How to Make Date Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 kg fine semolina
• 800 g margarine or pastry fat
• 200 g butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon mastic
• 4 mahlab seeds
• 3 tablespoons yeast
• pinch of salt
• warm liquid milk as needed for the dough
• Filling:
• Ground dates
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of ground anise
• Unsalted butter
• A dash of vegetable oil
• Filling preparation:
• How to shape Date Cookies:
• Date Cookie Recipe and Method by a Friend and Chef on Shaw Tabkhin Today:
• Claudette Ktenasho
• Click on Claudette's name to visit her profile on our site

Method

1. Melt the butter and let it cool slightly, then drizzle it over the semolina, add the sugar, and mix the ingredients well...
2. Let the mixture sit until the next day, stirring occasionally...
3. The next day grind the mastic with the mahlab. Be careful not to add too much mahlab or it may impart a bitter taste.
4. Add the mastic and mahlab to the semolina with the yeast, mix well, add a pinch of salt, and knead the mixture with warm liquid milk until the texture is right.
5. Let the dough rest for about fifteen minutes, then begin filling and shaping.
6. Combine the ground dates with all the spices. Add the butter and oil and knead the mixture well until you obtain a smooth, cohesive dough.
7. Divide the dough into small balls, flatten them in your hand, fill with the date filling or the paste called agwa, shape as desired, then arrange them on baking sheets lined with parchment and bake in a hot oven. Start from the bottom heat until browned, then finish from the top.