Date Cookies (Maamoul-Inspired)

Today, I introduce you to my new favorite recipe for delicious date cookies. Recently, I saw a movie about a Tunisian woman making these cookies called Maamoul. I was so intrigued that I had to try them! A Maamoul is a semolina pastry from Middle Eastern cuisine, usually filled with almonds, nuts, figs, or dates. But I don’t want to publish this as an authentic Arabic cookie recipe – I wanted to do it my way, so I changed it to readily available ingredients, reduced the sugar, and baked them in the oven instead of frying them. My family loved these cookies. You should try them!

Ingredients for Making Date Cookies:

For the Dough:

• Soft wheat semolina
• Wheat flour
• Corn starch
• Baking powder
• Vegan butter substitute
• Sunflower oil
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla sugar (or real vanilla pod)
• Salt
• Organic orange juice
• Nutmeg
• Ceylon cinnamon

For the Filling:

• Medjool dates (or ready-made date paste)
• Ceylon cinnamon
• Walnuts
• Sunflower oil
• Freshly grated zest from an organic orange

There are two ways to make the cookies. First, I will go with the quicker one I saw in the movie: we work to have two long rolls of filled dough, then cut them into cookies.
Second, I will show you a common way to form date cookies piece by piece using a cookie mold (Maamoul mold). It looks very pretty and takes some time, but it is fun!

How to make Date Cookies:

For the Dough:

Place the soft wheat semolina, flour, cornstarch, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl large enough to knead the dough with your hands. Mix well. Melt the butter with the sunflower oil and pour it over the semolina mixture and mix the fat in while still hot. Then, add powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, and start kneading.

Once the dough is combined, we can take care of the orange next.

We wash our organic orange and grate the entire outer skin. I used a regular peeler for this. Set this aromatic flavor booster aside; we’ll need it later for our filling. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and refrigerate if you plan to let the dough rest overnight. Or, you can complete the filling ahead of time and refrigerate it until the next day. Slice the orange and squeeze the juice.

Back to the dough, we make a hole in the middle and add the orange juice. Your hands are the key here, so knead again until you feel a smooth dough under your hands. If it feels too sticky, add some flour.

Form a ball, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least three hours or overnight. This resting time is essential because it allows the starch glue to develop properly. It ensures that the dough will hold its shape as a finished pastry.

For the Date Filling:

First, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), and prepare a baking tray.

To start, you’ll need to pit all the dates. Place the dates in a tall pan and add 20ml water, the oil, and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Now, place our orange zest on a chopping board, chop the peel into tiny pieces with a knife, and add them to the dates.

Then, puree the mixture with a food processor or alternatively an hand blender; it will be a very sticky mass.

Next, we place all the walnuts on a chopping board and roughly chop them with a knife.

Finally, stir in the chopped walnuts with a spoon – and you’re done with the filling! To get the right shape, we take a piece of baking paper, put half of the filling on it, and roll the sticky mass into a about 35cm long roll. Repeat the process to get two rolls of filling.

You can also buy a ready-made block of date paste instead of making it yourself.
If you omit the grated orange zest, the filling will be much sweeter but less fruity and aromatic.
You can also vary the nuts, using pistachios or almonds.

Finish the Dates Cookies:

Now, let’s put our dough and filling together. Start by dividing the dough in half. Take one half and knead it until it’s soft. Form a long roll, as long as our filling roll. Use the edge of your hand to make a deep trench lengthwise in the dough roll.

Slide our filling roll from the baking paper into it. Then, let the dough enclose the filling, sealing it in. 

Remove any remaining traces of kneading by rolling the dough back and forth on the surface until it’s nice and smooth again. 
Now, repeat the whole process with the second half of the dough.

Now, you can start decorating.

I used a fork to draw a line pattern over the roll surface.

Then get the baking tray, because now we simply cut the filled dough roll into 2cm thick slices and place them on the baking paper.

Once the baking tray is filled, it’s ready to go into the hot oven.

Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes at 180°C (350°F).

To make them look and taste sweeter, allow to cool slightly and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. I don’t want to increase the sugar, so I left them plain.

How to make Date Cookies with a Mold (Maamoul Mold):

First, I formed the filling into small balls measuring 14g each using a scale. The date mixture is very sticky, so rolling will be easier if you coat your palms with sunflower oil.

Then, I divided the dough into 25 balls weighing 35g each.

Now, take a ball of dough in the palm of your hand and gently create a large hollow for the filling. Place a filling ball into it. Then, close the dough over the filling and roll it between your hands until you have a perfectly smooth ball.

Press the filled ball into the Maamoul mold and tap the mold firmly on the prepared baking tray.

Again, bake the Maamoul date cookies for about 20 minutes at 180°C (350°F).

For a sweeter look, leave the cookies to cool slightly and finally dust them with powdered sugar. Again, I don’t need any more sugar; I left them plain.

Serving Suggestions:

The quantity of cookies is too big for your needs? You can freeze them and defrost them as required.

I hope you enjoyed this date cookies recipe. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Some Recipe Suggestions:

• Vegan persimmon tarts
• Tahini stuffed dates
• Delicious vegan banana pancakes
• Vegan stuffed dates
• Vegan chocolate cookie recipe
• Cereal bars with sweet potato
• Vegan coconut truffles

Print