Orange Blossom Water

Ma’amoul are small shortbread pastries filled with dates, orange “my mom’s creation”, walnuts, pistachios, or occasionally cheese, loukoum or other fillings. They can be decorated by hand or in special wooden molds. They are very popular in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and other Levantine countries. The smell of freshly baked Ma’amoul spreading throughout the place is an Eid ritual. Many of you have asked me about Ma’amoul recipe, so here it is.

Let’s make Ma’amoul:

Date Paste

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Use small knife, slice down lengthwise into the date. Open the date and remove the pit

9. Measure 500 g pitted dates.

10, 11, 12. Add 25 g unsalted butter to dates.

13, 14, 15. Mix dates and butter until combined.

16. Date paste is ready.

Date Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul)

17. Measure 200 g date paste.

18, 19. Take a piece of date paste and form it into ball, each ball equals to 5 grams.

20. Those balls are date filling.

Orange Paste (should be prepared few days in advance)

21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. Peel oranges with a knife, avoiding white pith.

27, 28. Only peels are used for making orange paste. Wrap the oranges in plastic wrap to store for other use.

29. The weight of orange peels is 325 g.

30, 31, 32. Soak orange peels in water for 3 hours.

33, 34. After 3 hours, drain water from the peels.

35, 36. Again, soak orange peels in water for 3 hours.

37, 38. After 3 hours, drain water from the peels.

38, 39. Again, soak orange peels in water and set aside in the refrigerator to the next day.

40. Next day, drain water from the peels.

41, 42. The weight of orange peels after soaking is 415 g.

43, 44. Measure 250 g sugar.

45. Transfer sugar into a saucepan.

46, 47, 48. Pour 200 ml water over sugar.

49, 50. 51, 52. Put on high heat until boiling and sugar dissolves.

53 to 72. Reduce heat to low, add the peels and simmer, stir frequently and adjust heat as necessary to maintain the simmer. Simmer until all of the peels get coated with the syrup, and no syrup remains in the saucepan. For me it took one hour.

73, 74, 75, 76. Transfer the peels into a bowl, and set aside to cool.

77, 78, 79, 80. Attach the fine holed plate to the meat grinder.

81 to 91. Grind the peels.

92. Orange paste is ready.

Orange Filling (Should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul)

93, 94. Measure 200 g orange paste.

95, 96. Add 5 g unsalted butter to 200 g orange paste.

97, 98, 99, 100. Mix orange paste and butter until combined.

101, 102, 103. Take a piece of orange paste and form it into ball, each ball equals to 5 grams.

104. Those balls are orange filling.

Sugar Syrup (for walnut filling and pistachio filling)

105. Put 1 cup sugar in a saucepan.

106. Pour 1/2 cup water over sugar.

107. Put on high heat until boiling, once the mixture boils add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice.

108. Let the syrup boil for 5 – 7 minutes, then turn off heat and set aside to cool.

Walnuts Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul)

109, 110. Measure 150 g chopped walnuts.

111, 112. To chopped walnuts, add 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons sugar syrup, 2 tablespoons orange blossom water, and 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

117, 118, 119, 120. Mix the ingredients with a spoon until combined.

Pistachios Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul)

121. Measure 150 g chopped pistachios.

122, 123, 124, 125. To chopped pistachios, add 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons sugar syrup, 2 tablespoons orange blossom water.

129, 130, 131, 132. Mix the ingredients with a spoon until combined.

Preparing Cheese (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul dough)

133. Measure 350 g ackawi cheese.

134, 135, 136. Cut the cheese into slices.

137, 138. Soak cheese slices in water for 30 minutes.

139, 140. After 30 minutes, drain water from the cheese. Then again soak in water for 30 minutes, then drain. Repeat the process 3 – 4 times.

141, 142. Drain water from the cheese. Place a colander over a bowl, put the cheese on the colander and set aside it in the refrigerator to the next day.

145, 146, 147. Next day, place cheese on a plate lined with paper towels and cover with more paper towels, set aside until all water is absorbed.

Cheese Filling

148. The weight of cheese after the whole process is 300 g.

149, 150 , 151. Add 5 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarsh) to 300 cheese.

152. Mix cheese and cornflour until combined.

153, 154, 155. Take a piece of cheese mixture and form it into ball, each ball equals to 5 grams. Set aside in the freezer for one hour.

156. Those balls are Cheese filling.

Dough

157. In a bowl, put 500 slightly softened unsalted butter.

158, 159. Add 120 g powdered sugar to butter.

