Orange Blossom Water

Ma’amoul Abiad is one of the sweets prepared for Nisf Sha’aban.

“Ma’amoul Abiad” means “White Ma’amoul” because the color of the cookies should remain white in baking, a specialty of Hama . In other cities, “Ghraibeh” is similar to Ma’amoul Abiad but baked to golden brown in color. These cookies are very delicate, they melt immediately in your mouth.

Let’s make Ma’amoul Abiad:

1, 2, 3, 4. In a bowl, measure 120 g powdered sugar .

5 to 10. Add 250 g ghee to powdered sugar. Good quality ghee is required, I used 125 g Lurpak and 125 g Aseel.

11, 12, 13, 14. Mix powdered sugar and ghee with your hand until creamy and the color of the mixture turns to pale off-white as in picture 14.

15 to 24. Gradually add 500 g flour to the mixture of powdered sugar and ghee, mix the ingredients with your hand between each addition.

25, 26, 27. Knead with your hand until a dough comes together and homogeneous.

28. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set the dough aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

 After 24 hours, take the dough out of the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 1 hour. Touch the dough, it should be pliable but not too soft.

29. Prepare a baking sheet.

30, 31. Take a piece of dough and form it into ball, each ball equals to 6 grams. Keep the dough balls covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out.

32. Prepare whole pistachio kernels, and set aside.

33, 34, 35. Take a ball of dough and flatten with you palm into disc approximately 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) thick.

36. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

37, 38, 39, 40. Put whole pistachio kernel in the center of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger.

41, 42, 43, 44. Repeat the steps.

To form into other shape:

45, 46, 47. Take the ball, put it on counter, move your palm just in one direction and form it into rope equals to 2 1/2 inches (6 cm).

48, 49, 50. Form the rope into a ring joining the two ends and pressing to seal.

51. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

52, 53, 54. Put whole pistachio kernel in the joining end of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger.

55, 56. Repeat the steps.

57 to 64. Heat the oven at 300°F (150 °C) (I’ve done this step of heating oven 15 minutes before placing the baking pan in oven to bake). Place the baking pan in the oven (rack position the second from bottom), and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom becomes light golden in color. Turn off the bottom burner “bake function”, then turn on the upper burner on low and bake for 4 minutes, the color of Ma’amoul should stay white. To check if Ma’amoul  is done, touch with your finger and it should be clear and no crumbs stick on it. When done, turn off oven, keep Ma’amoul in oven with door open for 1 minute. Remove from the oven and keep on baking sheet to completely cool.

 

65, 66, 67, 68. When cooled, remove from baking sheet and be careful because they are delicate. Store in airtight container.

Ghraibeh Shamiyeh is same as Ma’amoul Abiad, same dough but the pieces are smaller and baked to golden brown.

69. Prepare a baking sheet.

70, 71 Take a piece of dough and form it into ball, each ball equals to 4 grams. Keep the dough balls covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out.

72. Prepare pistachio halves, and set aside. I soaked whole pistachio kernels in hot water for one hour, then removed the skin and cut it into half from the center.

73. Take a ball of dough.

74. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

75, 76. Put pistachio half in the center of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger.

77, 78, 79, 80. Repeat the steps.

To form into other shape:

81, 82, 83. Take the ball, put it on counter and with move your palm just in one direction and form it into rope equals to 2 1/2 inches (6 cm).

84, 85, 86. Form the rope into a ring joining the two ends and pressing to seal.

87. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

88, 89, 90. Put  pistachio half in the joining end of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger.

91, 92. Repeat the steps.

93, 94, 95, 96. Heat the oven at 300°F (150 °C) (I’ve done this step of heating oven 15 minutes before placing the baking pan in oven to bake). Place the baking pan in the oven (rack position the second from bottom), and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom becomes golden brown in color. Turn off the bottom burner “bake function”, then turn on the upper burner on low and bake until top becomes golden brown in color. Remove from the oven and keep on baking sheet to completely cool. When cooled, remove from baking sheet. Store in airtight container.

