Maamoul cookies are known as the Arabic cookies with dates. Ma'amoul is very famous in the Middle East during religious holidays for both Muslims and Christians. Along with other middle eastern cookies like Kahk, these cookies are made in huge quantities during festive days to celebrate and share with neighbors and guests.
Mamoul cookie can be made with semolina, farina, plain flour or a combination. It can be filled with dates or nuts, but the most famous filling is the dates. In this tutorial I will show you how to make authentic maamoul, various traditional fillings and which flour to use.
Ingredients
Ma'amoul is done in two stages separated by 8 hours or up to 3 days. In the first stage you'll need semolina, flour, ghee, a dash of salt (not pictured above), and mahlab powder for flavoring. I will get into the differences between flours, where to find mahlab powder, and substitutions for mahlab at the tips section of the post.
In the second stage you'll need milk, yeast, dry milk, and simple syrup. You can make maamoul without yeast but it is recommended to use it. For the filling, it is more common to use date filling and it is the tastier in my opinion but I am giving you the other options as well using pistachios and walnuts.
How to make maamoul
- In a deep bowl add flour, semolina, mahlab, and a dash of salt.
- Mix everything well together.
- Add the melted ghee over and mix with a spoon.
- Then mix with the palms of your hands for a couple of minutes to ensure that semolina grains are covered with ghee. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
- Mix in the dry milk and yeast. Pour the sugar syrup and mix well.
- Add the milk little by little and lightly mix until you get a soft dough. Take a ball of the dough, roll in your hands to check if it forms nicely and softly without cracks. If you feel it is dry add little more milk. Cover and let it rest for one hour.
- Make the filling(s) that you are using by mixing the ingredients together until you are able to shape it into balls. Divide the maamoul into equal balls.
- Take each maamoul balls, flatten a but and wrap it around a ball of filling.
- Press it against a maamoul tool if you have it or simply make some decorations on the top using a fork. Bake as directed below.
Tips
- What flour to use semolina, farina or all-purpose flour? Using farina made maamoul too crumbly for my taste, the same thing happened when I used all semolina. So I've decided part semolina, part flour is what goes best with my taste. Making the whole thing with just flour resulted in cookies that were more like kahk and IMHO did not stand out as a maamoul. The all flour version is known as flour maamoul while this recipe makes what is known as semolina maamoul.
- Where to get mahlab and what to substitute? I've found mahlab in the Asian store!! which was a real surprise for me. It should be there in your Middle East store if you have one nearby, but mine was out of mahlab. Make sure to get the ground one as it is sold as a whole as well. If you do not have mahlab, you can crush some mastic with a teaspoon of sugar and use it. Use rose water, orange blossom water, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, or leave it out. It is not a big deal.
- Ghee or butter in maamoul? You can use either and you can use a mix. Some make it with oil but I prefer the intense nutty flavor of ghee.
- Some people make a huge batch like 15 pounds of maamoul dough (first stage) and keep it in the fridge for months. I do not recommend this as the first stage really isn't that hard for you to make ahead and keep for months. I prefer it fresh.
- As a rule of thumb for making maamoul, the ratio of flour: ghee: filling is 1: 1/2: 1. Meaning if you use 1 pound of (semolina+A.P.flour) you'll need to use 1/2 pound of ghee and you'll need 1 pound of filling.
- Sugar syrup used for this recipe is 1 cup of sugar + 1 cup of water with 1/2 teaspon of lime juice. Add any flavors you like to the syrup.
- Some people use water instead of milk in maamoul, I haven't tried that.
- Also I've seen people adding sugar to the maamoul dough starting from a couple of tablespoons and up to 1/2 cup. I love my maamoul light in sugar and you can always dust with powdered sugar to sweeten it more.
- This recipe makes 24 maamoul. If you are using a maamoul wooden tool, you might want to increase/decrease the size depending on the size of your tool.
Lightly sweet, buttery with a little semolina crunch, these are my type of maamoul. My husband liked the nut filling more while I like it more with dates, the authentic way or at least this is how I was introduced to maamoul back in the 90s.
If you like this recipe do not forget to give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and attach a photo of your finished dish. It is always a pleasure of mine to see your photos and check your own take of the recipe. Thank you.
Maamoul
Ingredients
For the first stage:
- 2 cups (350g) semolina.
- 1 cup (125g) all purpose flour.
- 1/2 Tablespoon ground mahleb. Note1
- A dash of salt.
- 1 cup (250g) ghee. Note2
For the second stage:
- 1 Tablespoon dry milk.
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast.
- 3 Tablespoon simple syrup. Note3
- 1/4-1/3 cup warm milk.
Date filling:
- 1 cup (150g) dates.
- 1 teaspoon ghee.
- 1 Tablespoons cinnamon or rose water or orange blossom water.
- 1 Tablespoon roasted sesame seeds.
Pistachio filling:
- 1 1/4 cup (150g) pistachios.
- 1/2 Tablespoon powder sugar.
- 2 Tablespoons simple syrup.
- 1/2 teaspoon ghee.
Walnut filling:
- 1 1/2 cup (150g) walnuts.
- 1/2 Tablespoon powder sugar.
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
- 2 Tablespoons simple syrup.
- 1/2 teaspoon ghee.
Instructions
First stage
- Melt ghee in microwave or stovetop but do not let it get too hot or boiling.
- In a deep semolina, flour mahleb, salt and mix.
- Pour in the melted ghee and mix well.
- Use the palms of your hands and rub the semolina mixture for a couple of minutes.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
Second stage:
- Take the dough out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature to soften as it might harden in the refrigerator.
- Add dry milk, yeast and mix well.
- Mix in the syrup then add the milk little by little until you feel the dough is soft and rolls nicely into a ball.
- Cover and let it rest for 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 24 balls.
- Preheat oven to 350F
Make the fillings:
- In your food processor combine the ingredients of each filling and process to desired texture. Note4
- Divide the filling(s) into 24 balls.
Shape and bake maamoul:
- With your thumb make a dent in each dough and fill with any of the stuffing suggested.
- Close and roll into a ball. Press into a maamoul mold or flatten a bit and make some marks with a fork in a decorative way.
- Bake on the middle rack for 10. Minutes then move up for another 7-10 minutes until top is lightly golden.
- Let it cool down on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
I missed getting your weekly posts.. Hope you and your family are all well and got through the pandemic safely. Glad you are back posting. I make almost all of your recipes, as my roommate is from Egypt. thanks again, Patricia Lauterborn
Thank you so much Patricia for checking in, actually I haven;t stopped sending emails! I wonder what went wrong?
Came out amazing and soft! Great recipe!
Thank you Gigi for your feedback, glad you liked it.
I made these cookies and they are absolutely delicious! Definitely a cookie I will make many more times. They are time consuming to make but well worth the effort! Thanks for sharing this recipe Amira’s Pastries!
Thank you Ayesha for your feedback, happy you liked it.
Hi, when can I add rose water and orange blossom water in this recipe?
Precise and very helpful!!
Thank you Susan, glad you liked it.