Rich and delicate Arabic Butter Cookies made vegan: Maamoul. Soft and buttery cookies stuffed with a sweet date filling or a nutty filling. The perfect Eid dessert!

About The Recipe

• Made with two types of fillings

• Vegan | Dairy-free

• Soft and buttery

• Perfect for Eid dessert

Making The Dough

The Maamoul dough can be made in a food processor (with attachable dough blades), or a stand mixer. We mix the flour, Mahlab, and Mastic first. Then process with the fat, and slowly blend in the vegan condensed milk and rosewater. It should be well combined and smooth. Empty into a bowl and give it a final knead to combine. Let rest for an hour before working with it.

Maamoul Filling

There are two popular fillings to be used in Maamoul. Dates or Nuts. The date filling is made using a date paste, or blended up Medjool dates, and bold earthy flavours. The nut filling can be made using either walnuts or pistachios. Mixed with sugar and simple syrup for sweet smooth flavours.

How To Shape Maamoul

Take out a tablespoon’s worth of the dough. Gently squeeze and roll by hand into a ball. Flatten down with your palms. Add a ball of the filling (dates or nuts) to the centre of the circle. Slowly fold the dough over the top of the ball.

Take it to a Maamoul mold. Carefully press down in the centre with your palm. Hit the mold on its sides a couple of twice to detach the cooke from the edges. Flip over your hand – hit again if needed.

Repeat for the remaining dough until all Maamoul is finished. Cover the shaped cookies under a clean cloth to avoid drying. Once ready, take the cookies to a sheet-pan and bake until nice and golden.

Video Recipe

Watch this short video recipe for how to make vegan Maamoul here:

Expert Tips:

• Flour in mold: Sprinkle a little flour in the mold to help the shaping process to be easier.

• Weigh the ingredients: For best results, use a scale to weight the ingredients.

Related Recipes

Find more vegan Arabic recipes to enjoy for a Eid dessert. Try crunchy Sweet Dough Balls (known as Awameh), Arabic Shortbread Cookies (called Ghraybeh), Coconut Semolina Cake (Hareeseh or Basbousa), or the iconic stretchy Knafeh (Sweet Cheese baked in Shredded Dough).

Vegan Maamoul Recipe

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Vegan Maamoul (Butter Cookies)

Recipe by Waseem HijaziCourse: Desserts, Sweets, CookiesCuisine: Arabic, Middle Eastern, Eid

Servings

15

cookies

Prep time

35

minutes

Baking time

10

minutes

Total time

45

minutes

Rich and delicate Arabic Butter Cookies made vegan: Maamoul. Soft and buttery cookies stuffed with a sweet date filling or a nutty filling. The perfect Eid dessert!

Ingredients

• For The Dough

• 200g all purpose flour, sifted

• 1 tsp Mahlab

• Pinch of crushed Mastic – See Notes (3)

• 20g plant butter – Becel Unsalted Bricks, room temperature – See Notes (1)

• 65g margarine, room temperature – See Notes (1)

• 60ml vegan condensed milk – See Notes (2)

• 1/2 tsp rosewater

• Date Filling

• 250g date paste – See Notes (5)

• 1/2 tsp margarine

• 1/2 tsp neutral oil

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp cardamom

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• Nut Filling

• 150g walnuts (or pistachios), crushed/blended – See Notes (6)

• 3 tsp sugar

• 3 tsp simple syrup – See Notes (4)

• 3 tsp rosewater

Directions

• Making The Dough
• Add the flour to a food processor with dough blades (or stand mixer). Add in the Mahlab and crushed mastic. Add the plant butter and margarine in small pieces across the bowl. Pulse a few times, then blend on low for a minute to combine. Stop and remove the lid. Scrape down the sides. Repeat until the dough is crumbly and covered in fat.
• Add in the vegan condensed milk and rosewater. Blend on low again until combined and smooth. Stop and scrape down the sides if needed.
• Remove the blades and empty into a bowl. Gently mix to bring everything together. Cover and rest at room temperature for an hour. Work on the fillings in the meantime.
• Preparing The Date Filling
• Mix the ingredients together in a bowl by hand to combine.
• Scoop out a heaping teaspoon’s worth and roll into a ball. Repeat till finished.
• The date paste should be soft enough to roll smoothly, yet hard enough to not easily flatten down the date balls.
• Preparing The Nut Filling
• Mix together in a bowl by spoon to combine. It should be sticky enough to hold together in a ball, but not too wet where it becomes too soft to stay in shape.
• Scoop out a heaping teaspoon’s worth and roll into a ball by hand. Repeat till finished.
• Shaping And Baking The Cookies
• Take out a tablespoon’s worth of the dough. Gently squeeze and roll by hand into a ball. Flatten down with your palms.
• Add a ball of the filling (dates or nuts) to the centre of the circle. Slowly fold the dough over the top of the ball. Fix it up, roll into a smooth ball, and take it to a Maamoul mold. Carefully press down in the centre with your palm.
• Hit the mold on its sides a couple of twice to detach the cooke from the edges. Flip over your hand – hit again if needed.
• On a sheet-pan / air fryer basket (with baking option), place the cookies slightly apart.
• Bake in preheated oven / air fryer at 375F for 8 minutes – check on it – and continue for
  another 2 minutes if needed to add golden colour on top. See Notes (7)
• Once finished, leave in hot pan for 5 to 10 minutes to brown the bottom, and cool down the cookies to the touch. Remove into a serving plate and sprinkle with powder sugar when it’s
  completely cool. Store in air air-tight containers.

Notes

• (1) The plant butter, margarine, and vegan condensed milk should be at room temperature before adding to the flour.
• (2) Vegan condensed milk: If not available, whisk 40g (1/4 cup) sugar with 60ml (1/4 cup) room temperature vegan whipping cream until thick, smooth, and runny. Some of the mixture will stick to the side of the bowl you whisk it in – you should have at least 60ml. Don’t use more than that.
• (3) Mastic: It comes in mini gum-like balls. Crush them up using a pestle and mortar with a little sugar. You only need a small amount.
• (4) Simple syrup: Make ahead so it’s cooled down to room temperature, before using. Two part sugar, one part water. Bring to simmer then turn heat to low. Adding rosewater and lemon juice just before finishing up. Alternatively, whisk sugar with hot water, and cool down completely.
• (5) Date paste: Use good quality store-bought, or make your own at home by blending soft pitted Medjool dates in a high speed blender/food processor. Use the same amount in grams (200g).
• (6) Walnuts/Pistachios: Blend the nuts in a high speed blender/food processor to chop down into bits. Don’t over blend into fine pieces. You can split the amount into both walnuts and pistachios.
• (7) Oven/Air Fryer: Different equipment have different settings and different sizes. Because the cookies are super delicate, they can overcook quickly. Keep an eye out at the 8 minute mark, to see if it still needs another 2 minutes to add a golden colour on top. If it’s baking too quickly, lower the temperature by 25F, adding a minute or two if needed.
• (8) Maamoul Mold: There are many molds to make these Eid cookies. In the video, we show how they’re shaped using a wooden hand mold. You can find it on Amazon, along with other types of silicon molds that work just as well.

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