Moroccan Pastries in Marrakech: Gazelle Horns, Chebakia and Where to Buy Them

Moroccan pastries are eaten in small bites with a glass of mint tea, and they are almost always sold by weight. In Marrakech, the display cases of the pastry shops in Guéliz and the stalls of the medina line up dozens of cakes made with almonds, honey, sesame and orange blossom water, and it is not always easy to tell them apart. This guide sorts the pastries by family, explains how to put together and pay for a mixed box by the kilo, gives the prices seen in October 2026 and a few well-established addresses. It complements our guide to cafés and pastries in Marrakech, which focuses on tea and tea rooms.

The main families of pastries

Plate of Moroccan pastries: gazelle horns, ghriba and almond cakes

To avoid getting lost in front of a display case, think in families rather than names:

Almond-paste cakes: gazelle horns (kaab el ghzal), thin pastry crescents filled with almond paste scented with orange blossom, and the m'hancha, a thin pastry coil shaped like a snake. These are the pastries of feasts and weddings.
Dry biscuits: the ghriba, a cracked cookie made with semolina, coconut or almonds; fekkas, crunchy biscuits with almonds and aniseed that you dip in tea; shortbreads and jam petits-fours.
Fried pastries with honey: chebakia, a fried dough flower rolled in honey and sesame, and almond briouates, triangles of brick pastry fried and dipped in honey.
Nourishing mixes: sellou (or sfouf), a powder of toasted flour, almonds and sesame eaten with a spoon; it is mostly prepared during Ramadan.
French-style pastries: millefeuilles, éclairs and tarts, very common in Guéliz, a legacy of the protectorate. Many shops sell both types side by side.

The basic flavours are always the same: almond, honey, sesame, cinnamon and orange blossom water. If you do not like very sweet things, go for ghriba and fekkas, which are much less sweet than chebakia.

How to buy: by the kilo, by the piece, in a box

Traditional cakes are sold by weight. Point to what you want in the display case or on the tray and say the quantity: 250 g (a quarter of a kilo) already makes a big plate for two or three people. The seller weighs everything and packs it in a string-tied cardboard box.

Price guide seen in October 2026: 160 to 240 DH per kilo depending on the shop and the proportion of almonds, with gazelle horns around 200 DH per kilo in well-known shops. French-style pastries are sold by the piece, often for 15 to 40 DH. Prices are displayed in the pastry shops of Guéliz; at a medina stall, ask before the cakes are weighed.

A few tips:

Taste before you buy: you are often offered a ghriba or a piece as a sample.
Choose fresh cakes: those made in the morning are softer, and fried honey pastries lose their crunch after a few days.
Pay in cash at stalls; the pastry shops in Guéliz generally accept cards.
Watch the scale: the weight must show on the screen or the dial.

Where to buy in Marrakech

Guéliz, the new town

In Guéliz, pastry shops have real display windows, posted prices and mostly Moroccan customers. Three addresses mentioned in our guide to cafés:

Pâtisserie Al Jawda, 11 rue de la Liberté: traditional Moroccan pastries chosen by the piece; open Monday to Saturday from 8:00 to 20:30, Sunday from 9:00 to 18:00, from 160 DH per kilo.
Pâtisserie Amandine, 177 rue Mohamed el-Beqal: opened in 1997, it mixes Moroccan and French pastries, with a tea room and an ice-cream parlour next door.
Pâtisserie des Princes, 32 rue Bab Agnaou: near the square, a shop that has opened early in the morning since 1989, with an air-conditioned tea room.

The Guéliz central market is also a good place to buy dried fruit, dates and almonds before putting together a tray yourself.

The medina and the souks

Around Jemaa el-Fna square, the stalls on rue Bab Agnaou and at the start of the souks of Marrakech pile chebakia, briouates and gazelle horns into pyramids. Prices are posted less often than in the new town: ask, and compare two stalls before the cakes are weighed. Never agree to have cakes weighed without a stated price, which is the classic trap; our guide to scams to avoid in Marrakech explains this rule.

Tea rooms and palace hotels

For a sit-down moment rather than a purchase, the tea room at La Mamounia and Bacha Coffee at Dar el-Bacha serve reinvented pastries at prices well above those of neighbourhood pastry shops.

Taking pastries home

Dry cakes (ghriba, fekkas, shortbreads, gazelle horns) keep for a week or two in an airtight box, away from heat. Fried honey pastries (chebakia, briouates) keep a little less well. Ask the shop for a rigid box rather than a bag and wedge it in your luggage, away from light-coloured clothes, because honey and oil leave marks.

Prefer dry almond cakes to pastries made with cream or milk, which do not travel well and may be subject to import rules: check those of your country before leaving. For more gift ideas, see what to bring back from Marrakech.

Summary table

Pastry	What it is	Best moment
Gazelle horns	Almond-paste crescent with orange blossom	All year, feasts and weddings
Ghriba	Cracked cookie with semolina or almonds	With tea, all year
Fekkas	Dry biscuit with aniseed and almonds	Breakfast, afternoon snack
Chebakia	Fried flower with honey and sesame	Mostly during Ramadan
Briouates	Almond triangles dipped in honey	Feasts, dessert
Sellou	Powder of almonds, sesame and toasted flour	Ramadan, births
M'hancha	Thin pastry coil filled with almonds	Feasts, shared desserts

Prices seen in October 2026, for guidance only.

Practical tips

Ramadan: pastry shops work flat out for chebakia and sellou; see our guide to Ramadan in Marrakech.
Eid: some pastry shops close for a day or two during the festivals, see Marrakech during Eid.
Allergies: almonds, sesame, nuts and gluten are everywhere; say so before ordering.
Tea break: the best setting for tasting them is still a glass of tea, described in our guide what to eat in Marrakech.