160, 161, 162, 163, 164. Mix butter and sugar until creamy.

165 to 176. To the bowl of butter sugar mixture, Add 800 g all purpose flour, 200 g semolina flour (smid farkha), 40 g powdered milk alternately and mix the ingredients with your hand between each addition. Mix until sand like mixture forms.

177, 178, 179, 180. To the mixture, add 7 teaspoons orange blossom water and 3 teaspoons rose water.

181 to 188. Knead with your hand until a dough comes together and homogenous. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set the dough aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

189. After 24 hours, take the dough out of the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 2 hours.

190. The weight of the dough is 1695 g.

191, 192. Divide dough into five equal parts, each part of dough is 339 g. Five parts of dough are for five fillings.

193, 194, 195, 196. Take a piece of dough and form it into ball, each ball equals to 10 grams. Keep the dough balls covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out.

Making the Ma’amoul

197. Ma’amoul is prepared using ma’amoul molds.

197. Bring Ma’amoul molds, fillings, and dough.

Ma’amoul Bet-Tamer (Date Ma’amoul)

199, 200, 201, 202. Traditionally Date Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (201, 202).

203, 204, 205, 206. Take the dough ball and flatten it. 

207, 208, 209, 210, 211. Place the date ball inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball.

212, 213, 214, 215. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly.

216, 217, 218. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out.

219. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheet.

Ma’amoul Bel-Burtuqal (Orange Ma’amoul)

220, 221, 223, 224. Orange Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (223, 224).

225, 226, 227. Take the dough ball and flatten it. 

228, 229, 231, 232, 233. Place the orange ball inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball.

234, 235, 236, 237. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly.

237, 238, 239. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out.

240. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheet.

Ma’amoul Bel-Jouz (Walnut Ma’amoul)

241, 242, 243, 244. Traditionally Walnut Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (243, 244).

245, 246, 247, 248. Take the dough ball and flatten it. 

249, 250, 250, 251, 252. Place 1/2 heaped teaspoon walnuts filling inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball.

253, 254, 255, 256, 257. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly.

258, 259, 260. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out.

261. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheet.

Ma’amoul Bel-Fustuq Al-Halabi (Pistachio Ma’amoul)

262, 263, 264, 265. Traditionally Pistachio Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (243, 244).

266, 267, 268, 269. Take the dough ball and flatten it. 

270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275. Place 1/2 heaped teaspoon pistachio filling inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into elongated oval.

276, 277, 278. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly.

279, 280, 281. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out.

282. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheet.

Ma’amoul Bel-Jebenh (Cheese Ma’amoul)

283, 284, 285 286. Cheese Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (285, 286).

287, 288, 289, 290. Take the dough ball and flatten it. 

291, 292, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296. Place the frozen cheese ball inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball.

297, 298, 299. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly.

300, 301, 302. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out.

303. Place the cookies on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Set the baking sheet aside in the refrigerator for one hour.

282. All cookies are placed on ungreased baking sheet, except the cookies filled with cheese are placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Also, only cookies filled with cheese are left in the refrigerator for one hour.

Baking, Storing, and Serving

308 to 323. Heat the oven at 300°F (150 °C) (I’ve done this step of heating oven 15 minutes before placing the baking sheet in oven to bake). Place the baking sheet in the oven (rack position the second from bottom), and bake for 25 minutes or until light golden in color on bottom and top. Let baked cookies stand 5 minutes on baking sheet, then remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.

324, 325, 326, 327. Store Ma’amoul in air tight container at room temperature. Store Cheese Ma’amoul in the refrigerator.

328. When serve, dust walnut ma’amoul and pistachio ma’amoul with powdered sugar. Do not dust the other kinds of ma’amoul. Serve cheese ma’amoul hot drizzled with sugar syrup, or dusted with powdered sugar.

Ma’amoul

From: Family Recipe / Servings:
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Date Paste 500 g pitted dates 25 g unsalted butter Date Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) 200 g date paste Orange Paste (should be prepared few days in advance) 415 g orange peels, this weight is after soaking (read directions) 250 g sugar 200 ml water Orange Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) 200 g orange paste 5 g unsalted butter Sugar Syrup (for walnut filling and pistachio filling) 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1/2 tsp lemon juice Walnut Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) 150 g chopped walnuts, (chopped into small pieces) 2 tbsp powdered sugar 2 tbsp sugar syrup 2 tbsp orange blossom water 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon Pistachio Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) 150 g chopped pistachios, (chopped into small pieces) 2 tbsp powdered sugar 2 tbsp sugar syrup 2 tbsp orange blossom water Preparing Cheese (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul dough) 350 g ackawi cheese Cheese Filling 300 g ackawi cheese, (read directions) 5 tbsp cornflour (cornstarsh) Dough 500 g unsalted butter, slightly softened, cut into cubes 120 g powdered sugar 800 g all purpose flour 200 g semolina flour (smid farkha) 40 g powdered milk 7 tsp orange blossom water 3 tsp rose water

