Maamoul are traditional cookies served in the Middle East during special holidays, most especially Pascha. You can find the special molds for these cookies here. There are three kinds of maamoul fillings: walnut, pistachio and date. Each kind has a special shape, kind of like how chocolatiers give each chocolate a special design so you can tell them apart without having to bite one in half.
from: http://www.recipecottage.com/cookies/maamoul.html
Makes 25 Maamoul
1/2 cup solid shortening
8 tablespoons or 4 ounces
butter
1 cup flour, all purpose
2 cups semolina
1/4 teaspoon
salt
1/4 teaspoon baking power
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons
rose flower water
1 tablespoon orange flower water
7 tablespoons
water
walnut or date filling (recipe follows)
confectioners
sugar
Do not expect the dough to be cohesive but it will be damp
enough
to form into balls to pack into the cookie molds. This recipe
needs
to be started a day ahead.
Melt shortening and butter together
or use all butter if you wish
a richer cookie. cool slightly. Mix flour,
semolina, salt, baking
powder and sugar together. Rub melted shortening into
dough with
fingertips until it is like fine soft meal. Cover bowl and let
it
rest overnight. Combine flower waters with 7 tablespoons water
and
sprinkle over the dough. Toss lightly with a fork to distribute
liquid
evenly. Mix until just combined, like pie dough. (another
person says to
knead the dough well). Dust maamoul molds well with
flour. Invert and tap
gently to remove excess flour. Estimate the
amount of dough need to fill
maamoul mold and make a ball of dough.
Flatten it out slightly and place a
good tablespoon of filling in
center. Close dough around filling to cover it.
Pack ball into
mold. Level off cookie even with the lip of the mold. Be sure
you
have not revealed filling or it will stick to the pan as it
bakes.
Tap cookies out onto the work area with a sharp firm hit to
the
top of the mold. Transfer cookies to baking sheet with a spatula.
Bake
at 300 to 325deg F about 12 minutes, until barely colored.
Cool. Sprinkle or
rub with confectioners sugar before serving.
WALNUT OR PISTACHIO
FILLING
1 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts or pistachios
2 Tablespoons
orange flower water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mix
well together.
DATE FILLING
1 1/2 cups chopped dates
6
tablespoons cutter
Cook dates with butter over low heat for 15-20
minutes. Mash
occasionally until dates are completely pureed. Cool before
filling.
Date filling is traditionally used with a flat maamoul mold,
rather
than the rounded variety.
from: http://www.kitchenrecipes.com/recipes/Cookies/7693.htm
Dough:3 1/3 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
8 oz unsalted butter
1 Tbsp rose orange-blossom water
1 Tbsp milk
Confectioners' sugar to sprinkle on
Mix the flour and sugar and cut in the butter. Add the flower water
and just enough milk to bind the dough into a soft ball.
Nut filling
1 1/2 cups walnuts or pistachios, finely chopped
4-5 Tbsp sugar
1 Tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp rose or orange-blossom water
Mix all the ingredients together.
Take walnut sized lumps of dough and make a hole in the center with your
thumb, pushing the dough up the sides of your thumb, making a hollow
container. Fill the container with the nut filling 3/4 full. Cover the
opening by folding the container shut. Prick with a fork. Bake 325
for 20-30 minutes. Do not brown. Cool before removing from pan. Sprinkle
with confectioners sugar.
from: http://www.altorecipes.com/vegetables/maamoul-with-dates.html
Maamoul With Dates
INGREDIENTS:
STEP BY STEP: