Walnut M’hancha – Moroccan Nut Pastry

© 2026 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

© 2026 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

Delicate and delicious, 'M'hancha' is a traditional sweet Moroccan pastry. Its Arabic name means snake or serpentine because of its snake-like shape. The pastry is made with layers of fine warqa, which has the same crisp flakiness as filo dough, filled with a nut paste (I use walnuts for this recipe) infused with orange blossom water. Make sure to brush the filo sheet generously and thoroughly with melted butter and not over-tighten the pastry when your roll it, or the pastry will break while baking. I used fresh extra soft dates to sweeten the filling, but you can easily replace them with sugar. Soak the dates in hot water for 20-30 minutes if they are hard.

 

	Orange Blossom Honey
250 g Walnuts 150 g Fresh extra soft dates 3 tbsp Orange blossom water 130-150 g Butter, melted 9 Filo pastry sheets (18 inch / 45 cm x 14 inch / 35 cm) ©angiesrecipes Dried rose petals Pistachios, chopped 1 tsp Icing sugar, optional	180 g Honey 1 tbsp Water Pinch of salt 1 tsp Orange blossom water

1. Start with the walnut paste. In a food processor, add walnuts, fresh dates and orange blossom water. Process until it becomes a moist paste. Remove the paste and divide it into 4 equal parts. Shape each part into long rope (approximately 32 cm) and cover with cling film.
2. Place a filo sheet with the short side facing you, on a work surface and brush it with melted butter. Place a second filo sheet on top (keep the other ones covered with a cloth to avoid from drying out). Take a walnut paste roll, place it on the short side of a filo pastry and loosely roll it up. Don’t be tempted to over-tighten the pastry when rolling it because it will break during the baking process.
3. Gently bend the wrapped filo pastry to form a snug coil. Repeat with the remaining filo sheets and walnut paste ropes. Add each to the end of the coil on the baking sheet, forming a large coil. Wrap the resulting filo snake around the previous coiled pastry.
4. Brush the final filo sheet with butter and fold it in half. Brush the top of this with butter, and carefully place the coiled up m’hencha pastry on top. Fold over the edges of the bottom filo to create a base for the m’hancha. Place the m’hencha on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
5. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
6. Brush the top and sides of the m’hencha with melted butter. Bake the prepared pastry in the middle of the preheated oven until golden brown, about 35 minutes.
7. Add the honey, salt and water in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in orange blossom water.
8. Pour the hot honey over the warm m’hencha. Garnish with chopped pistchios and dried rose petals. Set aside for at least 1 hour, until the pastry has thoroughly soaked up the honey. Dust with icing sugar if using.

© 2026 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

© 2026 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com