Authentic maamoul recipe – Lebanese cookies
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Learn how to prepare maamoul, the Lebanese cookies or shortbread sweets made with semolina, and filled with dates, walnuts, or pistachios.
Maamoul, mamule, or mamul, is the most famous kind of sweets that Levant people prepare around Easter and Eid Al Fitr. They are known in the west as Lebanese cookies, loaded with dates, pistachio, or walnuts.
In Lebanon, making maamoul is an important family tradition. Women from the same families and neighborhoods gather themselves around in one kitchen to prepare large batches of these scrumptious sweets in preparation for the big feast day.
The crust of the maamoul is both crunchy and melting at the same time. There is a divine work put in place to come up with this finishing. The balance between coarse and fine semolina rubbed in butter and rose water unleashes the magic, to give delightful crunchy maamoul cookies. And not to forget the art of sculpting the cookies, whether using the traditional maamoul molds, or the maamoul clips with an artistic twist.
So, in definition, what is Lebanese maamoul?
Maamoul, known as Lebanese maamoul cookies worldwide, is a sort of shortbread sweet cookie made with a balanced amount of semolina and flour, perfectly rubbed in butter, and filled with date paste, pistachio, or walnuts and almonds. These cookies are traditionally served in the Levant, mainly on Easter, and in some areas on Eid El Fitr.
What are the main ingredients of this recipe?
This recipe is egg-free but is not dairy-free. To make these cookies, you need the following ingredients:
- Semolina: try a mix of coarse and fine yellow semolina for more appealing cookies
- Butter: It upscales the taste to another level. In Lebanon, some women tend to use vegetarian ghee instead.
- Rose and blossom water: they add a sweet flavor and scent to the cookies.
- Yeast: to leaven the cookies
- Mahlab: in a controlled amount to boost the flavor of the cookies.
How to prepare the dough for the maamoul?
To make these maamoul cookies, start making the dough one day earlier. Mix rough semolina, fine semolina, sugar, and mahlab. Then, add the butter and start rubbing the semolina with your fingers for 10 minutes and let rest until the second day.
After 24 hours, add rose water, blossom water, yeast, and a ¼ cup of warm water and start kneading. Then continue adding water one spoon at a time, until the dough becomes cohesive and hard.
Do not let the dough rest. Start making the cookies immediately.
What are the variations of the maamoul filling:
- Date: This is the most famous filling. As dates are sweet, you do not need to add sugar to the filling.
- Almonds: This is an unusual filling. Almond is not used very often. People in Lebanon tend to add almonds to the walnut filling instead.
- Walnuts: Once grounded, you will add blossom water, semolina, and confectionary sugar and mix them up. Walnut maamoul is usually covered with powdered sugar before serving.
- Pistachio: Just like walnuts, shredded pistachios are combined with semolina, confectionary sugar, and blossom water. This variation of maamoul is as well covered with powdered sugar before serving.
How to serve these Lebanese maamoul cookies?
In Lebanon, people tend to use an oval shape for the pistachio cookies and a round bumped shape for the walnut cookies. Both flavors are covered with powder sugar. Hence, the reason to bake them is only until the color on the top starts to darken.
On the other hand, date maamoul is baked until the cookies become reddish. As dates are already sweet, there is no need to cover date cookies with powdered sugar. Molds of date maamoul tend to be round flat.
Can you freeze maamoul?
Surprisingly yes. Once you bake these cookies, wait until they cooled completely and store them in a container in the freezer. However, make sure not to cover the pistachio and walnut ones with powder sugar if you decide to freeze them.
To learn more about how to prepare maamoul, watch this video:
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Learn how to prepare maamoul, the Lebanese cookies or shortbread sweets made with semolina, and filled with dates, walnuts, or pistachios.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 3/4 kg coarse semolina
- 3/4 kg fine semolina
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp mahlab
- 600g butter
- Half tsp yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup of warm water
- 1/4 cup rose water
- 1/4 cup blossom water
- 1/2 cup of water if needed
For the filling:
- Dates: 1/2 kg date paste, 1.5 tbsp rose water, 40g butter, a pinch of nutmeg ( to make 50 pieces)
- Pistachio: 100g of ground pistachio, 1 tbsp blossom water, 1/3 tbsp sugar, 1/4 tbsp soft semolina to make 15 pieces
- Walnuts: 100g of ground walnut, 1 tbsp blossom water, 1/3 tbsp sugar, 1/4 tbsp soft semolina to make 15 pieces
Instructions
Preparing the dough:
- Mix the coarse and fine semolina, sugar, and mahlab
- Add butter and start rubbing the mixture with your hands for 10 minutes
- Let the mixture rest for 12 to 24 hours.
- Dissolve yeast in ¼ cup of warm water.
- Add dissolved yeast, blossom water, and rose water to the mixture.
- With your hands, start mixing the ingredients.
- Add half a cup of water, one spoon at a time as you continue kneading until you have a smooth cohesive dough.
- Start using the dough immediately.
Preparing the filling:
- To prepare the pistachio or walnut filling, grind the nuts until they are transformed into chunks. Add sugar, blossom water, and semolina and mix to combine all ingredients.
- To prepare the date filling, combine the date paste, butter, rose water, and nutmeg. Knead to combine all ingredients. Then start forming 1 inch balls of date filling and set them aside.
Molding the maamoul:
- Start forming dough balls with 2-inch size.
- With your index finger, poke the dough to form a hole.
- Place a date ball or a spoonful of walnut or pistachio filling.
- Gently close the dough and shape it in the form of a ball.
- Place the ball in the maamoul mold, and press down gently to spread it across the surface of the mold.
- Turn the mold and tap its edge firmly on a wooden board or solid working surface until the maamoul falls out.
Baking the maamoul:
- Preheat oven to 250°C.
- Over a baking tray, line a parchment paper.
- Place the molded maamoul in the tray.
- Bake the maamoul for 13 to 15 minutes until the maamoul starts to become reddish. (see notes).
- Once baked, while they are still hot, sprinkle powder sugar on top using a strainer (see notes).
Notes
- Date maamoul requires more time to bake to become redder.
- Date maamoul is never covered with powdered sugar.
- Pistachio and walnut dates should be white to slightly red as they will be covered with powdered sugar.
- You can swap water in the dough with rose water and blossom water depending on the taste.
- This recipe makes up to 90 pieces.
Nutrition
Calories: 55 kcal per serving | Serving size: 1 maamoul | Number of servings: 90
Total Fat 2 g | Saturated Fat 1 g | Cholesterol 0 mg | Sodium 2 mg | Potassium 0 mg | Total Carbohydrate 7 g | Dietary Fiber 0 g | Sugars 2 g | Protein 1 g | Vitamin A: 0% | Vitamin C: 0% | Calcium: 0% | Iron: 0%
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
