Month: April 2019

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Peanuts filled Maamoul

Maamoul are cookies found in several countries such us Jordan, Palestine , Israel, Syria, Lebanon and in so many Arab countries. These cookies are usually filled with dates, walnuts or pistachios. Maamoul (ู…ุนู…ูˆู„) is an Arabic word derived from the verb  ุนู…ู„  which means โ€œ to doโ€. Maamoul ู…ุนู…ูˆู„ means โ€œdoneโ€ in Arabic language. These melt in mouth cookies are present in several celebrations such us religiousโ€™ ones like Eid and Easter.

I apologize for not having much photos in this recipe because  I lost them, but I will take more pictures once I make the Maamoul again.

This is the Maamoul mold that I have used in this recipe.
The Maamoul mold that I have used  has two shapes, the circle shape and the heart shape ( when you flip it over).
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 12
Author LDS’s Mom

Ingredients

  • 1 cup fine semolina
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 4 tbsp cornstarch
  • ยฝ cup melted ghee
  • ยฝ cup vegetable oil or canola oil
  • ยผ tsp salt
  • ยฝ tsp baking powder
  • ยฝ cup rose water or orange blossom water

Filling

  • 1 ยฝ cups roasted ground peanuts
  • ยฝ cup granulated sugar
  • ยผ cup rose water (or less)

Garnish

  • Powdered sugar (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix the semolina, flour, salt, cornstarch, powdered sugar and baking powder.

  2. Pour in the melted ghee and oil. Mix until well incorporated.

  3. Sprinkle with rose water, little at the time and mix until the dough gets together(don’t over mix).

  4. Form a dough ball and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for at least 15 minutes.

  5. Prepare the filling by mixing the ground peanuts and sugar.

  6. Add rose water,1 tablespoon at the time and mix well with your hand until the sugar is dissolved.

  7. Once the sugar peanuts mixture gets together into a paste, stop adding rose water.
  8. Form small balls of the filling(sugar peanuts) and set aside.

  9. Form big walnuts size balls with the dough. Make an indentation in each ball, that would be filled with the filling ball (peanuts sugar).

  10. Pinch the top to seal the dough ball 

  11. Place the filled ball in a Maamoul mold and press the ball to get the mold design.

  12. Tap the mold with the filled ball on a working board to get the cookie dough out of the mold.
  13. Take out excess dough and reshape the edges of the cookies with hands.
  14. Place the Maamoul (cookie dough) in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  15. Bake in a 350 ยฐF preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly golden from the bottom.
  16. Let cool, then dust with powdered sugar if you like (I left it out, as my Maamoul has the right amount of sugar in my opinion).
  17. Store in airtight container.
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Simple Potato Croquettes

Croquettes are originally from France. The word croquettes comes from croquer in the French language, which means to crunch. These potato croquettes are crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. There are several recipes of potato croquettes and this is the simplest one.
Mix well the mashed potatoes with the egg yolk, parmesan and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon the potato mixture into a piping bag (without the tip) or a large ziploc bag.
Pipe the potato mixture into a large plate and form thin logs (they don’t look perfect in the above picture, sorry) then refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
Cut the thin logs into small ones or croquettes (the length is your choice).
Place the croquettes into the flour and coat them completely.
Dip the ย potato croquettes ย in the beaten egg whites.
Place them into the bread crumbs to be coated.
Fry them in batches, in the hot vegetable oil (or canola) until golden brown on all sides.
Serve them preferably immediately if you want them crunchy.
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Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 16
Author LDS’s Mom

Ingredients

  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
  • ยผ cup all purpose flour
  • ยฝ cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 2 egg whites, beaten
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • ยฝ tsp Nutmeg
  • Vegetable or canola oil for frying

Instructions

  1. Peel off the potatoes and cut them small.
  2. Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover them with a slightly salted water, then cook them over medium low heat for about 15 minutes.
  3. Drain the potatoes if they still have water, then mash them with the potato masher or a folk. I have obtained 2 cups of mashed potatoes in this recipe.
  4. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and add nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Add the tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese.
  6. Add the egg yolk and mix it well.
  7. Spoon the potato mixture into a piping bag (without the tip) or a large ziploc bag.
  8. Cut the tip of the ziploc bag.
  9. Pipe the potato mixture into a large plate and form thin logs.
  10. Cover the plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
  11. Cut the thin logs into small ones or croquettes (the length is your choice)
  12. Prepare three shallow bowls. The first one contains flour, the second contains the beaten egg whites and the third bowl contains bread crumbs.
  13. Place the croquettes into the flour and coat them completely.
  14. Dust excess flour from the potato croquettes and dump them into the beaten egg whites.
  15. Place them into the bread crumbs to be coated.
  16. Fry them in batches, in the hot vegetable oil (or canola) until golden brown on all sides.
  17. Drain on paper towels.
  18. Serve.

Recipe Notes

  • For the crunchiness of the croquettes, it is preferable toย  serve them immediately.
  • I prefer chilling the potato logs so that the croquettes won’t fall apart during frying. The more you let them chill, the better result.
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