Maamoul Nut Filled Cookie Food

MA'AMOUL (LEBANESE DATE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Mix semolina flour, all-purpose flour, mahlab, and salt together in a large bowl. Work clarified butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until thoroughly incorporated. Cover bowl and let dough rest at room temperature, 8 hours to overnight.
• Pour milk into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until just warm, about 15 seconds. Stir in sugar and yeast until dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Pour yeast mixture and orange blossom water over the dough and mix until evenly moistened. Pinch off a piece of dough and roll into a ball; it should hold its shape without cracking. Add more milk or orange blossom water if needed. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• Sprinkle some flour over the ma'amoul molds and tap out the excess. Pinch off a walnut-sized piece of dough and roll into a ball. Press your thumb into the ball to create space for the filling. Work the edges with your fingers so the sides are even and fairly thin. Drop in a piece of date paste and pinch dough over it to seal.
• Place cookie into the mold cavity seam-side up. Press down so that the top is flush with edges of the mold. Trim off any excess dough. Invert the mold and tap it against your work surface to release the cookie. Repeat with remaining dough and date paste, arranging cookies 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven, 1 baking sheet at a time, until edges and bottoms are golden but tops are still mostly pale, about 15 minutes.
• Sift powdered sugar over the cookies while still slightly warm. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

MA'AMOUL (NUT-FILLED COOKIES)

Steps:

• 1. For the dough, place the flour, semolina, margarine, and oil in a food processor equipped with a steel blade. Add the water gradually, pulsing until a soft dough is formed. Cover and set aside for 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator.
• 2. For the filling, combine the walnuts with the cinnamon and sugar.
• 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• 4. Either use the ma'amoul mold described above or take a piece of dough about the size of a walnut. Roll it into a ball and hollow out the center. Inside, place a heaping teaspoon of walnut filling. With your hands, mold the dough closed.
• Continue with the rest of the dough.
• 5. Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. With the tines of a fork or tweezers with a serrated edge, make designs on the top of each cookie, being sure not to penetrate the crust.
• 6. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Do not brown; the cookies should look white. Cool. When hard, roll in confectioners' sugar.

MAMOOL WALNUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the filling: In a large bowl, combine the nuts with the butter, rose water, orange blossom water, sugar, cinnamon and cloves; stir to thoroughly coat the nuts. Set aside.
• Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the semolina, farina and flour. Sprinkle the mastic and mahlab over the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the yeast and sugar to the well. Add 3 tablespoons warm water to the yeast mixture and let sit until it begins to foam, about 1 minute. Pour in the milk and, with a fork, gradually mix the wet and dry ingredients together until a dough forms.
• Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead until it is pillow soft and workable. If the dough becomes too stiff to work with, gradually sprinkle in water to bring it to a workable consistency. Return the dough to the bowl and set aside on the counter for 1 hour, covering the bowl with a clean kitchen towel to prevent the dough from drying out as you shape the cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 370°F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place about 3 tablespoons dough in the palm of one hand and use the other palm to roll it into a ball. Make an indentation in the ball with your finger. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons of the nut mixture into the indentation, then bring the edges of the dough up around the filling. Pinch the edges all around to seal in the filling. Flip the cookie over into the other hand, seam-side down, and gently press until the seam side is flattened. Place the cookie on a prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
• Bake until the cookies are pale blond, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. The cookies can be stored at room temperature for 2 days; they will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks or in the freezer up to 3 months. Before serving, dust liberally with confectioners' sugar.