Maamoul

Directions

1. 1
   Prepare the filling.
2. 2
   Cut the dates up into pieces.
3. 3
   Put them in a saucepan with the water and cook over low heat, stirring, until they turn to a soft paste.
4. 4
   Let it cool.
5. 5
   Put the flour in a bowl and work the butter in with your fingers.
6. 6
   Add orange blossom or rose water and the milkonly just enough, if any, for the dough to hold togetherand work until it is soft, malleable, and easy to shape.
7. 7
   Take a walnut-sized lump of dough.
8. 8
   Roll it into a ball and hollow it out with your thumb.
9. 9
   Pinch the sides up to make a pot shape.
10. 10
    Fill the hole three quarters full with the filling and bring the dough up over the opening to close into a ball.
11. 11
    Flatten the filled balls slightly.
12. 12
    Place the pastries on a large baking tray.
13. 13
    Make little decorations in the tops of the pastries with tweezers, or make little dents with the points of a fork.
14. 14
    (This will help the confectioners sugar to cling after they are baked.)
15. 15
    Bake in a preheated 325F oven for 2025 minutes.
16. 16
    Do not let the pastries become brown, or they will be hard and their taste will be spoiled.
17. 17
    While they are still warm, they appear soft and uncooked, but on cooling they become firm.
18. 18
    When cool, dust the pastries with confectioners sugar.
19. 19
    They will keep for a long time in a tightly closed tin.
20. 20
    The following three nut fillings are considered the grandest, and they really are delicious.
21. 21
    Use them instead of the date filling:
22. 22
    2 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts mixed with 4 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the grated rind of 1/2 orange
23. 23
    2 1/2 cups ground pistachio nuts mixed with 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon rose water
24. 24
    2 1/2 cups ground almonds mixed with 4 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons rose or orange-blossom water.
25. 25
    An easier version of the date-filled maamoul is a date roll.
26. 26
    Divide the dough into 4 parts.
27. 27
    Roll out and flatten each part into a rectangle 2 inches wide.
28. 28
    Spread the date paste over each rectangle thinly and roll up lengthwise into a fat sausage shape.
29. 29
    Cut diagonally into 1 1/4-inch sections.
30. 30
    Prick the tops with a fork so that they will hold the sugar better.
31. 31
    Bake as above and, when cool, roll in confectioners sugar.