I don’t mean to be bossy or anything, but… You must. Make. These. NOW.
You must fill your kitchen with the smell of warm spices and roasted nuts and sweet dough.
Seriously though. These African desserts are not messing around. They are comforting, they are delicious, and they are exactly what your sweet tooth is asking for.
So obey. Please.
1. Banana Glace
If you’re a big banana fan, this is an excellent dessert for you. You’ll first mash, blend, and then freeze your bananas. Next, you’ll cut up eight more bananas, lay them out nicely on a plate, and cover them generously with that mashed, frozen banana paste.
Finally, you can either stick to the toppings listed in the recipe or jazz things up with your personal favorites. Think candied fruits, various nuts, a little dollop of whipped cream, and more.
You could even throw a little chocolate sprinkle action on top, if that’s your thing.
2. Basbousa
This sweet, soft Egyptian cake is finished with a syrup based on honey and lemon juice, and crowned with your favorite type of nuts.
Because this is made with lots of sugar, honey, coconut, vanilla extract, and yogurt, it has an intensely sweet flavor. Therefore, you should serve it alongside something that can cut through the sweetness a little bit, like unsweetened tea or coffee.
3. Chebakia (Moroccan Sesame Cookies)
It might take you a few tries to get these rose-shaped cookies shaped precisely right.
The amazing part is that you get to eat all the mistakes yourself. Because seriously, rose-shaped or not, these little cookies taste absolutely amazing.
Aside from shaping them, they’re actually super simple to make. The final result is a plate of gorgeous, crispy, syrupy-sweet cookies that will brighten up any special occasion.
4. Sonhos De Banana
Sonhos de bananas are deep-fried doughnuts, and the dough itself includes mashed bananas. All you have to do is deep-fry them until golden and then dust them generously with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
Furthermore, this recipe is super quick, only taking you about 20 minutes from start to finish.
5. Malva Pudding
This wonderfully sweet cake has a texture and consistency similar to a tres leches cake. The fact that you pour a yummy homemade syrup over it while it’s still warm is what keeps it so soft and moist.
It also features a delightful blend of flavors from the sweet syrup, apricot jam, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar.
The apricot jam and apple cider vinegar add a nice tartness , while the brown sugar and the syrup deliver an almost caramel-like flavor note.
6. Makroud el louse (Almond Cookies)
These cookies have a unique look and only require very basic ingredients: almonds, sugar, water, eggs, and confectioner’s sugar.
The orange flower water is the only ingredient that’s non-standard. If you can’t find it, you have the option of substituting lemon essence. The cookies are satisfyingly crunchy and taste a bit like a tangier version of Italian wedding cookies.
7. Shuku Shuku (Coconut Balls)
To make these light, yummy Nigerian macaroons, you’ll only need four ingredients: egg yolks, unsweetened coconut flakes, superfine or caster sugar, and self-rising flour.
The instructions are really straightforward to follow. Start by preheating your oven and mixing the coconut, egg yolks, and sugar together until you get a nice thick dough.
Roll the mix into balls, coat them in flour, and bake for about 20 minutes. The entire process is super quick, taking only a little over half an hour.
8. Koeksisters
Koeksisters will take you about 2 and a half hours to make. The good news is that much of that time is idle time needed for cooling, resting, and refrigerating.
Because I am a lover of all food that is pretty, I really adore these. They are perfectly braided, golden doughnuts that are covered in a shimmering, glossy glaze. They are so lovely that they don’t even look real.
Also, these are a warm, gooey, sticky mess, but that is totally fine. All the very tastiest foods are usually a little messy.
9. Meskouta (Moroccan Yogurt Cake)
Meskouta is Morocco’s answer to the classic American bundt cake.
To make this, you’ll need unsweetened yogurt, sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, flour, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. You’ll mix all the ingredients, adding them in stages. Then, after you bake it for about 45 minutes, you’re totally done.
This is a very straightforward and simple cake to put together. You will, however, need a bundt or a tube pan.
