Product knowledge
What is barazek?
Barazek is a thin, crisp Damascene cookie made from a lightly sweet dough that's rolled in sesame seeds on one side and pressed with chopped pistachio on the other before baking, giving it a distinctive two-sided texture — crunchy and nutty from the sesame, and a burst of pistachio flavour with every bite. It's one of the signature sweets of Damascus, Syria, eaten year-round rather than tied to a single holiday, and commonly found in gift tins and cookie boxes across the Levant.
It's a completely different style of sweet from ma'amoul or ghraybeh — barazek isn't filled and isn't a soft shortbread, it's a thin, crisp, topped wafer-style cookie, and that texture is the whole point. Understanding that distinction upfront saves a buyer from assuming all Levantine sweets share one texture or format when, in practice, the category covers several quite different techniques.
What barazek is made of, and how it's shaped
The base is a simple, lightly sweetened dough rolled thin before baking, which is what gives barazek its characteristic snap rather than a soft or cakey crumb. Before the dough goes into the oven, one side is pressed into sesame seeds and the other into chopped pistachio, so the finished cookie carries both textures and flavours across its two faces rather than blending them into the dough itself. Baking toasts the sesame lightly, adding a nutty depth that plays against the pistachio's sweetness and colour.
How barazek differs from ma'amoul and ghraybeh
Ma'amoul is a filled, moulded shortbread — the dough wraps around a date, walnut or pistachio filling and is shaped in a stamped mould, giving it a thick, tender bite. Ghraybeh is an unfilled, very short and crumbly butter cookie, usually plain apart from a single nut pressed into the top. Barazek sits apart from both: it's thin, unfilled, and defined by its sesame-and-pistachio coating rather than a filling or a stamped shape. See our guide to ma'amoul for the fuller picture of how the region's stamped, filled sweets work.
Our barazek: format and sourcing
We carry Hamdan's Barazek Sweets, a traditional Damascene sesame-and-pistachio cookie packed in 350 g and 550 g formats, sourced from Hamdan for Foods, a Jordan-based producer working in the Damascus baking tradition. Both sizes suit a grocery shelf or a café cookie case; larger case counts and mixed-flavour orders are confirmed on your inquiry.
When barazek sells, and how it's typically bought
Unlike ma'amoul, which is tightly tied to Eid, Easter and Christmas, barazek doesn't follow a single religious calendar — it's a year-round sweet that also appears heavily in gift boxes, hosting trays and celebration spreads, which makes it a steadier retail item across the calendar than seasonal cookies. That steadier demand is worth knowing if you're planning shelf space or a wholesale order, since it doesn't need the same seasonal build-up and drawdown as ma'amoul does.
Serving and pairing barazek
Barazek is traditionally served alongside Arabic coffee or tea, where its crisp texture and toasted sesame flavour hold up well against a strong, unsweetened cup. It's also a common choice for a mixed cookie tray at gatherings, where its distinct two-sided look — golden sesame on one face, green-flecked pistachio on the other — stands out visually next to plainer cookies like ghraybeh. For a grocer, that visual distinctiveness is worth stocking for on its own, since it doesn't need explaining the way a less familiar sweet might, and it photographs well for a retailer's own shelf or social marketing.
Related questions
Is barazek the same as ma'amoul?
No. Ma'amoul is a filled, stamped shortbread; barazek is a thin, unfilled cookie coated in sesame on one side and pistachio on the other. They're different textures and different techniques.
What does barazek taste like?
Crisp and lightly sweet, with a toasted, nutty sesame side and a distinct pistachio flavour and crunch on the other — the two coatings are the main flavour story rather than the dough itself.
Is barazek only sold at a certain time of year?
No — unlike ma'amoul, barazek is a year-round Levantine sweet, though it's also common in gift boxes and celebration spreads.
Where does barazek come from?
It's a signature sweet of Damascus, Syria. Our Barazek Sweets are produced by Hamdan for Foods, a Jordan-based house working in that Damascus baking tradition, and it's traditionally served alongside Arabic coffee or tea.