These Easy Jam Shortbread Bars (also called Mabrousheh) are a Palestinian treat that pairs wonderfully with your morning coffee or tea. In this post, I’ll show you how to make this treat and tell you about the amazing Palestinian woman who shared this recipe with me.

Easy Jam Shortbread Bars aka Mabrousheh is a lightly sweet treat that goes perfectly with coffee or tea!

This post is a collaboration with Massara Tork. Her recipe, photos, and stories are shared with her permission. All ad revenue from this post will be donated Massara’s crowdfunding campaign until their goal is met.

What is Mabrousheh?

Mabrousheh is a Middle Eastern Palestinian dessert bar that is made of 3 delicious layers: a shortbread crust, a jam layer, and a crumbled shortbread top layer. It’s baked in the oven and very easy to make. The name “Mabrousheh” means “to grate”, which is a common way the top layer is added – by grating some of the dough on top before baking.

Strawberry Shortbread Bars (Mabrousheh) is a perfect treat to have with your coffee or tea. — My Mabrousheh made with Strawberry Jam on the left & Massara’s Mabrousheh with fig jam is on the right.

This is my sweet friend, Massara, who lives in Palestine (photo from pre-October 2023).

Donate $5 to Massara and her family to help them escape Gaza.

Massara told me about her Mabrousheh recipe and how it was a treat that her mother used to make when she was growing up. Now that Massara is both a wife and mom, she makes Mabrousheh for her own family. But since her family has been displaced since October 2023, it had been a while since she made it. When talking about our love of making treats for our families, we came up with the best idea — let’s both make this treat in our different parts of the world!

Massara & Her Family’s Life in Gaza

Massara, her husband (Ghassan), and her three young children (Rehab – 6 years old, Reem – 4 years old, and Yamen, born in May of 2024) live in Gaza, within occupied Palestine.

On Massara’s Instagram, you can find photos and videos that share a happier time with her lovely family and all of the amazing meals and treats she used to make.

Massara loves to bake for her family. She made a Disney's Frozen Birthday cake and other desserts for her child's 5th Birthday.

But after October 7th, 2023, Massara and her family’s lives were turned upside down. Violent attacks on the Palestinians forced them to flee their home and they’ve been living in a tent for almost a year now. Massara was pregnant at the time too, making this displacement especially rough.

A family in Gaza have to live in a tent because they have been forced to leave their home.

Massara and I chat almost every day. We talk about our children, our lives, our dreams, and our hopes. Right now, Massara is hopeful that she can evacuate Gaza with her family. They love their homeland, but they also want to live. As I am writing this post, very close to where Marassa and her family are living, it is being bombed and they are terrified.

These three young children are scared every single day because the constant bombing and shootings.

The hope is for Massara and her family to be able to flee Gaza through Egypt and eventually make their way to Canada, where Massara has family. But leaving Gaza for safety can ONLY happen if her family secures enough funds to pay for their evacuation when the border reopens. It’s not cheap though; since the family has no income, they have a GoFundMe campaign for donations. This GoFundMe is also essential in helping them with food and other necessities, while they wait for the border to reopen.

How to Make Mabrousheh (Jam Shortbread Bars)

Food and necessities are either expensive or not available in Gaza. Fortunately, Massara already had part of the Mabrousheh ingredients and she was able to purchase the other items she needed. There were a few differences between my ingredients and cooking equipment and hers, which I have noted below.

Ingredients Needed for Mabrousheh (Jam Shortbread Bars):

2 eggs
1 cup butter, softened (Massara used ghee)
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 – 2 cups fruit jam (Massara used fig jam, I used strawberry jam)

Cooking Equipment Needed for Mabrousheh (Jam Shortbread Bars):

Electric hand mixer (or a whisk like Massara used)
Mixing spoon Rubber Spatula
14″ round baking pan (OR two 8″ or 9” round pans OR 9” x 13” pan – but baking time will vary)
Cheese Grater (optional – Massara didn’t use one for her recipe)

How to make Mabrousheh (Jam Shortbread Bars):

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease the baking pan(s).

On the left photo, I used a hand mixer to mix the wet ingredients for the Strawberry Shortbread Bars and on the right photo, Massara used a whisk. — Me, beating eggs with electric hand mixer on left & Massara (and her husband) mixing together ingredients by hand on the right.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat 2 eggs together until well beaten. If beating the eggs by hand like Massara did, beat them with a whisk for about 7 minutes. Beat in the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until creamy.

3. With a mixing spoon, stir the flour into the wet mixture in the bowl until all of the flour is incorporated and a large ball of dough has formed. Do not overmix.

After mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, the dough will be ready to separate for the base and the topping. — My Mabrousheh dough and Massara’s Mabrousheh dough — same recipe, but 7,359 miles apart.

4. Set aside approximately 1/3 of the dough for the grated (or crumbled) topping. Place this dough in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes. Press the remaining dough evenly onto the prepared baking pan.

On the both photos, the dough for Strawberry Shortbread Bars is being separated for the base and for the topping that will be grated on top of the treats. — On the left, I placed 1/3 of the dough into the freezer; Masarra didn’t have access to this, so she skipped this step.

5. Spread the jam evenly onto the dough in the baking pan, spreading it to the edges.

Before you add the grated dough, spread the Strawberry jam (or whatever jam you would like to use) on the base dough. — Strawberry Jam on the left and Fig Jam on the right.

6. Remove the reserved dough from the freezer (it should not be frozen, but chilled and firmer than before). Using a grater, carefully grate the remaining dough over the top of the jam. If you don’t want to use a grater, you can crumble the dough with your hands.

In the left photo, there is a pan of Strawberry Shortbread Bars going into the oven. On the right photo, Massara is cooking her version on the treat in an oven that her family made while living in a tent in Gaza. — My Mabrousheh was baked in my oven in my home; Massara baked hers in an outdoor oven that uses firewood.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the bars is lightly golden brown. Cool for about 10 minutes, then cut into squares and enjoy!

In both photos, the Strawberry Shortbread Bars (Mabrousheh) are cut into squares and are ready to be served. — My Mabrousheh on the left; Massara’s on the right!

As you can tell, even though Massarah doesn’t have access to modern conveniences, such as electricity, a freezer, or a typical home oven, this recipe is so easy that she was still able to make it for her family inside of a tent (and an oven outside of her tent).

I hope you enjoy Massara’s recipe for Mabrousheh and that you make it soon for your family. I also hope that you will help Marassa and her family by donating to their GoFundMe campaign today.

Your donation will help them with food and other essentials (such as soap and diapers), as well as build their evacuation fund so they are ready to leave Gaza as soon as the border reopens. Any donation – even just $5 – is a huge help.

If you are not in a position to donate, please share this post with your family and friends. This is a great way to help Massara and her family! Thank you so much for your help!