Date Paste Use small knife, slice down lengthwise into the date. Open the date and remove the pit Measure 500 g pitted dates. Add 25 g unsalted butter to dates. Mix dates and butter until combined. Date paste is ready. Date filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) Measure 200 g date paste. Take a piece of date paste and form it into ball, each ball equals to 5 grams. Those balls are date filling. Orange Paste (should be prepared few days in advance) Peel oranges with a knife, avoiding white pith. Only peels are used for making orange paste. Wrap the oranges in plastic wrap to store for other use. The weight of orange peels is 325 g. Soak orange peels in water for 3 hours. After 3 hours, drain water from the peels. Again, soak orange peels in water for 3 hours. After 3 hours, drain water from the peels. Again, soak orange peels in water and set aside in the refrigerator to the next day. Next day, drain water from the peels. The weight of orange peels after soaking is 415 g. Measure 250 g sugar. Transfer sugar into a saucepan. Pour 200 ml water over sugar. Put on high heat until boiling and sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low, add the peels and simmer, stir frequently and adjust heat as necessary to maintain the simmer. Simmer until all of the peels get coated with the syrup, and no syrup remains in the saucepan. For me it took one hour. Transfer the peels into a bowl, and set aside to cool. Attach the fine holed plate to the meat grinder. Grind the peels. Orange paste is ready. Orange Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) Measure 200 g orange paste. Add 5 g unsalted butter to 200 g orange paste. Mix orange paste and butter until combined. Take a piece of orange paste and form it into ball, each ball equals to 5 grams. Those balls are orange filling. Sugar Syrup (for walnut filling and pistachio filling) Put 1 cup sugar in a saucepan. Pour 1/2 cup water over sugar. Put on high heat until boiling, once the mixture boils add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. Let the syrup boil for 5 – 7 minutes, then turn off heat and set aside to cool. Walnut Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) Measure 150 g chopped walnuts. To chopped walnuts, add 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons sugar syrup, 2 tablespoons orange blossom water, and 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Mix the ingredients with a spoon until combined. Pistachio Filling (should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul) Measure 150 g chopped pistachios. To chopped pistachios, add 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons sugar syrup, 2 tablespoons orange blossom water. Mix the ingredients with a spoon until combined. Preparing Cheese (should be soaked in same day of making ma’amoul dough) Measure 350 g ackawi cheese. Cut the cheese into slices. Soak cheese slices in water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain water from the cheese. Then again soak in water for 30 minutes, then drain. Repeat the process 3 – 4 times. Drain water from the cheese. Place a colander over a bowl, put the cheese on the colander and set aside in the refrigerator to the next day. Next day, place cheese on a plate lined with paper towels and cover with more paper towels, set aside until all water is absorbed. Cheese Filling The weight of cheese after the whole process is 300 g. Add 5 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarsh) to 300 g cheese. Mix cheese and cornflour until combined. Take a piece of cheese mixture and form it into ball, each ball equals to 5 grams. Set aside in the freezer for one hour. Those balls are cheese filling. Dough In a bowl, put 500 slightly softened unsalted butter Add 120 g powdered sugar to butter. Mix butter and sugar until creamy. To the bowl of butter sugar mixture, Add 800 g all purpose flour, 200 g semolina flour (smid farkha), 40 g powdered milk alternately and mix the ingredients with your hand between each addition. Mix until sand like mixture forms. To the mixture, add 7 teaspoons orange blossom water and 3 teaspoons rose water. Knead with your hand until a a dough comes together and homogenous. 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 2 hours. The weight of the dough is 1695 g. Divide dough into five equal parts, each part of dough is 339 g. Five parts of dough are for five fillings. Take a piece of dough and form it into ball, each ball equals to 10 grams. Keep the dough balls covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out. Making the Ma’amoul Ma’amoul is prepared using ma’amoul molds. Bring Ma’amoul molds, fillings, and dough. Ma’amoul Bet-Tamer (Date Ma’amoul) Traditionally Date Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (201, 202). Take the dough ball and flatten it. Place the date ball inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Ma’amoul Bel-Burtuqal (Orange Ma’amoul) Orange Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (223, 224). Take the dough ball and flatten it. Place the orange ball inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Ma’amoul Bel-Jouz (Walnut Ma’amoul) Traditionally Walnut Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (243, 244). Take the dough ball and flatten it. Place 1/2 heaped teaspoon walnut filling inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Ma’amoul Bel-Fustuq Al-Halabi (Pistachio Ma’amoul) Traditionally Pistachio Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (264, 265). Take the dough ball and flatten it. Place 1/2 heaped teaspoon pistachio filling inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into elongated oval. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out. Ma’amoul Bel-Jebenh (Cheese Ma’amoul) Cheese Ma’amoul is prepared with the mold shown in the pictures (285, 286). Take the dough ball and flatten it. Place the frozen cheese ball inside and seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into ball. Place the dough in the mold and press firmly. Invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the work surface and the formed cookie will fall out. Place the cookies on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Set the baking sheet aside in the refrigerator for one hour. All cookies are placed on ungreased baking sheet, except the cookies filled with cheese are placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Also, only cookies filled with cheese are left in the refrigerator for one hour. Baking, Storing, and Serving Heat the oven at 300°F (150 °C) (I’ve done this step of heating oven 15 minutes before placing the baking sheet in oven to bake). Place the baking sheet in the oven (rack position the second from bottom), and bake for 25 minutes or until light golden in color on bottom and top. Let baked cookies stand 5 minutes on baking sheet, then remove to cooling rack. Cool completely. Store ma’amoul in air tight container at room temperature. Store cheese ma’amoul in the refrigerator. When serve, dust walnut ma’amoul and pistachio ma’amoul with powdered sugar. Do not dust the other kinds of ma’amoul. Serve cheese ma’amoul hot drizzled with sugar syrup, or dusted with powdered sugar.

