Kwarezimal is a delicious traditional Maltese sweet made with ground blanched almonds and flavoured with a spice blend similar to the Dutch speculoos biscuits. These amazing almond biscuits blend Middle Easten flavours with fresh Mediterranean aromas.
These almond cookies crop up in supermarkets and bakeries around Malta a little before Carnival. You’ll find these sold all throughout lent and up until Easter. But I could just eat these unique spicy, citrusy Easter biscuits every single day. 365 days a year. They’re insanely delicious.
Similar to Prinjolata, Kwarezimal originates from the time during which Malta was ruled by the Knights. But that’s as far as similarities go. Whereas prinjolata is the richest, most decadent treat you’ve ever tasted, Kwarezimal are simple almond biscuits.
The original kwarezimal recipe was vegan. That’s because the people where much more catholic during that era and avoided animal products during lent. Nowadays, there are some kwarezimal recipes that make use of eggs or egg whites.
The kwarezimal’s unique aroma comes from a ‘mysterious’ ingredient – orange blossom water or ‘ilma zahar’ in Maltese. This ‘water’ is disgusting to drink on its own, yet a small teaspoon of it, combines perfectly with all the other ingredients and turns this Maltese recipe into a magical wonder!
How to make kwarezimal
You only need a few simple ingredients to make Kwarezimal. The traditional Maltese Easter treat calls for almond flour, caster sugar, lemon zest, spices and orange blossom water as main ingredients.
This one omits sugar completely. Yepp, Kwarezimal WITHOUT sugar that tastes just like the real thing! I replaced sugar with a mix of dried fruits and a small amount of sweetener. If you prefer to omit the sweetener completely, you can do so by replacing the same amount with more dried fruits. You can also switch mulberries with dried bananas if you prefer.
The process of making these almond biscuits is also fairly straight forward. You simply chop the dried fruit with the oats in a food processor. You add the rest of the dry ingredients to the fruit and oat mixture and stir until everything is well combined.
Next, you pour in the orange blossom water and add water slowly until you get the consistency of a dough. Simply shape into logs and place on a baking tray covered in a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and top with agave syrup and crushed nuts before the healthy kwarezimal cools down.
Make sure you don’t over-bake your almond biscuit logs as they will keep hardening as they cool down.
Plenty of people have tried this vegan Kwarezimal. Since it’s so easy to make, I made a batch of 100 servings for a health and wellness day at my husband’s office, they were gone within the hour!
I also made these Easter sweets for an event I participated in. The lovely women organising the 2020 Women In Me event invited me to make vegan chocolate cake to close the night off. Since I thought it would be great to get some feedback on my other sweets too, I gave out some 500 servings of healthy Kwarezimal and vegan baci for free, to anyone who wanted to test. By the end of it, people were asking if they can take some home for their families. That was the best compliment anyone could have given me!
Yes, I know, I should have asked for reviews. I was so excited that I forgot to ask them to leave a comment for the rest of you to see 🙂 So when you make this recipe, feel free to leave your feedback and tips in the comments section below.
For even more Easter dessert ideas check out these divine healthy Figolli and Easter themed Carrot Cake.
Kwarezimal – Maltese Almond Biscuits to Bake this Easter
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 250 g Ground Almonds
- 160 g Oat Flour
- 75 g Sweetener
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Cocoa
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 1 tsp Orange Blossom Water
- 30 g Dates
- 30 g Sultanas
- 30 g Mulberries
- 3 tbsp Agave Syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- In a food processor, chop dates, sultanas & mulberries mixed with oats to form a ‘flour’ consistency. Add lemon zest and keep blending.
- Mix in almond meal, sweetener, cinnamon & cocoa to the fruit and oat mixture
- Add zest of 1 lemon & orange blossom water to the mixture
- Slowly add water to form a dough consistency
- Cut into 4 logs
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Do not overcook as the Kwarezimal will keep hardening as it cools!
- Top with agave & chopped almonds
Video
If you use My Fitness Pal to log your food, you can find this recipe listed on the database as ‘The Healthy Malteser Kwarezimal (Almond Log)’.
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