Arabic Cookies Recipes

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.

MAAMOUL (ARABIAN DATE FILLED COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the milk and yeast. Set aside until the yeast has softened and is foamy, 3-5 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour and sugar.
• Rub the oil and melted butter into the flour with your fingertips, until the mixture is an even, sandy texture.
• Add the yeast and milk mixture and vanilla. Mix gently with your fingers.
• Add water, a little at a time, mixing gently after each addition, until the dough comes together in a soft and shaggy dough.
• Cover the dough and set aside to rest for 10 minutes, while you prepare the filling.
• Place the chopped dates in a small saucepan along with the other filling ingredients.
• Cover the saucepan and heat over medium heat, 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the dates soften and become jam-like.
• Preheat your oven to 350F.
• Separate the dough into 1 Tbsp sections. Roll each section into a ball.
• Flatten one ball of dough into a disc and place 1 tsp of filling on the center. Fold the edges of the dough around the filling, pressing them together to seal in the filling.
• Roll the filled cookie gently between your hands to bring it back to a nice ball shape. Then, flatten the cookie slightly.
• Decorate, if desired, using a fork or press the filled cookie into a floured mold and tap it out.
• Place the filled and shaped cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, 1 inch apart.
• Bake the cookies for 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet once during cooking. Remove the cookies when they are lightly golden brown.
• Let the maamoul cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar.
• Store the maamoul in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 weeks.

QUICK AND EASY MAAMOUL RECIPE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the dates, water, and salt. Cook the dates, mashing and stirring until they have broken down into a paste (about 3 minutes). Let cool.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl or in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder, then pulse or cut the butter in.
• Combine the milk and rosewater and then stir into the dough until it comes together.
• Gather the dough together, and then divide the dough into 20 equally-sized balls.
• Take one ball of dough, flatten it in the palm of your hand and pinch it into a bowl shape.
• Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of the dough and bring up the sides and pinch together to seal the filling in.
• Roll and flatten slightly, and then place the cookie seam side down on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• Prick the top of the cookies with a fork or toothpick in a decorative pattern, and then bake until the cookies are just beginning to turn golden, about 25-30 minutes. Dust generously with powdered sugar while the cookies are still warm.
• Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

PISTACHIO MAAMOUL COOKIES

Steps:

• Place all the ingredients in a bowl and knead very well with your hand. You can also use a cake stand mixer, using a flat cake attachment or dough attachment. Mix slowly until they are well incorporated together. Cover and let the dough rest for 2 hours. While you wait for the dough to rest, prepare the filling by mixing the ingredients together.
• Once the time is up, form the dough into ball portions and cover them to prevent drying.
• Press a piece of the dough into a flat shape, then add a tablespoon of pistachio filling in the middle and wrap the dough around it to cover the filling completely.
• Press the ball shaped dough well into the mold and the tap the mold on the counter so it falls out.
• Once that part is done, lay the pieces on a sheet pan with parchment paper or a non-stick pan until you finish the rest of the balls.
• Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool on room temperature.
• Dust with sugar and store in an air tight container.

ARABIC COOKIES

Steps:

• Set aside boiled water and cool until lukewarm. Mix butter, shortening, coconut, oats, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt with fingers until dough reaches the consistency of pie crust. Add lukewarm water and work into dough.
• Make dough into one inch balls. Flatten with a fork or fancy bottomed glass for imprint.
• Place on greased cookie sheets and bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 10 minutes.

MAAMOUL

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together or separate all the dried fruits and mix each of them with date paste.
• In a large container, place the extra fine semolina, the flour, icing sugar, softened butter, baking powder. Mix well until reaching a dough that feels like sand.
• Add the milk and then the required amount of orange blossom water and/or rose water. Form a ball of dough. It should be smooth, not sticky.
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature.
• Form balls of about ½ oz (15 g).
• Stuff each ball of dough with the date and nuts. Roll the ball so the filling is fully coated with dough.
• Shape the balls using a maamoul mold. Put the dough inside the maamoul mold and pack well, turn the mold over and give a quick tap to unmold.
• Place the maamoul on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook in a preheated oven at 350 F (180°C) for 15-20 minutes. Pastries must remain very white.
• As you take them out of the oven, sprinkle with icing sugar.
• Maamoul can be kept for eight days in an airtight container.

25 AUTHENTIC LEBANESE FOODS

Steps:

• Select your favorite recipe.
• Organize all the required ingredients.
• Prep a Lebanese recipe in 30 minutes or less!