Ma’amoul cookies are a type of Middle Eastern butter cookie that is usually filled with a variety of dried fruits or nuts. Made with semolina flour, the shortbread-like exterior has a slight crunch to it, giving way to a softer filling. Optionally, a hint of mahlab—ground wild cherry pit—is added for a nutty fragrance. While these are especially popular during the holidays, they can be enjoyed all year round. Once baked, they’re dusted with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, adding an extra layer of sweetness to every mildly spiced bite.
To make the signature patterns and shapes, you will need a ma’amoul mold. Much like Chinese mooncakes, ma’amoul is traditionally pressed and stamped before baking. If you don’t have a mold, you can still make the cookies by shaping and flattening them to your desired designs by hand; a fork or toothpick may be used to imprint further patterns on top.
This recipe yields 24 cookies. Below are three options for fillings: cinnamon-cardamom walnut flavored with orange blossom water, pistachios flavored with rose water, and buttery date. You are free to make one-third of each of the fillings to have a variety come assembly time. If some guests are allergic to nuts, it may be helpful to use a different mold to distinguish the cookies with different fillings.
To add more crunch to the cookie, you can always opt for coarse semolina or use more fine semolina to displace some of the all-purpose flour. Do note that the higher the semolina content in the dough, the more crumbly and therefore difficult the dough will become to handle when assembling the cookies.
Use a firm knock to slam the cookies onto your baking sheet. If you experience any dough sticking to the mold, it may be helpful to lightly roll the cookie ball in fine semolina before pressing into the mold to facilitate a cleaner release.
Once you’ve made a batch, let us know how it turned out down below in the comments!