Ingredients
For the dough
500 grams plain flour
250 g of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ tsp baking powder
100 g white sugar
5 tbsp of milk (or alternatively, plant-based milk)
Almond extract (optional)
For the syrup
50 g white sugar
2 tbsp of water
For the filling
300 g date paste (or alternatively, finely chopped or food-processed dates)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp ground aniseed
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp ground, or full, cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
Ma’amoul is an ancient cookie with rich heritage and significance in countries throughout the Middle East — whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish — made to break fast at the end of Ramadan before Eid festivities. While ma’amoul is a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine, the Gaza Strip and Palestinian community is where the ritual of making ma’amoul thrives, with the streets of Palestine filled with the nutty scent of this traditional delicacy. In my hometown in California, Ramadan and Eid has been a major holiday within the community since I was in primary school with Irvine being home to over 15,000 Arab Americans. All of my first interactions with Middle Eastern and Palestinian culture were during these celebrations with my friends and their families through their teachings and customs, especially the making of ma’amoul. Read below on how to make your own ma’amoul and bring Palestinian culture to your table, courtesy of a recipe by Eman Alkarajeh, Palestinian owner of Cafe Izz in Cork, and tricks and additions from home.
Method
To start, heat 50 g of white sugar with water in a small saucepan to make the sugar syrup. Cook over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved and just started to boil. Set aside to cool to room temperature while you prepare the dough.
Mix the flour, unsalted butter, and baking powder together until it begins to form into a crumb-like consistency. Based on my first trial in preparing this recipe, my personal tip is to make sure that your butter is softened, not melted or liquid, as it makes the dough too thin. However, fret not if your dough base is running thin, simply add a few extra tablespoons of flour or add a tbsp of cornstarch to your sugar syrup to act as a thickening agent.
In a separate bowl, beat together the dry sugar and 50 g of the sugar syrup (if you have any left over you can discard it, store it for later, or even brush a little on top of the ma’amoul before or after baking). A tip I learned from my friend’s mom in high school when I was first shown this recipe is to add a teaspoon of almond extract for a warm nutty flavour that pairs nicely with the filling. This addition is completely based on preference.
Add the sugar mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the milk, and beat with a whisk until it forms a dough. Once the dough forms, begin to work the dough into a ball in the bowl with your hands. Lightly sprinkle with flour and cover the bowl to chill for 30 minutes, or up to two hours.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC, fan setting. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
To prepare the date filling, work the butter and assorted seasonings — fennel, aniseed, clove, and cinnamon — into the date paste. Date paste, as well as the fennel and aniseed, can be found in most Middle Eastern grocery stores within Dublin. I personally recommend Ayla Turkish Foods Market on Capel Street. I recommend using your hands to mix the filling together, it is not the cleanest but taking the time to really work all the ingredients together brings all of the delicious flavour in the spices out.
Taking one tablespoon of the filling at a time, roll the mixture into balls that you will eventually wrap using the dough. Pro tip: pressing the dough into a puck shape after forming the ball is the best trick in order to get an even ratio of filling to cookie.
Bringing your dough from the fridge where it’s been chilling, take roughly five cm portions from the dough and roll into balls, the same as you did with the filling. Next, take your ball of dough and begin to flatten, similar to making a dumpling. I recommend lightly flouring your hands for a clean rolling and flattening experience. Place your filling into the centre, then enclose and smooth the dough around the dates.
If you’d like for a more authentic shape and design for your ma’amoul, you can use a patterned, silicon mould for baking. However, you can also use a small knife to achieve a similar effect, or you can leave it as is (my knife decided to disappear so I left mine undecorated). In my neighbourhood prior to the two Eids, many of my friends’ families would invite people and kids over to help in the decorating process of the ma’amoul as a custom within their community. I remember at my first Ramadan when I was thirteen, my friend’s grandmother once told me that giving everyone a hand in the decorating made ma’amoul that was like snowflakes, no two were the same.
Finally, place the cookies on the parchment-lined tray spaced, about three cm apart, and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to fully cool before lightly dusting with powdered sugar and serving.
If you have made it this far, then congratulations on trying your hand at ma’amoul! I will be the first to admit, it took me three trial rounds (and a few instances of phoning a friend from home) before I felt confident in the end product. However, each setback I had in blending the recipe of the Middle Eastern community of my youth and Alkarajeh’s Palestinian one allowed me to engage further with the heritage and cultural atmosphere behind the baking. Make sure to try this recipe, open your homes (and kitchens) to Palestinians, cultural discussions, and their traditions this upcoming Ramadan.
