This Easy Maamoul Recipe is buttery, lightly sweetened, and loaded with nuts and dates. The dough is made without semolina, rose water, or orange blossom to keep the ingredients super simple. These Middle Eastern cookies are traditionally made around the holidays.
This maamoul recipe is the first of many family Lebanese recipes that will be featured on the blog. I have some Middle Eastern inspired recipes, like this Greek Yogurt Chicken, but this is the first of my Sittee’s (grandma in Lebanese) recipes.
What is Maamoul?
Traditional maamoul is a Middle Eastern shortbread cookie that is filled with dates or nuts, like walnuts or pistachios. They can also be filled with dried figs. This recipe combines the nuts and dates into one filling.
The shortbread cookie dough is made from wheat flour, semolina, or a combination of the two. Palestinian recipes usually use semolina flour.
The cookies are pressed into wooden molds, like these. This creates the classic domed shape and the intricate design on the outside of the cookie. They can also be made by hand and are sometimes shaped like balls, crescents, or more flat disks.
These are typically made around holidays in the Levantine region, like Easter (Eid) or Christmas. They are also eaten after Ramadan or Lent fasting.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple ingredients - This recipe is made without semolina flour, ghee, rose water.
- Easy - These cookies are hard to mess up. You do not have to be very precise about the amount of dough or filling. No need to be a perfectionist!
- Buttery - These cookies are loaded with butter giving them a great flavor and texture.
- Lightly sweetened - This is not a sweet cookie, especially by American standards.
- Unique - These cookies are very different from most traditional American holiday treats so they make a nice addition to Christmas cookie boxes or holiday spreads.
- Pretty - The mold gives these cookies a beautiful design.
- Festive - These are usually served around Easter and Christmas.
- Chewy and crunchy - The dates give the filling a nice chew, while the nuts add some texture.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pecans: Walnuts or pistachios are more traditional but my family always uses pecans.
- Oil: Use any neutral oil, like vegetable oil. I prefer the taste of coconut oil. The oil helps the filling be a little less sticky. It also adds moisture.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts is located on the recipe card below.
How to Make Maamoul Cookies
Quick Overview
- Make the filling.
- Make the dough.
- Roll the dough and stuff.
- Press into the mold.
- Bake and dust with powdered sugar.
Step by Step Instructions
The dates should be pulsed into a sticky paste.
Step 1: Add the nuts to the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse until roughly chopped. Add the nuts into a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Add the dates, sugar, coconut oil, and cinnamon to the food processor bowl. Pulse until the dates turn into a paste. They will cling together and form a large ball.
Step 3: Add the date mixture into the bowl with the nuts. Use a large spoon or your hands to mash until combined.
Step 4: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer), add the butter, sugar, and egg. Mix on medium high until completely combined.
Step 5: Add the flour and mix on low until the dough comes together.
Step 6: Scoop about ½ -1 Tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. You can use more or less dough depending on the size of your mold.
Use a thick towel to protect the countertops. You need to bang the mold pretty hard.
Step 7: Press the ball into a thin cup using your fingers.
Step 8: Add enough filling to fill the dough.
Step 9: Pinch and press to seal the dough so the filling is completely enclosed.
Step 10: Dust the mold with powdered sugar so the dough does not stick. Press the filled dough into the mold.
Step 11: Place a folded towel on the edge of the counter. Place one hand on the edge of the counter to catch the dough. With your other hand, hold the handle of the mold and bang the top of the mold on the towel. It may take a couple of hits. The dough should release and fall into your hand. If the dough is sticking, add more powdered sugar.
The tops and edges of the maamoul will be pretty pale. The bottom will be lightly golden brown.
Step 12: Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees while you make the rest of the cookies. Repeat with remaining dough. Dust the mold every 1-2 cookies.
Step 13: Fill the cookie sheet completely. The cookies do not spread so they do not have to be spaced out very much. This recipe will make enough to fill two baking sheets.
Step 14: Bake for 19-21 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. The tops should not be brown, but the edges will be slightly brown.
Step 15: Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet. Dust with confectioners sugar.
Expert Tips & Variations
- Pulse dates into a paste. There should not be any large chunks. This gives the filling a better texture.
- Use a lot of filling. My Sittee’s biggest tip is to add lots of filling (more than you might think). You want to bite into the cookie and immediately taste the dates. Since we use so much filling, the dates can show through the dough since it is so flexible. This can easily be covered up with a dusting of powdered sugar after the cookies have baked and cooled.
- Dust the molds with powdered sugar. Some recipes suggest using flour, but powdered sugar works just as well. It also adds sweetness and prevents the cookies from absorbing excess flour, which can cause them to dry out.