97. Store for one week at room temperature, after that put it in the refrigerator.

Ma’amoul Abiad

From: Family Recipe/ Servings: 145 Cookies
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

120 g powdered Sugar 250 g ghee 500 g all purpose flour Pistachios, to decorate

In a bowl, measure 120 g powdered sugar. Add 250 g ghee to powdered sugar. Good quality ghee is required, I used 125 g Lurpak and 125 g Aseel. Mix powdered sugar and ghee with your hand until creamy and the color of the mixture turns to pale off-white as in picture 14. Gradually add 500 g flour to the mixture of powdered sugar and ghee, mix the ingredients with your hand between each addition. Knead with your hand until a dough comes together and homogeneous. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set the dough aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After 24 hours, take the dough out of the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 1 hour. Touch the dough, it should be pliable but not too soft. Prepare a baking sheet. Take a piece of dough and form it into ball, each ball equals to 6 grams. Keep the dough balls covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out. Prepare whole pistachio kernels, and set aside. Take a ball of dough and flatten with you palm into disc approximately 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) thick Place on ungreased baking sheet. Put whole pistachio kernel in the center of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger. Repeat the steps. To form into other shape: Take the ball, put it on counter and with move your palm just in one direction and form it into rope equals to 2 1/2 inches (6 cm). Form the rope into a ring joining the two ends and pressing to seal. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Put whole pistachio kernel in the joining end of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger. Repeat the steps. Heat the oven at 300°F (150 °C) (I’ve done this step of heating oven 15 minutes before placing the baking pan in oven to bake). Place the baking pan in the oven (rack position the second from bottom), and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom becomes light golden in color, Turn off the bottom burner “bake function”, then turn on the upper burner on low and bake for 4 minutes, the color of Ma’amoul should stay white. To check if Ma’amoul is done, touch with your finger and it should be clear and no crumbs stick on it. When done, turn off oven, keep Ma’amoul in oven with door open for 1 minute. Remove from the oven and keep on baking sheet to completely cool. When cooled, remove from baking sheet and be careful because they are delicate. Store in airtight container. Ghraibeh Shamiyeh is same as Ma’amoul Abiad, same dough but the pieces are smaller and baked to golden brown. Prepare a baking sheet. Take a piece of dough and form it into ball, each ball equals to 4 grams. Keep the dough balls covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out. Prepare pistachio halves, and set aside. I soaked whole pistachio kernels in hot water for one hour, then removed the skin and cut it into half from the center. Take a ball of dough. Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Put pistachio half in the center of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger. Repeat the steps. To form into other shape: Take the ball, put it on counter, move your palm just in one direction and form it into rope equals to 2 1/2 inches (6 cm). Form the rope into a ring joining the two ends and pressing to seal. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Put  pistachio half in the joining end of the cookie and slightly press it with your finger. Repeat the steps. Heat the oven at 300°F (150 °C) (I’ve done this step of heating oven 15 minutes before placing the baking pan in oven to bake). Place the baking pan in the oven (rack position the second from bottom), and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom becomes golden brown in color. Turn off the bottom burner “bake function”, then turn on the upper burner on low and bake until top becomes golden brown in color. Remove from the oven and keep on baking sheet to completely cool. When cooled, remove from baking sheet. Store in airtight container. Store for one week at room temperature, after that put it in the refrigerator.

Notes and Tips

Work in a cool place.

Use good quality ghee, I used a mixture of two brands, and here is the photo of the brands Ghee Brands.

Be careful when baking the cookies because they might burn easily.

My oven is gas oven and it has two functions:
The oven upper burner “broiler”.
The oven bottom burner “bake function”.
I can turn on both of them together, and I can turn off one of them and keep the other on.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 8:09 PM and is filed under Syrian Baking and Desserts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.