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
| Prep Time | 1 hr 30 |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
+people
|
- 26 ounces date paste date paste can be found in middle eastern stores, usually in 13 oz packages
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
Ingredients
Date Mixture
|
|
- Combine date paste and butter and work until smooth.
- 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.
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
Ned Harkness says
Delicious. After trying these, my 3-year-old kept asking for the "cookies with the chocolate inside." I did not correct her misconception. They were fun and easy to make and the result was impressive. As a first-timer, it took a while to craft all the individual cookies, but it was a relaxing and satisfying process. I would definitely make them again.
Cosette's Kitchen says
I am so glad your little one loved them and even better that she thought they were chocolate!!! Hope you try them again, they do freeze really well too, in case you make a big batch. 💖
Cosette
Charmaine Sforza-Flick says
I know you wrote this post a while back, I came upon it as I have a Lebanese friend who is having a family gathering celebrating the birth of her first grandchild and to remember her mother who passed away 30 years ago. I wanted to make something for her for this celebration and came upon lots of articles about these cookies. Your recipe seems to be the most well written and approachable for me, a seasoned baker but who has never heard of or ate these cookies. So I have two questions, can this recipe be halved or if not, can I freeze half the dough before filling and rolling ? Also,I have a large pkg of Medjool dates how do I turn them into the date paste used in this recipe? Thank you so much! CC
Cosette's Kitchen says
Hi Charmaine,
So happy you stumbled upon this recipe. I think your friend will love these. They are similar to traditional ma'amoul but a little easier to make (I just posted ma'amoul if you want to try those). You can absolutely halve the recipe, I actually did just that today when I did a segment on our local new station. Personally, I would make the cookies and freeze them, wrapping well. They defrost beautifully! But you can surely freeze the dough as well. As far as the dates, I would soak them in warm water, remove the pits then process in a food processor or high powered blender. I hope this helps, feel free to message me with any questions when you get ready to make them.
xoxo,
Cosette
Charmaine Sforza-Flick says
Coserte! Wow came here this morning to print your recipe and see you’ve quickly and thoroughly answered my questions. Thank you so much! I will let you know when I make them. Have a wonderful day! xo C
Lori Kaleel says
So lucky I found this. I’m going to attempt to make cookies for dads 90 th. I found another recipe that uses yeast. Your recipe looks easier so I will try it out. I’m a bit nervous because I don’t bake that much.
Fiona says
Love this traditional recipe Cosette, and will be giving it a go today. I have done decorative wooden moulds that are great for filled cookies.Will let you know how these cookies turn out. Stumbled across this Blog today , and scribbled down your Spinach Stew recipe. Interested to hear your recommendations for traditional Lebanese cookbooks.
Cosette's Kitchen says
Hi Fiona,
Thanks for visiting! You're thinking of ma'amoul cookies, which I also have on the blog. Ma'amoul are definitely a little more labor intensive while these provide a similar taste and flavor with half the work. I hope you enjoy them!! Let me know if you try ma'amoul as well, if you're in Instagram, I'll be doing an Instagram live with another fellow blogger this coming Tuesday at 10am PST making ma'amoul!! As far as cook books, I have one that was given to me by my mom from Lebanon, I think it's pretty hard to come across here in the states. Here are a few others that I have in my collection:
https://amzn.to/34dhdMY
https://amzn.to/3dU0ser
https://amzn.to/2yD1AmF
xoxo,
Cosette
https://cosetteskitchen.com/recipe/maamoul
R says
I saw you can use ghee. Would you recommend it?
Cosette's Kitchen says
I personally like using butter because of the milk, gives the cookies a nice texture. But ghee should work well too.
Xoxo,
Cosette