You may already know of ma’amoul, one of the most famous cookies across the Arab world. While often associated with eid and Easter, it’s a popular treat year-round. They also exist in the South Eastern parts of Turkey, where they’re known as kömbe, but are rare in the rest of the country.
Ma’amoul cookies are characterised by their pattern, courtesy of beautifully carved out wooden moulds made for the sole purpose of shaping these biscuits. The moulds apparently have their roots in Ancient Egypt. There are different patterns, each usually signifying the type of filling inside. The biscuit itself is fairly crumbly, reminiscent of shortbread, but with more of a bite, and flavoured with rosewater or orange blossom water. It can be filled with nuts, dates or other dried fruits.
How to make ma’amoul
I’m not going to pronounce myself a ma’amoul expert. But I’ve made them a few times, eaten them even more and gone through countless authentic recipes in books and online. I’ve learned enough to realise that there are many ways of making these cookies.
Some rely on semolina for the dry ingredient, others plain flour or a mixture. Some are yeasted, some use baking powder. Some use room temperature butter, others melted. The doughs are all flavoured to various degrees by rosewater or orange blossom water (or both).
And that’s before we even get to the filling.
Personally, I like the crunch that comes with using mainly semolina, though it does make the dough slightly more difficult to work with. If you find it too difficult, substitute a larger amount of plain flour.
My method may not be exactly how the mamas around the Middle East make them, but it works for me. I never use a rolling pin, as I find it easier to flatten the dough with my hands. After adding the filling, I close it as best as I can. I find it’s easiest to fold as per the pictures below, i.e. folding the opposite sides over first, then the sides, rather than working my way around.
The recipe I use is a variation on the one in Anissa Helou’s seminal Feast: Food of the Islamic World. Her recipe is traditional, and I’ve only made some small tweaks to make it work better for me.
For example, I’ve reduced the amount of rosewater, as I found it overpowered the filling. This, of course, is a matter of taste. If you’re more used to the flavour of rosewater than I am, feel free to add more.
And don’t worry if you don’t have one of those beautiful ma’amoul moulds. You can use any other mould you like, or simply shape it with your hands and make a pattern with a fork.
Ma’amoul – date stuffed semolina cookies
Ingredients
- 175 g fine semolina
- 25 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- ⅛ tsp dried yeast
- 25 g sugar
- 75 g butter, at room temperature (⅔ stick)
- 30 g water
- 15 g rose water
Date filling
- 150 g dates
- 15 g butter, melted
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- hot water, to soften the dates
How I make it
- In a bowl, combine semolina, plain flour, yeast and sugar. Add the butter and mix with your hands until fully incorporated and the mixture resembles small crumbs. Add rosewater and water, then knead until the mixture forms a homogenous dough. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and leave to rest for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, prepare the date filling. If your dates are a little dry, steep them in hot water for 10-15 minutes to soften, then drain. Remove the pits. Place the dates in a food processor with the melted butter and cinnamon. Process until you have a relatively smooth mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth mash, but it shouldn’t have large chunks either. Transfer to the refrigerator. This makes it easier to fill the cookies later.
- Preheat the oven to
180 °C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. - Divide the semolina dough into 20 pieces of c. 16 g each (1 Tbsp). Roll the pieces into balls.
- Divide the date filling into 20 pieces of 7–8 g each (½ Tbsp). Flatten each into small discs about 2–3 cm in diameter (c. 1 in) and ½ cm (⅕ in) thick.
- Using your hands, flatten each dough ball into c. 8–10 cm (3–4 in) diameter circles. It’s best if they’re slightly thinner at the edges than in the centre. I do this on my kitchen countertop, then use a dough scraper to lift the dough from the surface. You can also do it in the palm of your hand, if you prefer. Place a disc of date filling in the centre. Fold the edges in to enclose the filling. If you have a ma’amoul/kömbe mold (or a suitable alternative mold), place the filled dough ball in the mold, smooth side down. Press gently down, then release it by tapping the top of the mold against the kitchen counter. The cookie should come out. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pieces. If you don’t have a ma’amoul/kömbe mold, shape the filled dough balls as nicely as you can and place them on the baking sheet with the seam side down. You can use a fork to create patterns, if you like.
- Bake in the middle of the oven until golden, approximately 15 minutes. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with a little icing sugar (powdered sugar) before serving.
