Ma'amoul
By Dominique KhouryPublished on February 5, 2024
Time
1¾ hours, plus 4 hours 50 minutes resting and cooling
Yield
Makes 30 cookies
Ingredients
Dough
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons (12½ ounces/354 grams) semolina flour 6 tablespoons (1¾ ounces/50 grams) all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon ground mahlab 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and softened⅓ cup honey 3 tablespoons orange blossom water 3 tablespoons rose water 3 tablespoons whole milk ¼ teaspoon table salt ½ teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeastFilling
¾ cup raw shelled pistachio ½ teaspoon ground anise seeds ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground mahlab ¼ teaspoon table salt 7 ounces pitted Medjool dates (9 to 10 dates)3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1 tablespoon honeyBefore You Begin
This recipe requires resting the dough for 4 hours. Mahlab (or mahleb), ground cherry seed kernels, can be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores or online. If it’s unavailable, omit it or substitute an additional ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon in both the filling and the dough. If you don’t have a qalab (ma’amoul mold), a bowl with about ⅛-cup capacity lined with plastic wrap can be used to shape the cookies. Store ma’amoul for up to two weeks at room temperature or freeze them for up to one month.
Instructions
- Whisk semolina, all-purpose flour, and mahlab together in large bowl. Add butter, honey, orange blossom water, and rose water. Using your hands, gently fold semolina mixture over wet ingredients until rough dough forms. Continue folding dough over itself into center while turning bowl, rubbing butter into semolina mixture until cohesive dough forms. (Do not knead dough; it should feel like wet sand.) Cover bowl tightly and let dough stand at room temperature for 4 hours.
- Pulse pistachios, anise, cinnamon, mahlab, and salt in food processor until pistachios are chopped into rough ¼-inch pieces, 5 to 7 pulses. Add dates, butter, and honey and process until mixture is smooth paste and pistachio pieces are ⅛ to 1/16 inch, about 20 seconds. Transfer to bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Microwave milk and salt for dough in bowl until just warm (about 110 degrees), 30 to 45 seconds. Sprinkle yeast over warm milk and stir to combine. Add milk mixture to dough and mix with hands until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to counter (don't wash bowl) and knead until smooth, about 2 minutes. Return dough to bowl, cover tightly, and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- While dough rests, line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide filling into 30 equal portions, weighing about ½ ounce each, and roll into balls. Place balls on 1 half of 1 prepared sheet. Cover with damp dish towel.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions (dough will be slightly tacky, soft, and somewhat elastic). Roll each piece into 15-inch log and cut into 15 equal pieces. Roll each portion into ball and place on sheet with filling. Cover with damp dish towel.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 dough ball in palm of your hand and gently press into 3-inch round of even thickness. Place 1 filling ball in center of dough. Bring sides of dough up around filling and pinch top to seal. Roll ball until smooth, place on second prepared baking sheet, and cover with damp dish towel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
- Place 1 filled ball in ma’amoul mold and gently press until cookie fills crevices and top is flat. Turn mold over and tap edge on edge of counter so cookie releases onto palm of hand. (If cookie sticks, line mold with plastic wrap.) Return cookie, pattern side up, to baking sheet. Repeat, placing 15 cookies, evenly spaced, on each sheet.
- Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until bottoms are light golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and let cool on sheet for 20 minutes. Dust liberally with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
for the dough
for the filling
Time
1¾ hours, plus 4 hours 50 minutes resting and coolingYield
Makes 30 cookiesIngredients
Dough
Filling
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Ma’amoul are traditional cookies served for Easter, Purim, and Eid al-Fitr in Levantine countries. To make them, a buttery semolina dough is scented with rose and orange blossom waters and mahlab (the ground cherry kernels used widely in Middle Eastern baking) and stuffed with a spiced date or nut filling. To give the crumbly dough some structure, we augmented the semolina flour with all-purpose flour. For the filling, we whizzed Medjool dates—a soft, honey-sweet variety—in the food processor along with butter, honey, mahlab, cinnamon, and anise. In a break from tradition, we also incorporated chopped pistachios for an additional layer of flavor and texture. To shape the cookies, we rolled portions of dough into a disk, wrapped around a ball of filling, and pressed it into a qalab—a mold that imprints a fanciful design on the dough. Once the cookies were baked and cooled, we dusted them with lots of confectioners’ sugar.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
This recipe requires resting the dough for 4 hours. Mahlab (or mahleb), ground cherry seed kernels, can be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores or online. If it’s unavailable, omit it or substitute an additional ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon in both the filling and the dough. If you don’t have a qalab (ma’amoul mold), a bowl with about ⅛-cup capacity lined with plastic wrap can be used to shape the cookies. Store ma’amoul for up to two weeks at room temperature or freeze them for up to one month.
Instructions
- Whisk semolina, all-purpose flour, and mahlab together in large bowl. Add butter, honey, orange blossom water, and rose water. Using your hands, gently fold semolina mixture over wet ingredients until rough dough forms. Continue folding dough over itself into center while turning bowl, rubbing butter into semolina mixture until cohesive dough forms. (Do not knead dough; it should feel like wet sand.) Cover bowl tightly and let dough stand at room temperature for 4 hours.
- Pulse pistachios, anise, cinnamon, mahlab, and salt in food processor until pistachios are chopped into rough ¼-inch pieces, 5 to 7 pulses. Add dates, butter, and honey and process until mixture is smooth paste and pistachio pieces are ⅛ to 1/16 inch, about 20 seconds. Transfer to bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Microwave milk and salt for dough in bowl until just warm (about 110 degrees), 30 to 45 seconds. Sprinkle yeast over warm milk and stir to combine. Add milk mixture to dough and mix with hands until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to counter (don't wash bowl) and knead until smooth, about 2 minutes. Return dough to bowl, cover tightly, and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- While dough rests, line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide filling into 30 equal portions, weighing about ½ ounce each, and roll into balls. Place balls on 1 half of 1 prepared sheet. Cover with damp dish towel.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions (dough will be slightly tacky, soft, and somewhat elastic). Roll each piece into 15-inch log and cut into 15 equal pieces. Roll each portion into ball and place on sheet with filling. Cover with damp dish towel.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 dough ball in palm of your hand and gently press into 3-inch round of even thickness. Place 1 filling ball in center of dough. Bring sides of dough up around filling and pinch top to seal. Roll ball until smooth, place on second prepared baking sheet, and cover with damp dish towel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
- Place 1 filled ball in ma’amoul mold and gently press until cookie fills crevices and top is flat. Turn mold over and tap edge on edge of counter so cookie releases onto palm of hand. (If cookie sticks, line mold with plastic wrap.) Return cookie, pattern side up, to baking sheet. Repeat, placing 15 cookies, evenly spaced, on each sheet.
- Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until bottoms are light golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and let cool on sheet for 20 minutes. Dust liberally with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
for the dough
for the filling
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