Sweets & pastries
Fekkas
فقاص · fekkas
Fekkas is Morocco's answer to biscotti: a sweet, enriched dough studded with almonds, sesame seeds and aniseed, baked first as a log, sliced while still warm, then returned to the oven to dry out into hard, crunchy, long-keeping cookies. Sturdy enough to travel and store for weeks, it's a favourite for dunking in tea or coffee.
- Origin
- Across Morocco
- Type
- Twice-baked crunchy cookie
- Eaten at
- Tea time, keepable sweet, gifts
- Key flavour
- Almond, sesame, aniseed
What Fekkas is
A sweet, lightly enriched dough — flour, sugar, eggs, oil or butter — is mixed with whole or chopped almonds, sesame seeds and aniseed, shaped into one or more logs, and baked until just set.
The warm logs are sliced on the diagonal into individual cookies, which then go back into the oven for a second, lower bake that dries them out completely, giving fekkas its signature hard, crunchy texture and long shelf life.
Origin & story
Fekkas developed as practical, keepable sweet food, its double-baking technique — shared in principle with Italian biscotti and other twice-baked Mediterranean cookies — designed to remove moisture so the finished cookie lasts for weeks without spoiling.
It has long been a favourite for stocking a household pantry for unexpected guests, sending as a gift, or preparing ahead for Ramadan and Eid, valued precisely because it doesn't need to be made fresh each time.
Key ingredients at a glance
- Flour, sugar and eggs
- Oil or butter
- Whole or chopped almonds
- Sesame seeds
- Aniseed
This is a flavour snapshot, not a recipe.
When & how it's eaten
Fekkas is served with mint tea or coffee, almost always dunked briefly to soften its hard, crunchy texture before eating — it's too hard to enjoy comfortably straight, which is part of its charm.
It keeps for weeks in a tin, making it a reliable sweet to have on hand for any visitor, and it travels well as a gift.
Regional variations
Some versions swap in walnuts, pistachios or raisins; anise can be more or less pronounced. Chocolate-studded modern versions have also become popular.
It sits alongside ghriba as one of Morocco's everyday, less occasion-bound sweets, distinguished by its double bake and long shelf life.
Where to try it in Marrakech
Bakeries and pastry shops across Marrakech sell fekkas by weight or in packaged batches, making it an easy, sturdy sweet to buy as a souvenir.
A Moroccan dessert class covers the twice-baking technique behind fekkas — read more about Morocco's keepable sweets in the guides.
Frequently asked questions
What is fekkas?
A twice-baked Moroccan cookie studded with almonds, sesame seeds and aniseed, similar in technique and texture to Italian biscotti.
Why is fekkas baked twice?
The second, lower bake dries the sliced cookies out completely, giving them a hard, crunchy texture and a long shelf life of several weeks.
How is fekkas eaten?
Dunked in mint tea or coffee to soften it slightly before eating, since on its own it is quite hard and crunchy.