Maamoul — date- or nut-filled semolina shortbread
Maamoul are small, round-or-domed shortbread biscuits made from semolina and butter, filled with date paste, walnuts or pistachios, and stamped with intricate carved-wood moulds before baking. They are the canonical Easter and Eid sweet across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine.
i. Origin & history
Maamoul moulds — passed down through generations — are works of art in themselves, with carved patterns identifying the family or village. The biscuits appear at both Christian Easter and Muslim Eid: a rare crossover sweet in the Levantine canon.
ii. Ingredients
Makes 30 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust
- 500 g coarse semolina
- 200 g plain flour
- 250 g unsalted butter or ghee, melted
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- ½ tsp mahleb (optional)
- 200 ml warm milk
- 1 tbsp rose water
- 1 tbsp orange-blossom water
- 300 g pitted dates, blitzed to paste
- 30 g unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- Icing sugar for dusting
iii. Method
- Mix semolina, flour, sugar, yeast and mahleb. Pour over the melted butter; rub through with fingers; cover and rest 4 hours or overnight.
- Sprinkle warm milk, rose and orange-blossom waters over the rested mix and bring together into a soft, just-cohesive dough. Rest 30 minutes.
- Mix date paste with softened butter and cinnamon.
- Take a walnut-sized piece of dough; flatten in your palm; place a teaspoon of filling in the centre; pinch closed; press into the maamoul mould; tap out onto a lined tray.
- Bake at 170 °C / 340 °F for 18-20 minutes until pale gold — they should not brown. Cool, then dust with icing sugar.
iv. Tips & common mistakes
- Use the freshest ingredients you can. The recipe relies on them.
- Read the method through first. Several steps must be ready in advance.
- Season patiently. Sweetness and salt are tuned at the end, not the start.
v. Variations
Walnut maamoul uses crushed walnuts with sugar and cinnamon. Pistachio maamoul uses crushed pistachios. Karabij is maamoul served with a marshmallow-like cream (natef). The shape of the mould identifies the filling: dome for dates, round-flat for walnuts, oval for pistachios.
vi. Common questions
What is maamoul?
Maamoul is date- or nut-filled semolina shortbread, from middle eastern cuisine. They are the canonical Easter and Eid sweet across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine
Where is maamoul from?
Maamoul is from the middle eastern dessert tradition; the recipe and history are detailed above.
How long does maamoul keep?
See the storage note in the Quick facts panel: 3 weeks in an airtight tin.