Shopping list
125g plain flour
125g sugar
50g soft butter
1/2 tablespoon rosewater
2 tablespoons milk
250g fresh dates
150ml water
orange zest from 1/2 an orange
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Today is the start of Eid al Fitr, so everyone may have plenty to eat again and there are lots of treats! These delicious Ma'amoul cookies from the Middle East are - in a more elaborate version - also eaten in Turkey (known as Kerebiç in Turkish). They are sweet but very tasty with the fresh date filllling and the fragrant rosewater. Very cosy, with a glass of tea!
How to make Ma'amoul biscuits
Take the stones out of the dates en put them in a pan.
Put the dates with the water on low heat.
Stir now and then, after a 5/10 min. simmer it's paste.
Stir the grated orange peel&cinnamon in the paste.
Put sugar and butter in the mixer, beat until fluffy.
Sieve in the flour bit by bit and beat it.
If you have a chunky dough you stop mixing.
Knead the dough together by hand.
Add milk and rosewater.
Knead until the dough feels smooth.
Roll little balls of dough and put them on a bakingsheet.
Preheat the oven to 150°C
Stick your thumb in it and knead the edges up
Now you have made little pots to put in the filling.
Scoop datepaste in the pots and press them almost closed.
Bake the cookies for +/- 20 minutes on a tray with baking parchment.
The Ma'amoul should not brown! Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.
The Ma'amoul cookies with fragrant rose scent taste sweet and delicious!
Happy Eid al Fitr!