Maamoul with Four Fillings
This recipe is Syrian maamoul with four fillings: Aleppo pistachios, walnuts, date paste, and coconut. The basic dough is made with flour, ghee, sugar, iced water, and 5 tablespoons of sugar syrup, then chilled, shaped, and baked in a preheated oven at 250 with top and bottom heat. The fillings are prepared with sugar syrup, ghee, and powdered sugar, with orange blossom water optional, especially with the pistachios. The chef also explains how to make sugar syrup by boiling water and sugar with citric acid or a squeeze of lemon.
Traditional filled shortbread cookies made with four different fillings.
Like filled holiday cookies or stuffed butter cookies.
Press the dough gently into molds so the cookies keep their shape.
Ingredients
- 1 kg or 7.5 measuring cups Flour
- 500 g Ghee
- 200 g or 1 cup Sugar
- 200 ml or 1 cup Iced water
- 5 tablespoons Sugar syrup
- 250 g or 1½ cups Aleppo pistachios
- 250 g or 1½ cups Walnuts
- 250 g or 1¼ cups Date paste [dates]
- 250 g or 2 cups Coconut
- 1 cup Sugar syrup
- 2 tablespoons Orange blossom water
- 4 teaspoons Ghee
- 3 tablespoons Powdered sugar
- 2 glasses of water Water
- 4 glasses Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Citric acid
- mentioned as a flavoring example Mahleb
- mentioned as a flavoring example Anise
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour with the ghee only until the dough becomes creamy.
- Place the dough bowl in the refrigerator for an hour or longer to rest.
- In another bowl, grind the walnuts in a food processor until somewhat coarse, with some finer pieces remaining.
- In a filling bowl, mix the walnuts with powdered sugar, ghee, and sugar syrup until the filling holds together.
- In another bowl, mix the Aleppo pistachios with powdered sugar, ghee, ¼ cup sugar syrup, and orange blossom water.
- In another bowl, mix the coconut with powdered sugar, ghee, and ½ cup sugar syrup.
- In another bowl, mix the date paste with ghee and sugar syrup until it holds together, then shape it into small balls.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator onto the work surface, then add the iced water, sugar, and 5 tablespoons of sugar syrup. Knead a second time until the mixture absorbs them.
- Place the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
- Prepare the oven and preheat it to 250 with top and bottom heat.
- Shape the pistachio, walnut, and other filled pieces according to the mold being used, then place them in a suitable baking tray.
- Press each piece with the mold or a fork, according to the type of maamoul, to create the pattern.
- Bake the tray in the oven until the color turns rosy, then continue baking until cooked through.
- Bake the date paste and coconut tray in the oven at the same temperature, keeping them separate on a second tray if the color needs to differ.
- Remove the maamoul from the oven and leave to cool.