- Don’t be a perfectionist. Experiment with different sizes and shaped molds. The cookies will all bake evenly regardless of their size. I promise you these are hard to mess up!
- Don’t over bake the cookies. These should be pretty pale on the tops and sides when they come out of the oven. The bottom will be golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool. If you dust the cookies while they are warm, the confectioners sugar will melt. Let them cool completely before dusting.
- Freeze leftovers. The cookies can be frozen in an airtight container or bag for 2-3 months. They will stay fresh at room temperature for 3-4 days.
How To Make without a Mold
We have always made these with molds, like these. However, these can be shaped by hand. After you pinch the dough around the filling and seal it, roll gently back into a ball. Place the ball on the baking sheet and press so it slightly flattens.
Recipe FAQs
They are naturally sweetened with dates, which are high in fiber, magnesium, and potassium.
Maamoul refers to shortbread cookies pressed in a mold and filled with nuts or dates.
They originated in the Middle East, specifically Egypt. The Egyptian cookie is called kahk and is thought to be the sister of maamoul. They have a very similar shape and are filled.
It is a wooden mold with a handle that is used to shape the cookies. It also creates a design on the outside. You can find them at a Middle Eastern market or grocery store.
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Easy Maamoul Cookies
Ingredients:
Filling
- ⅔ cup pecan halves*
- 1 pound pitted dates
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil*
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Dough
- 1 cup (16 Tablespoons or 227 g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 ¾ cup (358 g) all purpose flour
- confectioners sugar, for dusting molds & finishing
Instructions:
- Add the nuts to the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse until roughly chopped. Add the nuts into a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
- Add the dates, sugar, coconut oil, and cinnamon to the food processor bowl. Pulse until the dates turn into a paste. They will cling together and form a large ball.
- Add the date mixture into the bowl with the nuts. Use a large spoon or your hands to mash until combined.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer), add the butter, sugar, and egg. Mix on medium high until completely combined.
- Add the flour and mix on low until the dough comes together.
- Scoop about ½ -1 Tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. You can use more or less dough depending on the size of your mold.
- Press the ball into a thin cup using your fingers.
- Add enough filling to fill the dough.
- Pinch and press to seal the dough so the filling is completely enclosed.
- Dust the mold with powdered sugar so the dough does not stick. Press the filled dough into the mold.
- Place a folded towel on the edge of the counter. Place one hand on the edge of the counter to catch the dough. With your other hand, hold the handle of the mold and bang the top of the mold on the towel. It may take a couple of hits. The dough should release and fall into your hand. If the dough is sticking, add more powdered sugar.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees while you make the rest of the cookies. Repeat with remaining dough. Dust the mold every 1-2 cookies.
- Fill the cookie sheet completely. The cookies do not spread so they do not have to be spaced out very much. This recipe will make enough to fill two baking sheets.
- Bake for 19-21 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. The tops should not be brown, but the edges will be slightly brown.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet. Dust with confectioners sugar.
Notes:
- Pecans: Walnuts or pistachios are more traditional but my family always uses pecans.
- Oil: Use any neutral oil, like vegetable oil. I prefer the taste of coconut oil. The oil helps the filling be a little less sticky. It also adds moisture.
- Pulse dates into a paste. There should not be any large chunks. This gives the filling a better texture.
- Use a lot of filling. My Sittee’s biggest tip is to add lots of filling (more than you might think). You want to bite into the cookie and immediately taste the dates. Since we use so much filling, the dates can show through the dough since it is so flexible. This can easily be covered up with a dusting of powdered sugar after the cookies have baked and cooled.
- Dust the molds with powdered sugar. Some recipes suggest using flour, but powdered sugar works just as well. It also adds sweetness and prevents the cookies from absorbing excess flour, which can cause them to dry out.
- Don’t be a perfectionist. Experiment with different sizes and shaped molds. The cookies will all bake evenly regardless of their size. I promise you these are hard to mess up!
- Don’t over bake the cookies. These should be pretty pale on the tops and sides when they come out of the oven. The bottom will be golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool. If you dust the cookies while they are warm, the confectioners sugar will melt. Let them cool completely before dusting.
- Freeze leftovers. The cookies can be frozen in an airtight container or bag for 2-3 months. They will stay fresh at room temperature for 3-4 days.
So easy to make, and so wonderfully delicious.
Thank you for sharing your recipe
These turned out perfect! Great detailed instructions - I made exactly as directed. Everyone loved them and I will make again soon.
These look so pretty!