Purim Ma’amoul
Ma’amoul are semolina butter cookies stuffed with dates and pressed into a decorative round mold. I’ve eaten them at Moroccan Shabbat tables, Palestinian weddings, Lebanese and Turkish restaurants. They are a Mideast staple during the Muslim Eid holiday and Easter, and the Jews of Egypt bake maamoul during Purim.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 3 cups/500 gr semolina
- 1/3 c/75 g all purpose flour
- 2 sticks/250 gr unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ c./85 gr superfine sugar
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 4 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp water
- ½ tsp grated Meyer lemon zest
For the filling
- 9 oz/300 gr Medjool dates pitted
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 4 seeds of cardomon pods, crushed
- 1 tbsp brandy or eau de vie
- ¼ tbsp sea salt
- Confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
- Make the dough. Mix the semolina, flour, salt, lemon peel and butter in a food processor or by hand until crumbly. Add milk and water and pulse or stir until a dough forms. Gather, cover and refrigerate one hour.
- Make the filling. Pulse or finely chop and stir all ingredients together into a rough paste. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Divide dough into 24 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then make a small indentation with your finger, and stuff in some filling (about ½ -1 tsp.) and cover and reform into ball. Place ball inside triangular mooncake mold, press, and release.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden Cool and dust with confectioner’s sugar.
