks leading up to and during Ramadan, when families make them in enormous batches and vendors sell them hot from outdoor fryers. If you’re visiting during Ramadan, this is the one to track down. Read our Ramadan in Morocco guide for tourists for what to expect timing-wise.
Sellou (or Sfouf) - The Nutritious One
Sellou is a curiosity. It doesn’t look like a pastry - it’s more of a dense, crumbly paste or powder, scooped into a bowl or formed into a rough ball. The ingredients are toasted flour, ground almonds, sesame seeds, honey, butter or argan oil, anise, and cinnamon, all blended together without baking.
The taste is earthy, nutty, and warmly spiced - not as sweet as most Moroccan pastries, with a satisfying heaviness that makes sense when you know it’s traditionally eaten at suhoor (the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan) because it provides slow-release energy through a full day of fasting. It’s also associated with weddings and new mothers, who are given sellou for strength after childbirth.
If you’re not fasting, a small taste of sellou is worth it for the flavour combination alone. You won’t want a large portion - it’s very rich - but a spoonful alongside tea shows you a completely different side of Moroccan confectionery.
Briouat - Flaky, Almond-Filled, and Honey-Drizzled
Briouats come in savoury and sweet versions. The sweet version (briouat sukkar) is made from warqa pastry - Morocco’s thin, slightly stretchy pastry similar to filo but more delicate - filled with sweetened almond paste, fried until crisp and golden, then dipped in honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
The texture contrast is what makes them: the shell shatters, the almond filling is soft and fragrant, and the honey coating gives a glossy sweetness. They’re smaller than they look - usually a triangle about the size of a samosa - and one or two with tea is plenty.
Briouats are classic wedding food in Morocco, and you’ll encounter them at any celebration spread. You can also find them in patisseries year-round. They don’t travel as well as gazelle horns (the honey coating gets sticky in packaging) but they’re worth eating fresh.
M’hancha - The Almond Snake
M’hancha means “the snake” in Moroccan Arabic, which describes exactly what it looks like: a long coil of warqa pastry filled with almond paste, baked until golden, then cut into slices and sometimes drizzled with honey or dusted with icing sugar.
A whole m’hancha is a centrepiece dessert at Moroccan celebrations - you’ll see them presented on large platters at weddings and family gatherings. In patisseries, you can usually buy it by the slice rather than the whole coil. The filling is similar to briouat - almond paste with orange blossom or rose water, cinnamon, sometimes a touch of lemon zest - but the baked pastry shell gives a lighter, crispier result than fried briouats.
If you visit a Moroccan friend’s home for any celebration, m’hancha will almost certainly appear. It’s festive, shareable, and less intensely sweet than chebakia - a good middle ground for guests less accustomed to very sweet desserts.
Ghriba - Moroccan Shortbread Worth Knowing
Ghriba is less of a single cookie and more of a category. The name covers a family of crumbly, dense, shortbread-style cookies that vary by region and household. The most common versions are almond ghriba (ground almonds, egg, sugar, orange blossom water) and coconut ghriba (desiccated coconut, flour, egg, lemon zest). Both types have a dry, slightly sandy texture that crumbles when you bite them - reminiscent of Italian amaretti or Spanish polvorones.
They’re associated with Eid and family celebrations but available year-round in patisseries. Sugar levels are moderate compared to chebakia or briouat - these are probably the most accessible Moroccan pastry for visitors who find the honey-drenched varieties too sweet. Fekkas (twice-baked cookies flavoured with anise, sesame, and almonds, similar in concept to biscotti) fall in the same approachable range.
Both ghriba and fekkas are excellent travel companions - dry, durable, and sold in patisseries by weight. A small box of mixed types makes a good gift.
Sfenj - Street Doughnuts, Best Eaten Hot
Sfenj are Morocco’s street doughnut. The word means “sponge” in Arabic, which is an accurate description: the dough is a loose, yeasted batter that fries up into an irregular ring with a crisp, slightly chewy outer crust and a soft, airy interior. They’re nothing like a glazed doughnut - no icing, no filling, just plain fried dough, usually eaten with a sprinkle of sugar or a drizzle of honey.
Street vendors sell them early morning and early evening, strung on a reed and handed over warm. They cost almost nothing - typically 2-3 MAD each - and eating a sfenj from a street stall at 7am near a Moroccan souk is one of those simple travel experiences that stays with you. Read our Morocco street food guide for the full picture on what to eat from street vendors.
They’re not a patisserie item - you won’t find them in a tidy tray under glass. Look for the street stalls with large pots of oil and a queue of locals. That’s where to go.
