Name: Menenas, or Maamoul
Yield: Makes about 30 cookies
Cuisine: Syrian
Ingredients: confectioners’ sugar for dusting; 2 cups (½ pound) walnuts, almonds, or pistachios, finely chopped; 1 cup sugar, or to taste; 1 tablespoon rose water; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature; 2 to 4 tablespoons milk or water; 2 tablespoons sugar; 3 ½ cups sifted flour; 1 tablespoon orange-flower water or rose water; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preparation info

Makes about
30
cookies

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Saffron Shores

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2002

About

Called menenas by Sephardic Jews, these cookies, also known as maamoul, are very popular around Eastertime with non-Jews in Syria. Once you understand how to fold the dough around the filling, the cookies are easy to prepare. They can also be stuffed with nuts and dried fruits.

Ingredients

For the Nut Filling

2 cups (½ pound) walnuts, almonds, or pistachios, finely chopped
1

Asia
Syria
Dessert
Cookies
Vegetarian
Mediterranean

Method

To make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir to blend.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then gradually stir in the flour. Stir in the milk or water and orange-flower or

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Menenas, or Maamoul

Stuffed Butter Cookies

Ingredients

For the Nut Filling

Method

Variation

Part of