Thursday, November 01, 2012

Maamoul (Stuffed shortbread cookies-step by step)

Maamoul (Stuffed shortbread cookies)

 


Minggu MENGMaamoul je la nampaknya, but this time Lydia try other recipe yang menggunakan yeast lak nak tengok teksturenya macam mana. Lydia buat half je dari resepi dibawah sebab nampak bahan- bahanya banyak takut penat nak menghabiskan sowang- sowang. Apa- apa pun resepi ni pon sedap kerana ianya mempunyai bau dan taste yang tersendiri gitu, bauan rempah. Sila layan dan cuba kalau sudi.
Ni resepi asal yang belum Lydia alih bahasakan sebab Malas..hehheheeee.

Maamoul dough recipe
200 gm butter,room temperature
200 gm margarine,room temperature or ghee-melted
250 ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup powder milk
1 teaspoon rose water
1 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground mahlab
1/4 teaspoon mastic, ground finely
1 kilogram flour.

Filling recipe
If you decide to make the whole amount with a single type of filling then use the amounts below, if you want to use more than one filling then use these ratios as a guideline, and make less/more depending on how much you want to make.
1 kg date puree +1/2 cup butter kneaded+1 tbsp of cinnamon+1 tsp cardamom+ 500g chopped walnuts+1/2 cup sugar+2 tbsp orange blossom water+2 tbsp butter/ghee+1 tbsp cinnamon+500 g coarsely ground pistachios+1/2 cup sugar+2 tbsp orange blossom water+2 tbsp melted butter/ ghee+Orange blossom water, +cardamom+cinnamon are added for flavor and are entirely optional. You can replace half of the sugar with 1/4 cup of simple syrup. I find that the addition of the syrup keeps the filling from drying out while baking and makes it more flavorful.

Making the crust dough
Beat the butter margarine &oil. Add the eggs, vanilla &beat till the mix is pale in color. Add the sugar. powdered milk &beat till the mix is creamy &homogenous. Add the yeast, b.powder, mastic, mahlab &ground fennel.Add the flour slowly, 1cup at a time, knead the dough (keeping in mind that you do not want to over work it) till you get a smooth &soft dough. Allow the dough to rest for 1 hour. Cut the dough into egg sized balls.
If making date maamoul:-
  Form the kneaded date puree into small balls about half the size of the dough balls. Flaten the dough ball , place the date ball inside.
 Seal the dough around the stuffing making sure the filling is completely enclosed by the dough and shape it into a ball.

 
Using the molds, place the dough in a mold, press firmly but do not over do it or the maamoul will stick to the mold (see the notes for a trick that will help you get the cookies out of the molds whole every time).

 Place a kitchen towel on a cutting board or your kitchen table. Then invert the mold and tap the end of the mold on the kitchen towel and the formed cookie will fall out. Free form maamoul. With your thumb, press gently in the center of the cookie to make a circular depression. Add your desired pattern using the decorating tweezers or forks.

 
If making pistachio or walnut maamoul
Create a little ball of dough and make a hole in it, making the sides even. Fill with your desired filling.Close the dough by pinching the open dough rim together making sure that the filling is totally covered by dough. Follow the steps of forming the maamool using a mold or tweezer. Baking Maamoul.
  
Bake maamoul on the middle rack of a preheated oven(230C) till the edges are golden brown (5-12 minutes)& then place them under the broiler till the tops are golden brown (2-5 minutes). Take the cookies out of the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes then move them to a cooling rack because they are proun to crumble if you move them when they are still hot.
Important notes about making maamoul:- Add the flour slowly because different types of flour absorb fat differently, you may not need the whole kilogram. If you happen to add too much flour and your dough becomes a little dry and crumbly, add 1/2 to 1 stick of softened butter and knead it into the dough and it should go back to being smooth and easy to handle. You can bake maamoul without shaping it, just form the stuffed cookies into balls and arrange them on a baking sheet and bake them, they will be just as tasty without the molds or decorations. You can stuff these cookies with apples that you sautéed with a little butter and cinnamon or with chopped dried figs or dried apricots that you have soaked in rose water. The traditional stuffings are dates, walnuts and pistachios but that does not mean that you cannot be creative. To make it easier to get the cookies out of the molds, I line the molds with a little piece of plastic wrap. Maamoul bakes really quickly, don’t walk away from the oven while the cookies are baking they can go from white to black in a couple of minutes. Kept in an airtight container these cookies will last for 3 weeks.

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