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Azerbaijan · Dessert
Azerbaijani Shekerbura
Local name: Şəkərbura
A half-moon Novruz pastry from Azerbaijan filled with ground almonds, sugar and cardamom.
- Servings4
- Prep1 h 30 min
- Cooking35 min
- Total time2 h 5 min
- DifficultyMedium
🌱 VegetarianContains glutenContains dairyContains eggContains nuts
About this dish
Shekerbura (Azerbaijani: şəkərbura) is a sweet half-moon pastry from Azerbaijan, filled with ground almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts mixed with sugar. Together with shorgoghal and pakhlava it is one of the traditional foods of Novruz, and its half-moon shape is said to stand for the moon or a flame of fire.
It is often made together by relatives, friends and neighbors gathered in one home. The edges are sealed with a decorative pattern of stitches made with traditional tweezers called maggash. The dough includes milk, butter, egg yolks, cream and yeast, the shaped pastries get a short second rest before baking, and the filling is flavored with cardamom. This differs from the syrup-soaked Anatolian şekerpare.
Ingredients
Tick the ingredients off like a shopping list.
Dough
Filling
Glaze
Method
Warm the milk, stir in the yeast and sugar, and leave it for 10 minutes until foamy.
For the filling, mix the ground almonds, powdered sugar and cardamom in a bowl, then stir in the egg white a little at a time until you have a thick paste that holds its shape.
Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl, add the soft butter and rub it in with your fingers until crumbly.
Add the egg yolks, sour cream and yeast milk; knead for about 8 minutes into a soft dough that barely sticks to your hands.
Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm place for 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with parchment.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 4 mm thick and cut 7 cm circles.
Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the center of each circle, fold into a half-moon and press the edges firmly to seal.
Pinch the sealed edge with maggash tweezers (or regular tweezers) to make the stitched pattern; a fork also works.
Arrange the pastries on the tray, cover with a clean cloth and let them rest for 15 minutes for a short second proof.
Whisk the yolk with the milk and brush it over the tops.
Bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes until golden.
Let them cool on the tray for 15 minutes and serve with tea.
💡 Tips
- Do not over-knead; a soft dough bakes up tender and crisp.
- Grind the almonds very finely and add the egg white gradually so the filling becomes a paste that shapes easily.
- Seal the edges well, otherwise the filling will leak out.
- Do not overfill, or the dough will tear when folded.
- Keep the oven moderate; shekerbura should be golden, not dark.
🛒 Can't find it abroad?
- Almonds — Hazelnuts or walnuts, ground finely in the same amount.
- Cream — Sour cream or plain yogurt in the same amount.
- Maggash tweezers — Press the edge with a fork or crimp it with your fingers.
This recipe was prepared with the help of AI, following the traditional home-style method; quantities, times and steps were checked automatically for consistency. Ovens and stoves differ, so check doneness by eye.
