Maamoul

One of the must-have cookies for Hari Raya (Eid) in Singapore & Malaysia is Kuih Makmur. It's basically butter pastry filled with peanuts. I'm not sure if you are aware that this cookie actually originates from the Middle East region. There, it's called Maamoul & it's also normally served during Eid celebrations. The original Maamoul cookies are filled with dates but now, nuts like pistachios, walnuts or almonds are commonly used.

Today, I made Maamoul cookies that uses a mixture of white flour & semolina. Just like Kuih Makmur, the Maamoul cookies are so addictive! The perfect combination of the slightly crunchy pastry & sweetened pistachio nuts makes this a must-have cookie for the next Hari Raya!

Maamoul
Adapted from recipe by Saad Fayed.

Pastry:
2 cups pastry flour, a.k.a. top flour (You can also use all-purpose flour.) - sifted
1 cup semolina
250g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon rose water (The original recipe uses orange blossom water.)
powdered sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and semolina. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat butter for 30-45 seconds. Stir in milk, salt & rose water. Continue stirring until all the ingredients are well combined.
4. Slowly add in flour & mix well. 
5. Take some dough & press it into a cookie mould. Place some nut filling on the dough. Then add more dough on the filling & press to seal. Repeat with remaining dough and nut mixture.
6. If using aluminium moulds, place the aluminium moulds filled with dough on a baking tray. If using wooden mould, knock the shaped cookie dough out of the mould & arrange the cookies on a baking tray.
7. Bake maamoul for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
8. Cool baked maamoul. If using aluminium moulds, remove cookies from the moulds. 
9. Dust cookies with sugar powder & store in air-tight container.

Filling:
2/3 cup chopped pistachios (You can also use walnuts or almonds)
2 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 tbsps butter

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat up  & stir until the ingredients are well combined & the butter has melted.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: West Asia hosted by Shannon from Just As Delish.