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orange blossom water

Ma'amoul Cookies

Cookies of my Childhood

When I think of home and my childhood, the scent of rose and orange blossom water linger in my mind. Those are the most distinct flavors and smells of most Middle Eastern desserts. 

I can remember watching my mom in the kitchen before all holidays and special events making special treats, one in particular, ma'amoul. Ma'amoul cookies are little pockets of goodness filled with walnuts or dates, of course scented with the aromas of orange blossom and rose waters. Delicate pastry is wrapped and baked into a perfect cookie to enjoy with morning coffee or on a cookie platter.

Labor of Love

Ma'amoul are definitely a labor of love, each individual cookie shaped and pressed with care, baked to perfection. The wooden molds are truly what make this dessert elegant and special with unique patterns and designs. You'll find that this cookie doesn't contain any traditional flour, but instead a mixture of semolina and farina flours. This delicate balance of flours give the cookies a tender but yet crisp bite and something truly unique.

Pressing the dough into the molds

A few taps on your surface to release the cookie out of the mold. 
Walnut filled cookies receive a dusting of powdered sugar after coming out of the oven.

This past week, my own children watched me prepare the ma'amoul dough, prepare the filling and make each special cookie. It was a moment where I realized that the reason I do this, the reason I cook and bake is for them. Ma'amoul was part of my childhood, something that stuck in my mind as a fond memory, food does that to us. I want my own children to have those same memories, the smells and tastes of their childhood to look back on. 

Whatever the reason you decide to bake today, I hope it's a good one. Whether it's a rainy day, a time to bond with kids or just to make a special treat for yourself. 

As always, I love seeing your creations. Please leave a review or share your dish with me on social media which lets me know what is working for you! You can find me on Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. For more delicious recipes to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter!

xoxo,
Cosette

Print Recipe
 Ma'amoul Cookies
Delicious cookies filled with a walnut or date filling.
maamoul, cookies, lebanese
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Keyword cookies, lebanese
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
Date Filling
Walnut Filling
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Keyword cookies, lebanese
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
Date Filling
Walnut Filling
maamoul, cookies, lebanese
Instructions
Pastry Dough
  1. In a large bowl, combine the semolina, farina, mahlab and nutmeg together.
  2. In a small pot, melt your butter and add to flour mixture when butter is cooled. Cover.
  3. Let this mixture sit for 2-3 hours. After that time, add in your rose water, mix and cover again. Allow mixture to sit overnight.
  4. After mixture has sat overnight, remove about ½ cup of your mixture, set aside.
  5. Next, add in your orange blossom water, warm water and powdered sugar. Mix until a dough forms that sticks together when pressed between fingers. If dough is too dry, add a touch of water.
Date Filling
  1. In a small bowl, add your baking dates and softened butter. Mix to combine. Set aside.
Walnut Filling
  1. In the bowl of a food processor, add your walnuts, sugar, orange and rose waters and combine until nuts are fine and mixture forms together.
  2. Remove from food processor bowl to a standard bowl.
  3. Add in your ½ cup of reserved pastry dough mixture and mix together. Set aside.
Assembling and Baking
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Begin by taking about a teaspoon sized piece of dough and begin to flatten. Fill the center with either your date or walnut mixture and seal all around to create a ball.
  3. In your wooden mold, place the filled dough ball and press firmly to allow the impression to mark the dough.
  4. Bang the wooden mold to release the formed cookie. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes on upper ⅓ rack of oven.
  5. Cookies will be done when bottoms are slightly red.
  6. After coming out of the oven, dust the WALNUT cookies with powdered sugar (date cookies leave plain)
  7. Let cool and enjoy!
Recipe Notes

** Using a scale to measure ingredients is most accurate for this recipe. ** If the dough gets to too soft to work with, you can refrigerate for a bit to firm up. **If you can't find Mahlab spice, you can substitute additional nutmeg or cardamom, or omit completely.  **Wooden molds can be found here or at any Middle Eastern grocery store.   

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Lebanese Sfouf Cake

cake, breakfast, lebanese, sfouf

Sfouf, Lebanese semolina cake with a yellow hue.

