Ma'amoul (Semolina Cookies with Walnut or Date Filling)
Crumbly, buttery semolina cookies filled with cinnamon walnuts or soft dates, scented with orange blossom and rose water. Baked for Easter and Eid and dusted with powdered sugar.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Mix the semolina and butter
In a bowl, mix the semolina, flour, sugar and baking powder. Pour in the melted butter. Rub it in with your fingers until it feels like wet sand. Cover and leave for at least 1 hour, or overnight. This lets the semolina soak up the butter.
Make the fillings
For the walnut filling, mix the walnuts with 2 tablespoons of sugar, the cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water. For the date filling, mash the dates into a paste and roll it into small balls.
Finish the dough
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Heat the oven
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Fill and shape
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Bake
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Cool and dust
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Mix the semolina and butter
In a bowl, mix the semolina, flour, sugar and baking powder. Pour in the melted butter. Rub it in with your fingers until it feels like wet sand. Cover and leave for at least 1 hour, or overnight. This lets the semolina soak up the butter.
Make the fillings
For the walnut filling, mix the walnuts with 2 tablespoons of sugar, the cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water. For the date filling, mash the dates into a paste and roll it into small balls.
Finish the dough
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Heat the oven
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Fill and shape
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Bake
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Cool and dust
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The Story Behind the Dish
Ma'amoul are baked for the biggest holidays: Easter for Christian families and Eid for Muslim families. In the days before, women gather in kitchens to make hundreds of them together.
The cookies are pressed in carved wooden molds. Each filling has its own shape, so you know what is inside before you bite: round for dates, domed for walnuts, oval for pistachios.
⭐ Why It's Famous
They are a symbol of celebration that both Christian and Muslim Lebanese share.
💡 Fun Fact
At Easter, some Christian families say the round, domed walnut ma'amoul stands for the crown of thorns.
Lebanon, Syria and Palestine
33.89°N, 35.50°E
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