Adha, a Muslim Holiday celebrated around the world, is drawing closer, the families are flying in, the fireworks have begun, and the delicious smell of Mom’s homemade cooking brings a twinkle to our noses. What better way to enjoy this Eid than with a little taste of some Arabic sweets that you would definitely want to sneak a bite of, after we teach you how to make them of course! So put on your chef hats, gather up that courage, and head on to the kitchen to get started on creating the famous dessert specially made for the holidays – Maamoul.
Let’s get down to business. First and foremost, the Maamoul is a small pastry that is filled with either dates, pistachios, or walnuts. Each one is made into a different shape depending on the filling, but you could even design the outside in any way that you want. Before you become the artist you are hoping to be, here are the ingredients that you would need:
For the dough:
- 850g or 5.5 cups of Semolina
- 200g or 1.5 cups of Flour
- 400g of melted butter
- 2 table spoons of melted ghee
- ½ teaspoon of instant yeast
- 1 cup of orange blossom water
- 1 cup of sugar
- 3 different kinds of molds
- Powdered sugar for sprinkling
For the pistachio or walnut filling:
- 1Kg of pistachios/walnuts
- 3 cups of sugar
- Half a cup of orange blossom water
- Half a cup of rosewater
For the date filling:
- 1Kg of pitted dates
- 150g of butter
- ¼ Teaspoon of nutmeg
- ½ cup of grilled, powdered, almonds
Step 1: Mix the semolina, flour, butter, & ghee together. Be prepared to wait for quite a while because as soon as that’s done, cover it up and leave it overnight.
Step 2: The next day you can add the sugar and yeast to the mixture. Gradually add the orange blossom water, rosewater and kneed it well until a soft dough forms. Cover the dough with a nylon sheet & kitchen towel and let it rest for 2 hours.
A small tip, if the dough is stiff go ahead and add some orange blossom water and kneed it again. If you’ve done this, let it rest for another 30 minutes.
Step 3: Let’s start preparing the fillings. It all depends on which filling you have chosen to use but you can easily use a food processor to grind the ingredients for a minute or two.
Step 4: We think the dough has had enough rest for now. Divide it into small balls and flatten it in the palm of your hand to make it quite thin, but not thin enough that it would tear.
Step 5: Pour 1 or 2 teaspoons of filling onto the paste and roll it into a ball.
Step 6: Now this is where the paste will take its proper forms. You can do this by getting the special mold that adds a little design to your Maamoul. Press the ball inside it so that it takes shape. There are three different kinds of mold to use so that you could easily differentiate them depending on the fillings.
If you feel like being a little creative, you can use tongs to create your own design to the paste.
Step 7: Place them on a tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200C until they have slightly changed color. This should take around 20 minutes.
Step 8: Once it is done leave it aside to cool then sprinkle with powdered sugar to give it that extra sweetness.
Finally, as easy as that, you now know how to make Maamoul. If either the family is coming over for dinner or you are invited to a friend’s place, then you are ready to easily put a spin on the night with your new found knowledge in baking. So don’t forget to enjoy the Arabic sweets this week for the holidays, Eid Mubarak!
Photo Credits:
- chicagofoodmagazine.com
- cookican.com
- zexxyswife.blogspot.com
- dirtykitchensecret.com