There is something about the smell of Lebanese desserts that just whisk me away to my childhood. Rose water, orange blossom water, anise, mahlab, those are the most intoxicating smells. So much so, that the second my son walked in the door from school today, he asked if I made batlawa (Lebanese baklava), it's that aroma, even HE knows and loves. 

This cake is however not like batlawa, it is a cake that is served with coffee or tea. A simple breakfast cake similar to cornbread or biscotti and just sweet enough. When I was growing up I remember my mom having coffee dates with her friends. They would come by the house, a pot of Turkish coffee steamed on the stove and my mom would have some cookies or cake, like this sfouf to enjoy. I was lucky enough to get my own coffee cup and dunk cookies or cake into it. I got all the coffee goodness soaked in through my sweet treat. This cake is perfect for that, and brings back so many memories. 

cake, semolina, sfouf, lebanese, breakfast

Plates of Sfouf cake shared with friends over coffee.

What is semolina? 

In Arabic, Sfouf literally translates to "lines" so to me, the most important part of this cake is the nuts all lined up perfectly in rows. Definitely not important to the taste but just helps with the appearance of the cake to its intended look. Like many Arabic desserts, Sfouf contains semolina. Semolina is coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat and is typically used in pasta (that's why pasta has a yellow hue). The semolina gives the cake a distinct nutty and flavorful texture. Semolina cakes comes in a few different forms in Lebanese cuisine: sfouf the simplest cake, numoora which is similar in color and taste but is soaked in a sweet attayr sauce that turns it from simple to addictive and finally sfouf bi dibis, a cake using date molasses. 

But what about it's yellow color? 

Sfouf doesn't get it's bright yellow color from the sweet aromatic spices, but rather from an extremely beneficial spice, turmeric. Turmeric is thought to have many health properties including:

  • natural anti-inflammatory
  • decreased cancer risk
  • cardiovascular benefits
  • improves digestive issues

But let's be honest, the small amount in this cake won't necessarily cure all the above ailments, but it does look pretty and taste good! To benefit from the full benefits of turmeric you'd need to consume a lot or take supplements. 

I want cake!!!

So if you're craving a luscious chocolate gooey slice of cake, sorry to disappoint. This cake is definitely not going to hit that sweet spot for you. It is however tasty, warm and amazing, especially on those cold fall and winter mornings. It's a one bowl mix (my fav), no eggs and can easily be made vegan by swapping the milk. I hope you give it a try and share your thoughts on this Lebanese classic. 

As always, I love seeing your creations! Be sure to tag me if you give this a try, Instagram @CosettesKitchen or post on my Facebook Page.

XOXO
Cosette

 

sfouf, lebanese, cake, breakfast, semolina

A blend of dry ingredients, the turmeric yields the signature yellow color.

 

sfouf, lebanese, cake, breakfast, semolina

Wet ingredients turn the batter golden in color.

 

sfouf, lebanese, cake, breakfast, semolina

Tahini is used to grease the pan, which not only helps the cake from sticking but also gives the cake a nutty flavor.

 

breakfast, sfouf, lebanese, semolina, turmeric

Rows of nuts line the top, the batter is thick so the nuts don't sink.

 

breakfast, sfouf, lebanese, semolina, turmeric

Coming out of the oven the smell is intoxicating. Don't worry if it cracked a bit. This cake is meant to be simple, rustic and full of flavor.

 


Print Recipe


Lebanese Sfouf Cake

A delicious and simple cake combining semolina flour, turmeric and anise flavors.

cake, breakfast, lebanese, semolina, taste

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword breakfast, cake

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour

Servings


Ingredients

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword breakfast, cake

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour

Servings


Ingredients

cake, breakfast, lebanese, semolina, taste


Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

  2. Prepare your 9x7 baking dish by coating with tahini. This will prevent the cake from sticking.

  3. Combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

  4. Add in your milk, oil and orange blossom water and mix with a spatula until no dry streaks remain.

  5. Pour your batter into prepared baking dish.

  6. Top your batter with your blanched almonds or pine nuts into straight rows across and vertically.

  7. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

  8. Cool, slice and enjoy warm. Best to warm after the first day. Can be stored in a sealed container for several days to enjoy.


