Ma'amoul (Stuffed Semolina Cookies)
Eid cookies of semolina and ghee filled with dates, walnuts or pistachios and shaped in a mould.
- ⏱Time2 hr 30 min
- 📊DifficultyAdvanced
- 👥Serves30 people
- 🔥Per serving240 kcal
Ingredients for 30 people
- Semolina3 cups
- Flour1 cup
- Ghee1 cup
- Sugar1/4 cup
- Yeast1/2 tsp
- Dates500 g date paste
- Orange blossom water1/4 cup
- Wateras needed
Optional extras
- Mahlab1 tsp
- Walnuts1 cup, for filling
- Pistachios1 cup, for filling
- Rose water2 tbsp
- Cinnamon1/2 tsp
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 240
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 32 g
- Fat
- 11 g
Approximate values; they vary with the exact ingredients you use.
Method
In a large bowl mix 3 cups semolina and 1 cup flour, and pour over the cup of melted ghee less 2 tbsp.
Rub it between your palms for 5 minutes until the ghee is absorbed, then cover and leave overnight.
The next day add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp yeast (plus 1 tsp mahlab if you have it), and stir.
Add 1/4 cup orange blossom water (and rose water if you have it) and a little water, and bring the dough together with your hand until it holds.
Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Knead 500 g date paste with the remaining 2 tbsp ghee (plus cinnamon if you have it) until soft and roll into hazelnut-sized balls; if you have walnuts or pistachios, chop them coarsely to fill some pieces.
Heat the oven to 200°C, take a walnut-sized ball of dough and hollow it with your thumb like a cup, put in the filling and seal it.
Press it into the ma'amoul mould, tap the mould on the table to release it, and arrange on a tray.
Bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes until the bottoms colour and the tops stay pale.
Let them cool completely on the tray before moving them, then serve or store in an airtight tin.
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