Maamoul Date Cookies Recipe
Again, we have a recipe that challenges the boundaries of the maps. Maamoul is an Arabian cuisine originated cookie recipe made in many countries, including Turkey. It has a place in the cuisines of lots of countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. Although some of them are made and named in the same way, some of them may change the shape, aroma, filling and / or name. In Iran, for example, it is called kolompeh and is more flate and shaped with a more fancy mold.
In Turkey, in some regions it is called maamoul but in general, especially around Hatay region it's called kerebiç. Kerebiç also diversifies in itself. While it's made in the form of cookies as maamoul at home, it's prepared more like a soft pastry in kerebiç shops and served with a vegan cream called çöven.
When a food varies so much, it is very difficult to share it's recipe. After looking up lots of recipes,I decided that it would be right to stick to the Arabic style. I adjusted the ratios of ingredients as I always do, but I adhered to the general preperation method. I just made a little change. In addition to rose water, sometimes only orange flower water is used in Arabic recipes. But after seeing it's sold just in an online shop with a really high price in Turkey, I only used rose water.
Since it passed the taste testing of the owner of the Arabian grocery store close to our house where I bought my maamoul mold, I'm really confident about my recipe. Talking about the mold, I have to mention that you can find wooden maamoul mold on Amazon.
As I mentioned above, although maamoul can be made with different fillings, the most common ones are date and pistachio fillings. I prefered to share the date filling recipe as it's cheaper. If you want to make pistachio filling, you can prepare it by mixing the pistachio, sugar and rose water together.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
For the dough;
- 2 cups of semolina,
- 75 g butter,
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil,
- 1 cup all purpose flour,
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar,
- 1/2 teaspoon mahlep,
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder,
- 1/4 cup rose water,
- 1/4 cup warm milk,
- 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast,
- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
For the filling;
- 250 g pitted dates,
- 3-4 tablespoons of vegetable oil,
- 2 tablespoons of ground walnuts,
- 1 tablespoon ground pistachios.
Preparation
- Melt the butter,
- Mix the melted butter, oil and semolina in a bowl,
- Cover it with a plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator and let it rest overnight (minimum 6, maximum 12 hours),
- Mix again the next day (will be moulded, crash),
- Add flour, powdered sugar, mahlep, baking powder and mix,
- In a separate bowl, mix warm milk, yeast and sugar until the yeast is completely dissolved,
- Add yeast mixture and rose water to the semolina mixture, knead and cover, let stand for one hour at room temperature,
- Mash the dates with a food processor,
- Add the oil and pulse again until you reach non-stick consistency (add oil if necessary),
- Add walnuts and pistachios and knead,
- Make small ball from the mixture,
- Take a walnut sized piece from the dough and roll it,
- Make a hole in the middle by pressing with your thumb,
- Put one of the date balls into the cavity and roll it,
- Place the cookie in the maamoul mold, press and make sure it takes shape, then remove it,
- Prepare all remaining ingredients in the same way,
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees until lightly browned from the edges,
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Enjoy...
- Nirvadana: Hi, thank you for the recipe. Is the semolina coarse or fine flour? September 3, 2022 2:19 am
- Kevser: Coarse semolina😊 September 3, 2022 2:48 am