Recipe Notes

*If using a larger baking dish, adjust your baking time, a 9x11 should be closer to 35-40 minutes. 

*Best to enjoy the day of baking, after day of, warm slightly. 


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Lebanese BakLAWA

I remember so fondly my parents making all the Lebanese desserts over the holidays. Our holiday cookies looked a little different than our friends' cookies. Ingredients like semolina, farina, phyllo dough were common. The standard chocolate chip cookie wasn't the norm at my house. Our desserts were special morsels of flavor from the Mediterranean.  Flavors that my parents grew up with and began passing on to us! 

Both my parents are amazing in the kitchen as many of you already know and holiday time is no exception. They make everything shine. Perfect trays of desserts, every favorite dish you can think of, mezze (or appetizers) to munch on for days, from savory fatayer (savory pies: meat, spinach), hummus, grape leaves and so much more! I am SO thankful I get to go home to spend the holidays with the family! Wouldn't you??

BatLAWA vs BakLAVA

But dessert, the famous and most delicious desserts: mammoul, numoora, shyreehe and the coveted baklawa. Hands down one of my favorite Lebanese desserts. BakLAWA, similar to the more frequently referred to, bakLAVA is slightly different. Baklawa is also made with thin sheets of phyllo dough + nuts + butter, lots of butter! But some of the differences are in the syrup. The traditional Greek bakLAVA uses a honey based syrup with some additional spices, generally quite sweet. Lebanese baklawa on the otherhand uses a simple syrup mixture scented with orange blossom and rose waters. Batlawa filling is also a little bit lighter than baklava, not as much filling overall and less ingredients. Batlawa is made simply with phyllo dough + butter + walnuts + sugar + orange blossom and rose waters. You can smell a Lebanese dessert miles away, they will generally always contain the lovely orange blossom and rose waters, our signature scents. 

While our lovely Lebanese batlawa gets lost in the shuffle, I personally think it is more delicate and frankly, more consumable (that is if you want to eat large copious amounts of it). Just like a chocolate chip cookie with many variations, this is just one of many versions of batlawa or baklava. While these aren't a traditional cookie, they are definitely bite-sized and even more delicious than any cookie I have tasted. I hope you find yourself this holiday season making memories with your family, baking your favorite desserts with your mom, dad, aunt, uncle or children. And if you find the time, try a new holiday cookie (or dessert) of batlawa, the Lebanese morsel of goodness. As always, I love seeing your creations, tag me on Instagram @CosettesKitchen or post on my Facebook Page.

Happiest of Holidays to you and your loved ones!

Xoxo
Cosette


Print Recipe
 Lebanese BakLAWA
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Prep Time 1 hour (divided)
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
half sheet
Ingredients
Syrup (Attar)
Baklawa
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Prep Time 1 hour (divided)
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
half sheet
Ingredients
Syrup (Attar)
Baklawa
Instructions
Syrup (Attar)
  1. Combine your water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed pot. Heat on medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, stir occasionally.
  2. Bring to a boil, allow the syrup to boil for about 5-7 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat after syrup thickens slightly and add your lemon juice and waters.
  4. Pour into a glass container add a small sliver of lemon to store in the syrup. Once cooled to room temperature, store in refrigerator.
  5. Syrup lasts many months in the fridge and can be used on many desserts.
Clarified Butter
  1. Begin my preparing your butter. You'll need to make sure you clarify your butter before using. Details below from Serious Eats.**
  2. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat.
  3. Continue to cook over medium-high heat; an even layer of white milk proteins will float to the surface.
  4. Bring to a boil; the milk proteins will become foamy.
  5. Lower heat to medium and continue to gently boil; the milk proteins will break apart.
  6. As the butter gently boils, the milk proteins will eventually sink to the bottom of the pot, and the boiling will begin to calm and then cease.
  7. Once boiling has stopped, pour butter through a cheesecloth-lined strainer or through a coffee filter into a heatproof container to remove browned milk solids. Let cool, then transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use. Clarified butter should keep for at least 6 months in the refrigerator.
Baklawa
  1. Thaw your phyllo dough according to the package instructions.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine your walnuts + sugar and pulse until the nuts and sugar are combine and the nuts are small fine crumbles. Add a splash of rose and orange blossom waters (about ½ teaspoon of each).
  4. Begin assembling your baklawa by coating the bottom of a half sheet pan with your clarified butter. Be sure to also coat the sides.
  5. Take about 10 sheets of your phyllo dough and lay flat on the buttered sheet pan.
  6. Spread your walnut mixture evenly across the phyllo.
  7. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of butter on top of your walnuts.
  8. Place the remaining phyllo dough on top of your walnut mixture.
  9. Begin cutting your dessert. With a sharp knife, begin making diagonal lines across evenly. Make sure to press down to cut through to the bottom.
  10. Next, go across the opposite way to create a diamond. Continue until the tray is completely cut. (choose whatever size works for you)
  11. Next, drizzle your remaining clarified butter over the top ensuring it falls into all the cracks. Tilt your tray back and forth to coat evenly.
  12. Place in preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes in center of your oven.
  13. After 30 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes. Be sure to check so it doesn't brown too much. Ovens vary in temperature.
  14. Once top is golden and flaky, remove from oven. Check bottom to ensure it's golden brown as well.
  15. While batlawa is still HOT, pour your attar syrup on top. You'll use about 1-1.5 cups. Drizzle starting from one end and work down to the other end until the batlawa is coated and absorbs the syrup.
  16. Let cool, remove pieces and enjoy!
Recipe Notes

