You walk into the house and you’re immediately enchanted by the smell coming from the kitchen, you close your eyes and take it in:Gentle spices, orange blossom water, mastic.the scent of maamoul cookies baking!

You hear the familiar sound of the wooden maamoul molds being banged time after time. The sounds of Laughter and chatter draw you to kitchen. There you are greeted by smiling faces and mounds of beautifully decorated cookies waiting for a final dusting of powdered sugar, that will make them almost too pretty to eat. Almost!

You snatch a few ignoring the advice :”don’t ruin your dinner”.No dinner can compete with freshly baked maamoul!

You join in the fun and allow the worries of the day to melt away.

Eid is on the way .

Through the past couple of years I have shared a number of my favorite maamoul recipes: a melt in your mouth, fool proof flour maamoul , and two semolina maamoul recipes. But I got quite a few requests for the more rustic flour maamoul cookies called kaek el eid (Eid cookies). These cookies are made with flour that is scented with orange blossom water and rosewater and a touch of anise seeds.All of which beautifully compliment the cinnamon, cardamom and other spices in the date filling resulting in a cookie that is irresistibly middle eastern.

Today I am sharing my mother’s recipe for these cookies and I can honestly say that these are THE eid cookies for me. I have tried quite a few other recipes but they are either too oily or too sweet or lacking flavor. This recipe is the perfect balance, at least in my book. I do hope you’ll give it a try.

Flour Maamoul or Kaaek al eid كعك العيد بالطحين

6 cups flour

1 cup semolina

1 cup milk powder

3 cup ghee, butter or olive oil or a combination of them(I used 1 cup ghee,1 cup butter and 1 cup olive oil) see notes

3 tablespoons anise seeds (optional)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon yeast

1/4 cup rosewater

1/4 cup orange blossom water

1 tablespoon vanilla

1-2 cups water (see notes)

For the date filling:

500 g date paste

1 tablespoon ghee

1 tablespoon anise seeds

1 tablespoon cinnamon (add more if you like it)

1 teaspoon cardamom

In a bowl add the flour and semolina

Add the ghee , butter and olive oil (if you are using butter or ghee they have to be melted and warm)

Rub the ghee, butter, oil mixture into the flour semolina mix with your finger tips. Don’t knead, kneading will make your maamoul rock hard.

Cover and leave for a couple of hours to allow the semolina to absorb the ghee butter and oil.(if you are in a hurry you can skip this step but if you have the time do it, you will get better texture this way)

Add the powdered milk, anise seeds, yeast and sugar and toss gently, again, don’t knead

Add the rosewater, orange blossom water , vanilla and 1 cup of water.

Mix gently until the dough comes together, if you need more water add it 1/4 of a cup at a time.

Try not to over work the dough since this will develop the gluten and cause the maamoul to be tough.

You are not aiming for a smooth dough ball. Just for a dough that comes together and is homogenous

Stuff the cookies and form them using this technique

Bake at 175 on the lowest rack of the oven until the bottom is golden brown.

Place them under the broiler for a couple of minutes to get the tops to be golden brown if you like (this is optional)

Take the cookies out of the oven and allow them to cool completely before moving them as they will be fragile when they are hot.

Store in an air tight container in a cool place and they will last for weeks (if you can keep your hands off them)

Notes:

You can use all ghee or all butter or all olive oil,I like combining them because the combination gives the best flavor and texture but you can still use only one type or different proportions as long as you use 3 cups total

Different types of flour absorb water differently, I usually need 1 cup of water for this recipe, you may need more or less, add the water a little at a time and stop when the dough comes together

(كعك العيد بالطحين  (معمول الطحين

سته اكواب دقيق

كوب سميد ناعم

كوب حليب بودره

ثلاث اكواب دسم (انا باستخدم كوب سمنه و كوب زيت زيتون و كوب زبده

ثلاث ملاعق كبيره يانسون حب

ثلاث ملاعق كبيره سكر

ملعقه كبيره خميره

ربع كوب ماء ورد

ربع كوب ماء زهر

ملعقه كبيره فانيلا

كوب الى كوبين ماء للعجن

في وعاء اضيفي الطحين و السميد

اضيفي الدسم و افركي باطراف اصابعك حتى يتشربه الدقيق

غطيه و اتركيه جانبا لعده ساعات حتى يتشرب السميد الدسم و تتفتح حباته

اضيفي الحليب البودره و اليانسون و السكر و الخميره و قلبي

اضيفي الفانيلا و ماء الورد و ماء الزهر و كوب واحد من المااء واخلطي برفق

اذا احتجتي مزيدا من الماء اضيفي ربع كوب في كل مره و اعجني برفق حتى تتماسك العجين

شكلي المعمول و اخبزيه على الرف السفلي في فرن محمى سابقا على 175