Notes and Tips

Date Paste

As you notice in the recipe, date paste is made by mixing pitted dates with butter using hand. If your dates are on the dry side and can’t be mixed by hand, so grind them using meat grinder with fine holed plate attached, then mix with butter after grinding, click here to see the steps of this method.

Date paste should be stored in the refrigerator.

Date paste is available in the markets as a block, click here, and here.

Date filling (date balls) should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul.

Orange Paste

Orange Paste should be prepared few days in advance.

I used Navel Orange. Valencia orange can be used too.

I used 8 oranges which gave 325 g orange peels.

The rule: for every 415 g orange peels (the weight I got of orange peels after soaking), you have to add 250 g sugar and 200 ml water. Weight of orange peels after soaking may vary so do the calculations depending on this rule.

Orange paste should be done using meat grinder. A food processor won’t work for this.

Orange paste should be stored in the freezer. Thaw when you want to make orange filling.

Orange filling (orange balls) should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul.

Walnut Filling

Click here to see the size of chopped walnuts.

Walnut filling should be prepared in same day of making Ma’amoul.

Pistachio Filling

Click here to see the size of chopped pistachios.

Pistachio filling should be prepared in same day of making ma’amoul.

Preparing Cheese

Read about Ackawi cheese here and here. Use Mozzarella cheese if you can’t find ackawi cheese.

Ackawi cheese is salty, soaking in water is to reduce saltiness

Soaking cheese should be done in same day of making Ma’amoul dough.

The rule: for every 300 g ackawi cheese (the weight I got of cheese after soaking), you have to add 5 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarsh). Weight of cheese after soaking may vary so do the calculations depending on this rule.

Freezing cheese balls must be done for one hour before starting to make the ma’amoul.

Cheese ma’amoul should be served immediately, hot from the oven. Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.

Dough

Semolina flour is called in Arabic “Smid Farkha” or “Tahin Farkha”, it is fine and white in color. For photos of Smid Farkha, click here, here, and here.

Making the Ma’amoul

If the dough cracks while shaping ma’amoul, so knead it a little bit between your palms.

Dust the molds with some flour if you notice that cookies are sticking to it.

You will get around 35 pieces of each kind of ma’amoul. If extra filling remains, reserve it for later use.

Baking, Storing, and Serving

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.
I baked ma’amoul with both lower burner “bake function” and upper burner “broiler” are turned on. If your oven is different than mine and both functions can’t work together, so adjust the heat as suggested 300°F (150 °C), bake ma’amoul till light golden in color on bottom, then you may need to turn the top burner at the end to turn them to light golden in color on top. At the end make sure that the ma’amoul on bottom and top is light golden in color.

Cheese ma’amoul may crack in baking because the cheese will melt and expand.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 2nd, 2016 at 10:18 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.