**Recipe for clarifying butter from: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/08/clarified-butter-recipe.html **You can make the attar syrup and clarified butter ahead and store in fridge until ready to use. Melt butter before using. 

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Lebanese Shortbread Cookies

 

Tis' the season, deck the halls and be merry!!! It's that time of year again and with the holidays comes time to bake ALL THE COOKIES! Right about now my kitchen is a royal disaster 90% of the day...cooking + baking + chasing the little light our day sheds on us. Anyone else with me??? I'm currently staring at my disaster as I type this. I know, I should clean up before I write this, but then you wouldn't have this spectacular recipe!!! And don't you want to bake? Like right now? So, here I am, writing this to you, ignoring my kitchen but it's worth it. And yes, I kicked my kids outside in the cold because they need it, so peace and quite for about 20 more minutes. 

Anywho, cookies. Yes, I love them, you love them, we all love them! I'm coming up to my ears in cookies and baking endlessly these next few weeks. A few more weeks here in Portland then I'll be home with the family back east and don't worry, the baking continues there! Every year my mom and I find as many amazing cookie recipes as we possibly can and make loads and loads of cookies. Some to eat, some to sell at their business and some to share with friends and family. This being the first year with the blog, I wanted to start logging some of the great cookie recipes as well as add our family favorites. So stay tuned as the blog is filled with even more desserts (I know, I know, I need more real food on here...recipe coming at your tomorrow for something yummy and NOT dessert!)

Most Lebanese desserts are very time consuming and labor intensive, so I wanted to create a cookie that not only tasted good but was easy and filled with some of the Lebanese flavor we all love. Enter these amazing shortbread cookies! The base recipe is my go-to recipe from the incredible Ina Garten. Simple ingredients of butter + flour + sugar and salt make these delicious treats. I added some dried rose petals to the dough as well as orange blossom and rose waters in lieu of vanilla extract. Just hints of these waters really give the cookies an subtle distinctive flavor, nothing too overpowering and are the essence of any Lebanese dessert. 

Keeping this short and sweet while I head off to clean the disaster and wait for some child to torture the other child and start yelling (I'm an awesome mom aren't I?) Now go bake and enjoy! As always, I love seeing your creations, be sure to tag me on Instagram @CosettesKitchen or post on my Facebook Page.

