These Gluten Free Mediterranean date cookies, also known as Easter cookies or maamoul, are so decadent. They are traditionally served on Easter, hence the name Easter cookies. The date filling is so smooth and aromatic, and the cookie crust crumbles perfectly. These Mediterranean date cookies or maamoul pair perfectly with a morning cup of tea or coffee.
Jump to RecipeThese cookies are so reminiscent of the past for me. Every time Easter comes, I go down memory lane remembering all the different smells of Easter in Lebanon. The smell of fresh rose water, and orange blossom water, the smell of hundreds, and perhaps thousands of date cookies being made and freshly baked, the smell of the first drizzle of rain over the dry soil.
Spring is in the air. There are birds flying, bees buzzing, butterflies fluttering, and flowers blooming and filling the air with their wonderful intoxicating smell. The orange trees, and almond trees are beginning to blossom. Everything looks beautiful and is urging us to come out and celebrate this time of the year.
And there is of course family time where our entire family would gather together, one house at a time, one day at a time, working together in the effort of producing the most scrumptious Easter cookies you’ll ever come across. We all shared in the many different aspects of creating these wonderful cookies, and now I can share this joy with you, and we can all make them together as we celebrate Easter, or spring, or whatever it is that we want to celebrate.
I can’t even begin to share how joyous I am that I was able to create this gluten free recipe of these Mediterranean date cookies, and that I now am able to share it with you. It is truly a dream come true.
THE COOKIE MOLDS PRESS
During my move from Lebanon to the U.S. my parents bought me a few of the Middle Eastern traditional cookie mold presses. I cherish these cookie mold presses so much because they hold so much memory for me. They are designed to last for ages, and the designs that they contain are absolutely darling.
Traditionally, these cookie molds are made of wood, so taking care of them is super easy. The trick is to keep them well oiled. If they have a rough surface and the dough seems to stick to them, give them a quick sanding with a fine sanding paper. Take care not to damage the design.
To clean these Middle Eastern Wooden cookie molds, simply give them a quick rinse with warm soapy water, allow them to dry out completely, and give them a good coat of cooking oil, such as vegetable oil, olive oil, or coconut oil. I use vegetable oil since it barely has any flavor and it will not interfere with the flavor of the cookies.
When using these cookie molds, ensure that they are absolutely well oiled especially in the design area in order to prevent the cookie dough from sticking to the mold. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a disaster on your hand. The worst thing that you would have to deal with is cleaning stuck cookie dough out of these wooden cookie molds.
If you are having trouble with your cookie mold sticking, you can oil the design slightly, and place a thin plastic wrap into the design area to prevent the dough from sticking.
The old fashion way of preventing the dough from sticking, and still ending up with absolutely marvelous date cookie designs, is to cut a piece of fresh and clean pantyhose, and slide the cookie mold into it. Press the cookie into the cookie mold over the pantyhose, and you’ll have no sticking whatsoever.
The technique you use is all up to you. You could even use a nonstick tea cake and candy mold pan to form your cookies, and bake them in the same pan as well.
I personally still prefer to use the well oiled Middle Eastern cookie molds because of the memories that they holds for me, and because I am trying to build those same beautiful memories with my children. To be looking forward for Easter as we all gather together, shaping these absolutely delicious gluten free Mediterranean date cookies, chatting together and laughing, making mistakes and learning from them, baking these cookies and smelling the amazing aroma that they produce, and finally having the joy of devouring them together as a family while also taking pride in the work that our hands have done, and the blessings that the Lord has given us as a family.
PREPARING THE COOKIE DOUGH
To prepare the cookie dough, you need to add in the dry ingredients, except for the yeast and baking powder. Those will be added in the last stages of making these cookies.
After you add in the dry ingredients, mix them well to ensure proper distribution. Then add in the butter and mix with a spoon until the dough is dry enough to handle by hand.
You’ll then need to rub the “dough” between your hands in order to distribute the butter equally amongst the dry ingredients. After the butter is well incorporated, the dough should look sort of like bread crumbs after they have been soaked in a little bit of butter.
Cover the dough, and set it to rest between 12 to 24 hours. Preferably 24 hours. The reason for soaking the dough is to allow especially the cornmeal to absorb as much of the butter as possible since cornmeal takes a longer time to absorb liquid.
Since we are still talking about cornmeal, make sure to use the fine cornmeal. This grade of cornmeal is close in appearance to corn flour, but don’t be deceived, it is not corn flour.
The reason for using cornmeal and not corn flour is because of the crumbly texture that it gives to the cookies. Corn flour will give you a much denser cookie with less crumbliness.
After the dough has been sitting there soaking up the goodness of the butter, add in the yeast, rose water, orange blossom water, and milk. You can begin mixing with a spoon if you wish, but you’ll soon find out that you’ll need to switch to using your hand because the dough will become more of a “dough” and less as a batter as you continue to knead it.
Once the dough is fully formed, and you have kneaded it for about 2 to 5 minutes, cover it with a plastic wrap, and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes to an hour to allow the dry ingredients to absorb the liquids.