10. Chocolate Malva Pudding
This warm, amazing cake is actually quite similar to the malva pudding recipe you saw earlier. It even uses brown sugar, apricot jam, and vinegar. The difference lies in the sauce.
While traditional malva pudding uses a syrup-based sauce, chocolate malva pudding has a decadent chocolate sauce that you’ll want to lick straight out of the bowl.
I always like to serve mine with a handful of sliced strawberries and a nice big dollop of whipped cream on top. Strawberries and chocolate are definitely meant to go together on everything.
11. Melt-in-Mouth Butter Cookies (Egyptian Ghorayebah)
To make these soft, decadent cookies, all you’ll need is flour, powdered sugar, ghee (unsalted butter definitely won’t work), and just a tiny dash of baking powder. You also have the option of adding slivered almonds.
With just these few ingredients, you can make 35 incredible bite-sized morsels of heaven in less than 30 minutes.
They’re so unbelievably soft that they truly melt in your mouth , and you can shape them in all kinds of adorable ways to make them extra special and fun.
12. Akwadu
This recipe is yet another yummy, banana-forward dish. This is typically served for breakfast, but it’s totally sweet enough to eat for a delicious dessert.
It’s baked bananas that are covered in brown sugar, cinnamon, fruit juices, honey, butter, and coconut. Honestly, this is one of the best ways to enjoy bananas.
13. Crunchies (South African Oatmeal Bars)
These are granola bars for people who don’t like granola bars, but they’re also great for those who absolutely love them. Really, these delicious bars are for everyone.
Their taste is honestly unbelievable. They somehow manage to pull almost every possible flavor into them: nutty, crunchy, buttery, salty, sweet, spicy, and syrupy.
There really is something here for every single palate. Despite all that flavor complexity, they are super easy to make, only requiring 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to bake.
14. Baseema
“Baseema” is Sudanese for “delicious,” and that should tell you all you need to know about this wonderful dessert. It’s a traditional dessert from the Sudan region, and it’s made with essential baking ingredients like yogurt, flour, coconut, and sugar.
After the cake bakes, you’ll cover it with a nice glaze made of water, granulated sugar, and lemon juice.
15. West African Lime Cake
If you really enjoy a tart and tangy cake, this is one recipe you absolutely have to try. And guess what? You likely have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now.
The flavor of the lime juice really comes through strongly here. If you add the chopped peanuts on top, that hint of salt gives the whole dessert an almost margarita-like taste that’s sweet, tart, and salty.
16. Umm Ali (Egyptian Bread Pudding)
This Egyptian dessert is somewhat similar to bread pudding, but it includes a few extra special goodies for a much more enjoyable taste.
It’s loaded with walnuts, raisins, coconut flakes, pistachios, cinnamon, and more. Best of all, it only takes less than an hour to make, and half of that time is for baking.
17. Hertzoggies
These taste like sweet biscuits that are filled with apricot jam and finished with a homemade coconut meringue topping.
They are super addictive. They’re flaky on the bottom, wonderfully fluffy on top, and have sweet, fruity centers.
Even better, you probably already have most of the ingredients you need in your kitchen.
18. South African Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart
I genuinely love to cook, but sometimes I just need a sweet and yummy treat without having to stand over a hot stove for half an hour. On those days, no-cook recipes are exactly what comes in handy.
This one is one of my most favorite because it’s equally lovely and delicious, and all it requires me to do is mix and arrange the ingredients.
It’s basically layers of whipped cream, cookies, peppermint crisp chocolate bars, sugar, peppermint essence, and caramelized condensed milk. It’s a cool, minty, and absolutely delicious treat.
19. Moroccan Shortbread Cookies
These shortbread cookies are likely a bit more round than what you usually eat. They’re known as “silly cookies” because they’re full of cracks, crunchy, and crumbly.
The dough is made from almonds and sesame seeds, which is why they are so delightfully crumbly. While they are a little messy to eat, that slightly nutty and sweet flavor makes up for it completely.