 

Print Recipe
 Rose + Halawa + Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar.
  3. Add in your orange blossom and rose waters.
  4. Slowly add in your flour, salt and 1 tablespoon chopped dried rose petals.
  5. Mix on low until combined and dough comes together.
  6. Dump dough on surface with a bit of flour and shape into a disc.
  7. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes while your oven preheats.
  8. Remove dough from fridge and roll about ½ inch thick.
  9. Using a cookie cutter, begin cutting as many as you can.
  10. **Reroll dough and cut again until you are finished with your dough, be sure to work quickly.
  11. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet (you may use parchment if you'd like but not necessary).
  12. Sprinkle tops of cookies with coarse raw sugar.
  13. Bake for 20-25 minutes on upper ⅓ of oven until edges begin to brown slightly. Swap trays halfway through.
  14. Remove from oven, let cool.
  15. Heat your chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second spurts. Check and stir until chocolate is just melted.
  16. Using a small baggie with a tiny hole cut in corner or a piping bag with small hole, fill chocolate and drizzle one side with chocolate.
  17. Quickly sprinkle some halawa, chopped pistachio and rose petals.
  18. Let dry and enjoy!
Recipe Notes

**2" cookie cutter was used to yield about 36 cookies. You may choose to use a large cutter for larger traditional shortbread size and shaped cookies. 

**Undecorated cookies can easily be frozen for several months as well as raw cookie dough. 

 

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Lebanese Date Cookies

My wonderful, beautiful sister is getting married this month. I'm so elated to be in Pennsylvania for her special day and of course to help in the baking frenzy of 2017! My mom is the baking queen, well, only when it comes to Lebanese desserts! She has pages of recipes written in Arabic that have been tried, tested and changed over the years. There is also this amazing Lebanese cook book that is literally like a bible! Any Lebanese dessert I want to make, I check in with her first then the "bible". Whatever it is, it always comes out amazing. 

Dates are widely used in Lebanese desserts, especially in mammoul. Mammoul are a flaky cookie filled with either dates, walnuts or pistachio fillings. These cookies are a play on mammoul but a bit simpler and don't require the molds to shape. We make them super bite size because they are totally cute that way and give us an abundance of cookies. You can find baking dates at most Middle Eastern stores or online. 

The recipe for these cookies is in the above-mentioned "bible", after my mom translated the text for me, we got to work! The dough is so easy to work with and requires just minutes to put together. These 40+ dozen we made today (not lying about that) will make their debut at the wedding along with the other hundreds of desserts there! I hope you enjoy the recipe! I would love to see your creations! Tag me on Instagram @CosettesKitchen or post on my Facebook Page.

xoxo,
Cosette


A shot of the rolled date balls before stuffing them into the dough:

 

Before the cookies go into the oven, we used whatever tools we had in the kitchen to make the designs: spoon, knife, cake piping tip, dough wheel...whatever will make a good impression. 

 

Just a few of the many, many dozen that we made today! 

As featured on KATU Afternoon Live:

https://katu.com/afternoon-live/cooking-recipes/christmas-cookies-12-13-2018

Print Recipe
 Lebanese Date Cookies
This recipe will make A LOT of cookies, especially if you make the very small sized as pictured. You can surely increase the size of the cookies to yield fewer.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Prep Time 1 hr 30
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
+people
Ingredients
Date Mixture
Cookie Dough
Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Prep Time 1 hr 30
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
+people
Ingredients
Date Mixture
Cookie Dough
Instructions
Date Mixture
  1. Combine date paste and butter and work until smooth.
  2. Form into small balls, the size depends on how large of a cookie you'd like. Can be anywhere from ½-1 teaspoon in size.
Cookie Dough
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.
  2. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine all the ingredients except the milk to form a cohesive dough.
  3. Add the milk slowly once dough forms. Add additional milk if the dough seems dry or crumbly.
Form Cookies
  1. Take a small scoop of your dough and flatten in your hand, place a date ball inside. Fold dough around the date and form into whatever shape you'd like. Round and long shapes are most common.
  2. Place on prepared cookie sheet and create an impression using a fork, knife, dough wheel, cake tip or anything you find that will work.
  3. Bake for 15-17 minutes on the middle rack. Bottoms should be slightly red and tops just beginning to brown.The cookies should not be too dark in color, they will remain fairly pale.
  4. Remove from tray and let cool on cooling rack. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes

These cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Pull out baked cookies as you need them. 

Baking dates can be found online. 

Recipe adapted from Anahid's Gourmet Cookbook

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