Where to Buy: Patisserie vs Souk
Patisseries are the best place for most Moroccan sweets. Every Moroccan city and town has at least one good patisserie - often several - where pastries are displayed on large trays, priced by the kilo, and can be boxed up for you. Quality is consistent, hygiene is good, and the staff are accustomed to visitors choosing mixed selections. Expect to pay 60-120 MAD per kilo depending on the type.
The trick is to find patisseries in local residential neighbourhoods rather than tourist areas. The ones on the main drag near riads charge more and may not be restocking as frequently. Ask your accommodation host where locals go, or follow your nose - a good patisserie smells of orange blossom and frying oil from half a street away.
Souk vendors sell sweets too, but quality varies more. The displays look beautiful - and they are, visually - but some souk pastries have been sitting out for hours or days, particularly in warm weather. Chebakia and sellou hold up better than honey-drenched briouats in souk conditions. If something looks dried out or the honey coating has gone dull, skip it.
Seasonal tip: if you’re visiting during or around Ramadan, the pastry selection in patisseries and markets expands dramatically. Chebakia in particular is everywhere, freshly made, at its absolute best. See our guide to mint tea culture in Morocco for the full tea-and-pastry pairing context.
Taking Sweets Home
Most Moroccan pastries travel reasonably well if you’re sensible about it:
- Kaab el ghazal and fekkas are the best for packing - dry, durable, and they keep for 2-3 weeks in an airtight tin.
- Ghriba travels well for up to a week; pack them in a single layer so they don’t crumble against each other.
- Chebakia and briouat are stickier and more fragile - pack in a rigid box, not a bag, and eat within a few days.
- Sellou can be packed in a jar or container and keeps for weeks. Unusual enough to make a genuinely interesting food gift.
- Sfenj - do not attempt. These are strictly a fresh, hot, street experience.
Patisseries will box up a mixed selection for you and are used to doing this. Prices are very reasonable - a 500g mixed box of gazelle horns, ghriba, and fekkas might cost 80-100 MAD (£6.50-8). Check your country’s customs rules on bringing back food from outside the EU - in Ireland and the UK, commercially produced pastries generally travel fine; declare them if in doubt.
For tour options that include a food element - Fez medina walks, Marrakech food tours, cooking classes - see our Morocco tours listings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Moroccan sweets very sweet?
Most are, yes - more so than typical Western pastries. Chebakia and briouat are the sweetest, being honey-drenched after frying. Kaab el ghazal, ghriba, and fekkas are noticeably less sweet and more approachable for visitors not used to very sugary desserts. Sellou and sfenj are the least sweet of the common pastries. The trick in Morocco is to eat small amounts alongside mint tea - the tea cuts through the sweetness and the combination works much better than eating pastries on their own.
When is the best time to try Moroccan pastries?
You can find most pastries year-round in any patisserie, but the experience is best during Ramadan (dates vary annually) when chebakia and sellou are freshly made everywhere, and during Eid when ghriba and fekkas are baked in every household. Weddings (which happen throughout the year but peak in spring and autumn) are when you’re most likely to encounter a full celebratory spread including m’hancha, briouats, and kaab el ghazal together.
Is there a difference between buying sweets in Marrakech vs Fez vs smaller cities?
The pastries are largely the same across Morocco, with regional variations in flavouring and presentation. Fez is considered by many to have Morocco’s strongest pastry tradition - the patisseries in the Fez el-Bali medina and the Ville Nouvelle are excellent. Marrakech has good options but also more tourist-oriented vendors, so you need to look slightly harder for the neighbourhood patisseries. In smaller cities and towns, local patisseries are often outstanding and much cheaper.
Can I visit a patisserie and buy a small mixed selection?
Absolutely - this is very normal. You point to the pastries you want, staff will weigh them and box them up. You don’t need to buy large quantities. A mixed selection of 4-6 different types to try is perfectly fine and usually costs well under 100 MAD. Some patisseries have small cafés attached where you can sit with a tea and try pieces on-site.
Are all Moroccan sweets suitable for vegetarians?
Most are. Kaab el ghazal, ghriba, chebakia, m’hancha, and fekkas are all egg, flour, almond, and honey-based with no meat. Briouats and m’hancha sometimes appear in savoury versions with meat (briouat bi kefta is a common variant), so if you’re ordering in a restaurant or a mixed platter, specify sweet (sukkar) versions. Sfenj are just dough, oil, and optionally sugar or honey.
What’s the difference between a patisserie and a halouat?
Both sell Moroccan sweets, but a halouat (sweet shop) typically sells a wider range including more traditional, everyday sweets and snacks, often at lower prices. A patisserie tends to focus on the full pastry range - cookies, filled pastries, celebratory cakes - displayed more formally. In smaller towns and villages, there may only be a halouat; in cities, you’ll find both. Neither is better - they’re just oriented slightly differently.
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