Crisp delicious cookies flavoured with sweet Yemenite hawaij spices and real coffee. A taste of the Middle East and perfect dipped in your favourite brew.
Have you ever bought an exciting new ingredient and then wondered what on earth you were going to do with it? Welcome to my world…
At the end of 2016 we took a family trip to Israel, and as part of that we spent a few hours on a tasting tour of the Levinsky Market in Tel Aviv. Our last stop on the tour was an amazing spice shop, where I bought a number of different things including hawaij l’cafe or ‘hawaij for coffee’ spice mix.
What is hawaij spice blend?
Hawaij (sometimes spelled hawayej or hawayij) is a Yemenite spice blend that comes in two varieties – savoury hawaij l’marak or ‘hawaij for soup’ and sweet hawaij l’cafe or ‘hawaij for coffee’.
Savoury – hawaij l’marak – hawaij for soup
The savoury one, hawaij l’marak, contains turmeric, black pepper, cardamom, coriander and cumin. I use it a lot in soups (naturally) but it also goes really well with fish, and is a fabulous seasoning for rice.
Sweet – hawaij l’cafe – hawaij for coffee
Sweet hawaij for coffee contains ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and fennel seeds or aniseed. Of course it is delicious in coffee! However this spice blend is also great in all kinds of baked goods and desserts.
Hawaij – local variations
Of course both types of hawaij can vary from spice-merchant to spice-merchant. Depending upon where you buy it, your hawaij might have slightly different flavours. However it should never be too far away from the spice blends described above.
Spicy and sweet
I hadn’t used the sweet hawaij for coffee spice blend before. But it smelled amazing so of course I had to get a bagful! It had a wonderful aroma of ginger and cardamom, with the other spices adding delicious layers of fragrance.
Having bought my hawaij spice mix and brought it home, I had to figure out what to do with it. After a number of discarded ideas I opted to keep it simple. I decided to explore the sweet hawaij flavour in a straightforward cookie/biscuit.
Hawaij for coffee
Since this hawaij spice mix was designed to compliment the flavour of coffee, I decided to add some to the recipe. Caffeinated cookies. Blimey. (Don’t worry, they aren’t very caffeinated. My daughter Kipper ate some without incident.)
Coffee cookies – Excellent dunkers!
These delicious biscuits are super easy to make, and based on the recipe for cinnamon & vanilla cookies I made for Kipper’s party a while ago. The hawaij cookies are crisp yet slightly chewy, and are terrific dunked in coffee (or tea!). They soften nicely but don’t dissolve into a pile of mushy crumbs. Perfect.
As you can see, I also got carried away trying out my new camera lenses, including the ‘macro’ lens. Super-close-up photos of cookies, anyone?
How to use hawaij l’cafe in recipes
Hawaij for coffee is a versatile blend of spices. As well as in these delicious hawaij cookies, you can also substitute it in any recipe that calls for ‘mixed spice’, ‘apple pie spice’ or ‘pumpkin spice’ with great results.
For instance, try it in this spiced hazelnut loaf cake, these ginger spice cookies, or this gorgeous vegan carrot cake.
How to make your own hawaij for coffee blend
If you don’t have ready access to an amazing Tel Avivian spice vendor, you could try mixing up your own hawaij l’cafe.
To make your own hawaij for coffee spice mix, combine 2 tablespoon ground ginger, 2 tablespoon ground cardamom, and ½ tsp each of ground nutmeg, ground cloves and ground cinnamon and ground fennel seeds/aniseed.
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📖 Recipe
Hawaij coffee cookies
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon hawaij for coffee spice mix (see notes)
- ½ teaspoon ground coffee
- 50 g margarine or butter
- 50 g caster sugar
- 200 g plain flour
- 85 g golden syrup
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- icing sugar for dusting optional
Instructions
- 1 tsp hawaij for coffee spice mix, ½ tsp ground coffeeFirst, grind the hawaij and coffee in a pestle and mortar to give a fine powder.
- 50 g (⅕ cups) margarine or butter, 50 g (¼ cups) caster sugar, 200 g (1 ⅗ cups) plain flour, 85 g (¼ cups) golden syrup, ½ tsp bicarbonate of sodaCream the margarine (or butter) and sugar, then add the flour, syrup, bicarb, and spice-coffee powder, and mix to a dough – it may take a while for the dough to come together, but persevere! (It's easiest if you let a stand mixer do the work.) Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Line baking sheets with baking parchment or a silicone liner.
- Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking parchment, to a thickness of 4-5mm (approx. ¼ inch). Cut out cookies using a 6cm (2½ inch) diameter fluted round cutter.
- Transfer the biscuits to the baking sheets and bake in the oven at 190°C (375°F) for around 8 minutes, until just coloured.
- icing sugar for dustingRemove from the oven and cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes to allow the cookies to firm up slightly. Transfer to wire racks and leave till cold. Dust with icing sugar if desired.
- Eat and enjoy! These biscuits will keep for at least a week in an airtight storage box.
Notes
Nutrition
More spicy cookies
You might also enjoy these delicious and crunchy seeded maple spice cookies, these soft and chewy spiced date cookies, or these irresistible orange cookies with melting chocolate truffle centres.
Blair
The dough was so dry it fell apart & wouldn’t adhere to roll out :/
Helen
Hi Blair, I’m sorry you had a bad experience. The dough does sometimes take a while to come together but eventually all those crumbs will bind into a stiff dough. I’ve updated the recipe to mention this. Apologies again and all the best, Helen x.
Soniya
Oh yum! These cookies looks and sounds so delicious ! Adding all the ingredients in my shop list.
Helen
Thanks Soniya! I hope you enjoy making and eating them.
Toni
My kids really loved these!! Tastes really good!
Helen
Thanks Toni, that’s great to hear! My daughter loves a spicy cookie too.
Maria
I love chewy cookies! Thanks for sharing how I can make my own Hawaij spice blend.
Helen
Thanks Maria. So glad you found this information useful 😀
Dannii
I love any kind of dessert with coffee in it and these look delicious. Pretty simple to make too, so I will give them a try at the weekend.
Helen
Thanks Dannii. Weirdly, I love coffee flavoured desserts, but don’t like to drink coffee! I hope you enjoy the cookies.
Beth
This looks so delicious and tasty! My family is going to love this recipe! So excited!
Helen
Thanks Beth! I hope you all enjoy them 🙂
sheila nisenson
What is syrup? Is it honey?
Helen
Hi Sheila, golden syrup is invert sugar syrup. It’s similar to medium corn syrup. You should be able to substitute honey without any problem.
choclette
Ooh how exciting. I have the savoury hawaji, but I’d not heard of the one for coffee. I’ve rather lost the plot as to my routes, but I’m either 1/8 or 1/16 Yemini, so I’m particularly taken by this spice mix and your biscuits. Your photos are fantastic, so your new lenses are paying their way I reckon.
Helen
Thanks Choclette. The lenses were a present from DH – glad they’re working! 🙂
Kavey at Kavey Eats
You had me at caffeinated cookies, but of course, the flavours of that fascinating spice blend are tickling my taste buds too!
Helen
Thanks Kavey. I don’t think they’re very caffeinated, although you may be onto something… Maybe the next batch…
Jan Bennett
‘Crisp yet slightly chewy’ = perfect cookies!
Helen
Thanks Jan – I quite agree!