This is another recipe for Lebanese Ma'amoul. This small pastry that melts in your mouth is very popular in Lebanon, it is often found on holiday tables.
MA'AMOUL
**Ma'amoul recipe is not the easiest, yet it is full of flavor and it is definitely an art. It is quite possible to make Ma'amoul without moldings. Just make a ball of dough, stuff it and roll it using the palm of your hand. You can then decorate with tongs or a fork the same as I made my Ma'amoul in the serving dish as in the picture
200g Coarse Semolina (smeed khishin)
300g Fine Semolina (smeed naim)
100g Lurpak Butter, melted
100g Vegetable Shortening, melted
1 teaspoon Yeast
1 teaspoon Ground Mahlab
50g Sugar
3/4 cup Blossom Water
3 tablespoons Rose Water
INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING
300g Walnuts or Pistachios, chopped
175g Sugar
2 tablespoons Blossom Water
2 tablespoons Rose Water
METHOD
In a bowl, place the coarse and fine semolina. Add yeast, mahlab, and sugar, bring together then add the melted butter & shortening, (butter & shortening must not be hot), rub together until completely absorbed, the semolina mixture will resemble wet sand.
Add the blossom water and rose water, knead for 20 to 30 minutes.
Cover and let rest for 2 hours, allowing the semolina granules to swell and soften.
Before you start using the dough, knead it one last time while wetting your hands with 2 tablespoons of blossom water.
Now your dough is ready to use. Take a small amount of dough and try rolling it into a ball. Knead each ball in your hand then make a hole, making the sides even. Fill with the walnut mixture, wrap the dough up around the filling, pinching to seal the cookie so the filling is totally covered by dough.
Decorate the cookie using a copper metal mold to make designs on the maamoul.
Repeat and when you have a tray full, put into preheated oven 200 degrees.
Bake Maamoul on the middle rack 15 to 20 minutes to receive the slightest coloring. You don't want to brown them!
Take the cookies out of the oven and dust them with icing sugar. Allow them to cool. They are prone to crumble if you move them while they are still hot.
- Makes 25 cookies
- Ma'amoul bakes really quickly, don't walk away from the oven while the cookies are baking, they can go from white to black in a couple of minutes.