Maamoul are Arab filled cookies that come in different shapes and fillings. The flat round shaped Maamoul is filled with dates, small domes are filled with pistachio and elongated ones are filled with walnuts. The dough is made with a combination of farina and wheat flour, which gives the cookie a crumbly delicate texture.
My version here mixes dates and walnuts, but feel free to use any filling that you prefer (I even saw a Nutella maamoul recipe online!)
To get the beautiful traditional maamoul shape you will need a maamoul form, that’s available in different varieties on Etsy.com and on Amazon. But you can easily shape it into a ball using your hands and pinch the sides to make a design of your liking.
The easiest way to fill maamoul with dates is to use pressed dates, or date paste, available at at Middle Eastern stores, as well as some Israeli and kosher supermarkets.
Alternatively, you can soak 12 oz. pitted madjul dates in ⅔ cup boiling water, then use a food processor to mash them to a paste.
Ziyad date paste at Amazon.com
Mahlab is the secret ingredient of a truly good maamoul, as it adds the most wonderful, hard to pinpoint, aroma. It is a Middle Eastern spice made of ground St. Lucy cherry pits. It add wonderful aroma to baked good, such as the maamoul here, and I like to use it in almost any sweet pastry I bake, such babkas or doughnuts. It is available at most Middle Eastern supermarkets and online.
Ziyad Shaker Gourmet Ground Mahlab at Amazon.com
Date maamoul
Course: Cakes and cookies, dessert, cookiesCuisine: Arab, Palestinian, Lebanese, SyrianDifficulty: Medium12-16
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minutesMaamoul are Arab filled cookies that come in different shapes and fillings. The flat round shaped Maamoul is filled with dates, small domes are filled with pistachio and elongated ones are filled with walnuts. The dough is made with a combination of farina and wheat flour, which gives the cookie a crumbly delicate texture.
You can use a special Maamoul form like in the photo above to get the special maamoul shape. It is available on Amazon and Etsy in many shapes (search for Maamoul form.) Alternatively, you can simply shape the cookie as a ball or a disk, and pinch the sides for decoration.
Mahlab is the secret ingredient of a truly good maamoul, as it adds the most wonderful, hard to pinpoint, aroma. It is a Middle Eastern spice made of ground St. Lucy cherry pits. It add wonderful aroma to baked good, such as the maamoul here, and I like to use it in almost any sweet pastry I bake, such babkas or doughnuts. It is available at most Middle Eastern supermarkets and online.
INGREDIENTS
- For the dough
1 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup farina (the hot cereal kind that’s available in most supermarkets, like this one)
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon mahlab (optional, see note above)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup butter, cold
1 tablespoon rose water or orange water (ma zahar) (optional)
3 tablespoons cold water
- For the filling
⅔ cup boiling water
12 oz. pitted madjul dates
¼ cup ground walnut
Powdered sugar, for dusting
DIRECTIONS
- Oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl of a food processor, put flour, farina, powdered sugar, mahlab, baking soda and kosher salt and mix for a minute. Add butter in small pieces and mix to get small crumbs. With food processor running, add rose water, if using (replace rose water with water, if you’re not using), and cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until a dough is formed. Remove from the food processor. If the dough is too sticky, you can add a couple more tablespoons of flour and mix again.
- In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over pitted dates and let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer dates with all the water to a food processor and mix to a smooth paste. Put the paste back in the bowl, add ground walnut and mix.
- Lightly dust your hand with flour, and make 16 ping pong sized balls. Working on each ball at a time, use your thumb or index finger to make a well in the ball, and fill in with about ½ tablespoon date mix. Pinch the dough to seal over the date filling, then roll it back to a ball, set aside in the prepared baking sheet.
- If you have the maamoul form (see note above), lightly dust it with flour and press the filled cookies into the mold, flattening the back as you do, then gently tap the form on your working surface to release the maamoul.
Otherwise, use a fork to create a design of lines around the cookie.
Transfer to the baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the maamoul. - Bake in preheated oven for about 18 minutes, maamoul will still be pretty tender, but will harden after about 10 minutes outside. Dust with powdered sugar and serve. Keep in a sealed container at room temperature up to ten days.
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