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Maamoul (date cookies)

Drying rack of maamoul date cookies next to a cup of coffee

Maamoul (date cookies)

Name: Maamoul (date cookies)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: Makes 24 cookies
Cuisine: Jewish
Ingredients: 300g plain flour; 150g fine semolina; ½ tsp baking powder; 1 tsp mahleb (available online or at specialist supermarkets); 75g icing sugar plus extra for dusting; 200g butter softened; 5 tbsp sunflower oil; ½ tsp vanilla extract; ¼-½ tsp rose water depending on strength; 450g medjool dates pitted and roughly chopped; ¼ tsp rose water; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Victoria Prever

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Makes 24 cookies

Easy

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 20 mins

plus 1 hr chilling and 1 hr freezing

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Bake these traditional Middle Eastern shortbread cookies filled with dates. They're popular among Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities during various festivals

Egg-free

Vegetarian

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

300g plain flour
150g fine semolina
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp mahleb

(available online or at specialist supermarkets)
75g icing sugar

plus extra for dusting
200g butter

softened
5 tbsp sunflower oil
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼-½ tsp rose water

depending on strength

For the filling

450g medjool dates

pitted and roughly chopped
¼ tsp rose water
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

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Nutrition: Per serving (24)

kcal220
fat9g
saturates5g
carbs30g
sugars16g
fibre2g
protein2g
salt0.23g

Method

step 1

Blitz the flour, semolina, baking powder, mahleb and icing sugar together with ¼ tsp salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter, oil, vanilla and rose water, and pulse until the mixture starts to clump together.
step 2

Tip out of the food processor and bring together using your hands – the dough should be very soft and pliable. If it’s very sticky, add some flour; if it’s crumbly or cracks, add a little more water. Divide in half and form each piece into a flat disc. Chill for 1 hr.
step 3

Make the filling by blitzing the dates in a food processor with the rose water, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. When the dough has chilled, divide it into 40g pieces and roll the filling into 20g balls. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten into discs. Working with one dough disc at a time, put the disc in the palm of one hand and put a filling ball on top. Stretch the dough around the filling ball to enclose it, then pat the whole thing down into a 2cm-thick disc. Press the tines of a fork into the top of the cookie in a cross-hatch pattern, then repeat with the rest of the dough and filling balls. Freeze the cookies for at least 1 hr.
step 4

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Arrange the cookies on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 15-20 mins until the surface is dry and sandy and the cookies are very pale gold in colour. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack, then dust with icing sugar. Will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

Recipe tip

Different brands of rosewater vary in strength, so taste it before adding, to make sure you’re not using too much.

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