Maamoul

Decadent spiced Middle Eastern cookies filled with nuts, dates and spices.

Perfect for Eid or any other celebration! Best served with tea. Very crumbly biscuit. Start on these the night before. You will need a 'maamoul mould', which can easily found at Middle Eastern shops, or even on Amazon/ebay.

Ingredients:

Cookie:

• 500g fine semolina

• 150g butter

• ½ cup vegetable oil

• 1 cup (+) flour

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp salt

• ¼ cup milk

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 1 tsp instant yeast

• ¼ cup rose water

Filling:

• 400g dates (soft ones like mejdoul best so easily blended)

• 100g toasted pistachios

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 tbsp rose water

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the semolina with the melted butter and oil. Stir until

crumbled texture. Cover and leave overnight.

Add flour, powdered sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, yeast,

milk and rose water. Cover and leave to rest for one hour.

While resting, blend the dates in a food processor with the vegetable oil and

rose water. Add the pistachios.

Roll the date filling into small balls.

When the cooking dough is ready, roll into balls about double the size of the

date balls.

Open up each cookie ball and make a shell – adding the date balls inside.

Cover and roll into a ball. Flatten into a maamoul mold.

Bake for 13 mins at 190c oven.

Dust with powdered sugar and sprinkle over crumbled pistachios.