Short buttery pastries from the Middle East. Stuffed with two types of filling, a date one and a walnut one, they are flavoursome and just a bit special. They make great festive gifts.
Place the semolina, flour, sugar and mehleb into a large bowl. Dice the butter into small pieces - I do this once it's in the bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until you have something resembling breadcrumbs.
Add the rose water and 2 tbsp of the milk and mix with a knife. Gather the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. If it's too crumbly, add the extra tbsp of milk. Place in a plastic bag and leave in a cool place to rest for thirty minutes.
Meanwhile get on with making the fillings.
Set the oven to heat up at 190℃ (375℉, Gas 5).
Divide the rested dough into 16 more or less equal size pieces. If you want to go for exact sizes the dough balls should weigh about 20g each.
Flatten each piece on a work surface with the palm of your hand. Place a stuffing ball in the middle and bring the dough up around to enclose it. Roll into a smooth ball between the palms of your hands. Repeat the process.
On a floured board, either use a cookie stamp to gently press the cookies into a flattish round or use the palms of your hands. If you have a maamoul mould, use that. You could even leave them as balls if you prefer that idea. It's a good idea to make two different shapes to reflect the different fillings inside. I used two different cookie stamps on mine.
Place on a greased or lined baking tray and bake in the middle of the oven for fifteen minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden. Remove to a wire rack and leave to cool. Dust with icing sugar before serving if desired.
Date Filling
Place all of the ingredients into a mini food processor and whizz until you get a paste. Transfer the paste onto a plate, but don't wash the processor up.
Divide the paste into 16 and roll into little balls between the palms of your hands.
Walnut filling
Toast the walnuts in a hot pan for a few minutes, stirring all the time. Once you can smell them toasting, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Be careful not to let them burn.
Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and pound in a pestle and mortar until they're finely ground
Place the walnuts and ground cardamom into the food processor along with the remaining ingredients. Blitz until you get a paste.
Roll into 16 similar sized balls to the date ones.
Notes
If you happen to have a bletted medlar or two then swap the flesh for the raisins in the walnut filling. Make sure you skin them first and take out the seeds.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They're approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used.