Ma’amoul ~ Semolina Butter Cookies

Ma’amoul, these semolina butter cookies, are a treasured treat worth the effort.

Ingredients

Day 1
🥮 2 cups farina
🥮 2 cups semolina
🥮 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
🥮 1 1/2 cup ghee
🥮 1/3 cup vegetable oil
🥮 1/2 tbsp ground mahlab
🥮 1/4 tsp mastic ~ Arabic gum
Day 3
🥮 1/2 cup all purpose flour
🥮 1/4 cup granulated sugar
🥮 1/4 cup powder sugar
🥮 2 tbsp powder milk
🥮 1/2 tbsp ground anise
🥮 1/2 tbsp ground fennel
🥮 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
🥮 Combine rose water + orange blossom 🥮 water to make 1/4 cup
1/4 tsp yeast
🥮 Date filling
13 oz Date paste + 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon + 1/2 tbsp ground anise + 1/4 tbsp ground fennel + 1/4 tsp ground cardamom + 1/4 stick of unsalted butter

Combine everything together until you have a uniform paste.
🥮 pistachio filling.
7 ounces raw pistachio + 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tbsp rose water + 1 tbsp orange blossom + 2 tbs simple syrup ( refer to tutorial Wednesday in highlights ).
Run everything in a food processor until coarse chopped.
✨ Day 1: grab a large bowl add all the ingredients together. Start rubbing the semolina between your palms until combined with the fat, cover and leave it for 3 days. This will help the semolina grains open up the more it absorbs the fat.
✨ Day 3: preheat oven to 450 F.
Start by dissolving the yeast in a 1/4 cup of water with a little bit of sugar, wait until it proofs, add the rest of the ingredients to the semolina mixture with the yeast.
Start working the dough between your hands until you have a malleable texture that you can form into balls ( always have a spray bottle with water near, so you can spray the mixture if you think it’s dry ). Let the dough rest for 30 minutes before you start working with it.
Using a Ma'amoul press start shaping the cookies ~ refer to reel.
Place on a baking sheet and bake on the bottom shelf for 8 minutes until the edges are golden then move to the top shelf for 2 minutes and it’s done.
Take out of the oven let cool, sprinkle with 1/4 cup of powder sugar and enjoy.