MA’MUL BIL-JOZ AW BIL-FISTOQ
LEBANON | SYRIA
These nut-filled cookies are made with special molds called tabe’. If making the nut filling with pistachios, use the oval and pointed mold; if using walnuts, the round and pointed mold. Or if you don’t have the molds, you can shape these inside a small tea strainer or by hand.
MAKES 30
Dough from Ramadan Date Cookies
1¼ cups (175 g) walnuts or pistachios, ground medium fine
¼ cup (50 g) superfine sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons rose water
1½ teaspoons orange blossom water
Powdered sugar, for dusting
1. Make the dough as directed
2. Put the ground nuts in a medium mixing bowl. Add the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Then add the rose and orange blossom water and mix again.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
4. To make cookies: Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll it into a ball the size of a walnut. Place it in the cup of your hand and with your index finger, burrow into it to shape it into a hollow cone—be careful not to pierce the bottom. The cone walls should be about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Fill the pastry cone with 1 teaspoon walnut or pistachio filling and pinch the dough together to close it over the filling. Carefully shape the filled pastry into a ball and lightly press into the ma’mul, leaving the pinched side on the outside so that when you invert the pastry, it is on the bottom. Invert the mold and tap it lightly against your work surface holding your hand underneath to catch the cookie that falls out. Slide the cookie onto a nonstick baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Fill and shape the remaining dough in the same way. You may have to scrape the inside of the mold every now and then in case some pastry has stuck to it. You should end up with about 30 nut-filled pastries, each measuring about 2 inches (5 cm) wide at the bottom and 1¼ inches (3 cm) high at the tip.
5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve or pack in an airtight container where they will keep for 2 weeks.