Ma'amoul Cookies — Date-Filled Semolina Cookies

👨‍🍳 Method

To assemble

1. 1
   Rub the semolina, flour, butter and oil together with your hands, until every grain of semolina is coated in fat.

   Bowl
2. 2
   Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.
3. 3
   Cover and let the dough rest 1 hour.

   ⚙ KneadingBowlStand mixer

   💡Knead only until the dough comes together: long kneading toughens it, and the maamoul comes out hard instead of crumbly.
4. 4
   Cover and let the dough rest 1 hour.
5. 5
   Grind the dates, butter, cinnamon and cardamom in a food processor into a smooth paste.

   ⚙ Grinding in a Food ProcessorFood processor

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
6. 6
   Shape the dough into walnut-size balls, flatten each ball in your palm, place a teaspoon of filling in the center and seal well.

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
7. 7
   Shape the dough into walnut-size balls, flatten each ball in your palm, place a teaspoon of filling in the center and seal well.
8. 8
   Press each cookie into a maamoul mold, unmold and arrange on the baking sheet.

   Maamoul moldBaking pan
9. 9
   Let cool completely, and only then dust with the powdered sugar.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
10. 10
    Let cool completely, and only then dust with the powdered sugar.

    💡Warm maamoul crumbles in your hands: touch it and dust with powdered sugar only once it is completely cold.