Maamoul (date cookies)

Method

• step 1

  Blitz the flour, semolina, baking powder, mahleb and icing sugar together with ¼ tsp salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter, oil, vanilla and rose water, and pulse until the mixture starts to clump together.

• step 2

  Tip out of the food processor and bring together using your hands – the dough should be very soft and pliable. If it’s very sticky, add some flour; if it’s crumbly or cracks, add a little more water. Divide in half and form each piece into a flat disc. Chill for 1 hr.

• step 3

  Make the filling by blitzing the dates in a food processor with the rose water, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. When the dough has chilled, divide it into 40g pieces and roll the filling into 20g balls. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten into discs. Working with one dough disc at a time, put the disc in the palm of one hand and put a filling ball on top. Stretch the dough around the filling ball to enclose it, then pat the whole thing down into a 2cm-thick disc. Press the tines of a fork into the top of the cookie in a cross-hatch pattern, then repeat with the rest of the dough and filling balls. Freeze the cookies for at least 1 hr.

• step 4

  Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Arrange the cookies on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 15-20 mins until the surface is dry and sandy and the cookies are very pale gold in colour. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack, then dust with icing sugar. Will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.