Barazek

Barazek (Barazeq, برازق) is a Levantine baked sweet with its surface densely coated in sesame seeds. The small ones known from Damascus, Syria, have sesame on one side and crushed pistachios on the other. Unlike sweets soaked in plenty of sugar syrup, the dough and seeds are baked together, and the pleasure lies in the toasty aroma and crisp bite of a single thin round.

Sesame that covers the surface rather than decorating it

The base is a dough made with wheat flour, sugar and a fat such as samneh. Samneh is milk fat with the water and milk solids removed, and some recipes (the proportions of ingredients and the method) use butter instead. A small amount of liquid is added to bring the dough together, but unlike bread, it is not kneaded at length to develop strong elasticity.

Simply scattering whole sesame seeds over the dough will not coat the entire surface. Lightly toasted sesame is moistened with honey or a little syrup, and the dough is pressed into it so the seeds adhere. Chopped pistachios are applied to the other side, and the dough is pressed from both sides into a thin round. The sweet liquid that binds the sesame differs in both amount and role from the large quantity of syrup poured over some sweets before eating.

The thinness lightens the presence of the dough, so the sesame seeds come through distinctly in each bite. Made thicker and larger, the same formula bakes differently, so the color of the seeds on the surface and the doneness of the dough in the center are checked together. The finished result is judged including its crispness once cooled; softness right out of the oven is not enough to go by.

Dividing the coatings between the two sides changes the taste of a single round

The sesame side and the pistachio side do more than change the look. The side densely coated with fine seeds and the side with somewhat larger pieces of nut give a different feel of grains when bitten. Even in versions where the dough itself uses little spice, the toasted sesame and milk fat create the aroma.

Formulas vary too, with some using egg yolk, some adding a small amount of yeast and some using milk. The British baker Lily Vanilli presented a shortbread adapted from barazek for schools as part of an initiative to support Syria. In that version, an egg-yolk dough is cut out rather thick and the sesame is attached with egg white. Rather than copying the thin discs known in Syria as they are, it reworks them into a baked sweet that is easy to make at school.

An example of barazek scattered with nuts. Photo: Mohammed Qays Kazem, 2026-03-06, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Reduced version from the distributor, no additional processing.

Small Damascus sweets and the large Jerusalem form

Barazek is known as a souvenir from the sweet shops of Damascus and has spread to Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine as well. Palestinian versions include large, flat ones and ones with fennel or anise mixed into the dough. Even under the same name as the small Syrian ones, the formula, size and even aroma are not identical.

The 2nd edition (1927) of Reinhart Dozy’s Supplement to Arabic Dictionaries, first published in 1881, describes it as a food made by spreading dibs or butter on thin wheat bread and sprinkling it with sesame. Dibs is a concentrated sweetener made from grapes and other ingredients. This entry shows that the name was also used for a food of thin bread spread with a sweetener or butter and sprinkled with sesame. However, the dictionary entry does not show when today’s form, with sesame and pistachios on the two sides, came into being.

At the al-Razem bakery in the Old City of Jerusalem, thin barazek is baked in place of the usual sesame bread during Ramadan. The dough is kneaded early in the morning, formed into small balls and rested, then spread thin, coated with sugar water and sesame, and baked in a wood-fired oven. People returning from afternoon or evening prayers carry home bags of it, and toward the end of the holy month some buy extra so they can keep serving it with tea afterward. Both the small two-sided baked sweets of Damascus and the large thin ones baked at a neighborhood bakery are fragrant with sesame, but they are enjoyed in different settings.

Packed in tins and boxes and given to others

Barazek, baked through to reduce moisture, is easier to arrange in boxes and carry than fresh sweets filled with milk cream. It is served with tea or coffee, including when welcoming guests. During Ramadan and festive seasons, it is set out alongside a variety of Levantine sweets.

On the other hand, even with a thin, dry baked sweet, the crispness changes if it absorbs moisture. Cooling it well after baking and not trapping warm steam inside the container are ways of handling it to preserve its sesame-coated surface. Using both sides of a small disc so that the seeds and nuts come through more distinctly than the dough is what characterizes barazek.

Barazek with the surface covered in sesame. A broken piece also shows the thickness of the dough. Photo: El Mono Español, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source). Reduced version, no additional alterations.

A confectioner and various sweets arranged in boxes. The original image description states that barazek is included. Photo: Zingo ringo, 2025-03-25, Syria (city/town unknown). Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Reduced version from the distributor, no additional processing.

Glossary