Eid Series: Ma'amoul

It's that time of the year again! Muslims all over the world are preparing to celebrate the second major holiday of the year, Eid Al-Adha, on October 4th. It's a chance for Muslim families to visit each other and get into a festive spirit. One of the essential details of Eid Al-Adha is to serve home-made Ma'amoul, a pastry usually filled with date paste, pistachio mix, or walnut mix.

In this recipe, we will make date-filled Ma'amoul.

What you'll need for the pastry:

• 4 cups coarse semolina wheat
• 2 cups smooth semolina wheat
• 3 cups butter
• 4 tablespoon powdered milk
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon of yeast mixed with 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons rose water
• 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
• Optional: 1 teaspoon mahlab powder

Ingredients for filling:

• 1 pound date paste
• 2 tablespoons butter

*Tip: All ingredients mentioned can be found at your local Arabic grocery store or online.

Directions:

1. Mix the coarse semolina wheat with the smooth semolina wheat.
2. Add the powdered milk, sugar, butter, and the optional mahlab.
3. Mix the ingredients by rubbing the mixture between your hands until it is coarse dough like so

    4.  Let the dough rest for 12 hours.

    5.  Add the yeast-water mixture, the rose water, and the orange blossom water, and the cup of warm water.

    6.  Now knead the mixture normally until it combines into a dough.

    7.  Let rest for 15 minutes.

Directions for the date filling:

1. In a bowl, knead the date paste with the butter.
2. Roll into small balls

Making the pastry:

1. Take a small portion of the dough and roll into a ball.
2. Press your finger into the dough to create a pocket.
3. In the pocket, place a ball of date paste.
4. Role the dough around the date paste until the paste is covered completely.
5. Place the ball into a mold like the ones below or a mold of your choice

     6.  After shaping the pastry, place in a baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 15 minutes.

*Tip: Make sure you do not over-bake the Ma'amoul, it is easy for the pastry to become very hard if it stays in the oven too long.

     7.  After baking, they should look like this

Finally, let the Ma'amoul cool before serving.

*Tip: Only Ma'amoul stuffed with pistachio or walnut mix are topped with powdered sugar after baking.

Enjoy and Happy Eid!

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