Right before using the dough, add in the baking powder and knead it well until well incorporated.
WHAT IS MAHLAB
You will find me mentioning in the recipe an ingredient called mahlab. This is merely a spice to flavor the cookies with. It adds a lot of wonderful flavor. I highly recommend using it because these Middle Eastern date cookies will not taste the same without it.
Mahlab is not technically a spice, since it comes from the seed of a wild cherry tree. However, it is used as a spice in the Mediterranean cuisine.
PREPARING THE DATE FILLING
To prepare the date filling, the first thing you’ll need to do is melt the butter and set it aside to cool slightly. Add in the rose and orange blossom water and mix by using your hands. It is not as sticky as you might think.
I believe using anything else other than your hands to mix the date filling might not be the ideal choice unless you warm up the date paste in the microwave for a few seconds in order to make it more pliable.
After you have incorporated the orange and blossom water into the date filling, you’ll need to gradually add in the butter as you continue to mix the filling. If you are using your hands in this step. Pour meager amounts of butter into the filling and carefully mix by folding the paste onto the butter. continue to do this until all the butter is incorporated.
SHAPING THE DATE COOKIES
before you begin shaping these gluten free date cookies, make sure that the cookie molds are well oiled.
To shape the date cookies, take about a ping-pong ball size dough and form it into a ball by rolling it between the palms of your hands.
Using your pointing finger, poke the dough and create a well large and deep enough to accommodate the date filling and have enough excess dough to incase the date filling in the dough.
Pinch closed the top of the dough and gently roll the dough ball between the palm of your hands.
Press the dough into the cookie mold using the palm of your hands.
Fold a kitchen towel into a thick square. Tap the top edge of the mold hardly onto the towel in order to release the cookie from the mold.
Make sure to continue to oil the cookie molds as you continue to use them in forming the cookies.
BAKING THE COOKIES
You can place the date cookies either directly onto a cookie sheet, or line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper or a silicon mat.
To bake them, place them in the center of a preheated oven and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes.
If you want the cookies to be on the soft side, you can bake them for 15 minutes. If you want them to be golden brown and more crispy and crumbly, you can bake them towards the 20 minutes mark. Just remember that each oven is different than the other. It may take you a less amount of time to get your cookies golden brown than it does for me if your oven operates at a higher heat than mine.
MORE DESSERT RECIPES
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip cookies
Gluten Free Mediterranean Date Cookies – Maamoul Recipe
Equipment
- Cookie molds
- Scale or measuring cups and measuring spoons
- 2 medium bowls
- Shrink wrap
- Cooking spray
- Cookie sheet
- Pastry brush
- Parchment paper or silicon mat
- Whisk
- Wooden Spoon
- Kitchen towel
Ingredients
dough
- 8 g or 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 500 g Chantal’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend
- 100 g fine yellow cornmeal
- 250 g or 1 cup and 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 ½ teaspoon rose water
- 1 ½ teaspoon orange blossom water
- 1 teaspoon mahlab
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 330 g milk
Date filling
- 330 g date paste
- 50 g butter
- 1 teaspoon rose water
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
Instructions
- To prepare the dough, measure the xanthan gum, Chantal’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend, fine yellow cornmeal, mahlab, sugar, and salt, and mix them well.
- Melt the butter and pour directly onto the dry ingredients. Quickly mix with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture becomes too hard to mix with a spoon, switch to mixing with your hands, and gently rub the mixture between your hands until the butter is well incorporated into the dry mix.
- Cover the mixture with a plastic wrap, and set aside for 24 hours or overnight to allow the cornmeal, and the rest of the dry ingredients to fully absorb the butter and swell up.
- After the 24 hours have passed, add in the yeast, rose water, orange blossom water, and milk. Knead well using your hands.
- Cover again, and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the date filling by mixing in the date paste, melted butter, rose water, and orange blossom into a smooth and moldable filling. You can mix either by hand or a stand mixer. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Add in the baking powder to the dough, and knead again until well incorporated.
- Line a cookie sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Using a pastry brush, oil the cookie molds to prevent the dough from sticking to them, or line them with plastic wrap.
- Take a ball of dough about the size of a ping-pong ball or slightly bigger. Gently roll it between the palms of your hands to make a perfect ball shape.
- Oil your hands using vegetable or canola oil.
- Take about a teaspoon of an ice-cream scoop from the date filling, and roll it into a ball shape using the palm of your hands.
- Using your pointing finger, create a well into the dough ball, large enough to fit the date filling, and have excess dough to cover it with.
- Pinch the top of the dough that is around the date filling in roder to incase the filling into the dough. Gently roll the dough between your fingers.
- Place the dough into the greased cookie mold, and press it gently to flatten its surface, and to ensure that it fits perfectly in the cookie mold. You need to press enough in order to give the cookie the shape of the mold.
- Plop the cookie onto the cookie sheet.
- Repeat the same process for remaining cookies.
- Place the cookie sheet onto the middle rack of a 350F preheated oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely. Serve with tea or coffee.
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