Mamool is a childhood treat my Egyptian granny used to make. There are many variations to this delicious treat and I feel like I have tried them all. I have also played around with this recipe and made it with zero sugar thinking that the dates would be sweet enough, they are NOT. It needs sugar, and while all the recipes call for more sugar, I reduced the amount significantly (so feel free to add sugar to the dough recipe). I also made up my own date spread which is super easy to make!
This buttery, sweet, treat, will melt in your mouth with every bite. Whether it be made a with date-and-walnut filling or a chocolate one. It’s also a great Rosh Hashana treat and the beauty of this recipe is that you can make it vegan or with dairy, so if you keep kosher and don’t want to mix milk and meat, you just swap the butter to a plant-based spread, that’s it!
Last but not least, this perfect afternoon tea treat goes perfectly with a cuppa and a book, no matter where you are, as my partner’s illustration so brilliantly shows.
Ingredients
Makes four logs
Dough
3½ cups plain flour
½ cup sugar
300g butter or margarine
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup orange juice or water or milk (I’ve tried all three and I like using the juice)
Date Filling (chocolate filling below)
250g pitted dried dates
1¼ cup water
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups broken walnuts
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Icing sugar to decorate
1 tablespoon LSA
1 tablespoon flaxseed powder
The last two ingredients are optional. I just feel that it makes it a little bit healthy.
Method
Make the dough
Using a handheld mixer, mix butter, sugar, flour and baking powder until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add liquid of your choice and mix for another minute. Bring dough together with hands.
Divide dough into four equal balls, wrap them up in cling wrap and place in fridge while you make the filling.
Make the filling
In a small saucepan, bring water and dates to a boil. Lower the heat , bring to a simmer and cook uncovered until almost all the water has evaporated: approx 10-15 minutes. Divide into four equal amounts.
Using a handheld food processor, process dates into a paste. It takes about a minute or two to reach the right consistency.
In a small bowl, mix walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, flaxseed powder and LSA, divide into four equal amounts.
Assembly
Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper.
Clean your workbench and make sure it’s dry.
Cut a piece of baking paper, 28cm by 30cm approx, and place on workbench.
Sprinkle plain flour very liberally on top of baking paper, place one of the dough balls and sprinkle plain flour on top of dough. Again, be generous.
Roll dough with a rolling pin into a rectangle, roughly 26cm by 23cmSpread one portion of the date spread and distribute the nut mixture evenly on top, making sure that the nuts are kept dispersed.
Gently start to roll dough until you have formed a log. Transfer onto the lined baking tray and repeat until you have four logs.
Bake for 20-25 min.
Once the logs have cooled down slice them into pieces about 1.5 cm wide
Chocolate Filling
Spread a chocolate spread of your choice (or make your own). Be generous with the amount of chocolate spread. I probably use about a 1/3 cup of chocolate spread (which I make myself) per log.
Roll dough into a log.
Bake for 20-25min
Love,
Nava.
PS - I love hearing from you! Let me know how it went and feel free to spread the word/passion/love, the more the merrier!
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