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1
Prepare the filling.
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2
Cut the dates up into pieces.
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3
Put them in a saucepan with the water and cook over low heat, stirring, until they turn to a soft paste.
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4
Let it cool.
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5
Put the flour in a bowl and work the butter in with your fingers.
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6
Add orange blossom or rose water and the milkonly just enough, if any, for the dough to hold togetherand work until it is soft, malleable, and easy to shape.
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7
Take a walnut-sized lump of dough.
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8
Roll it into a ball and hollow it out with your thumb.
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9
Pinch the sides up to make a pot shape.
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10
Fill the hole three quarters full with the filling and bring the dough up over the opening to close into a ball.
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11
Flatten the filled balls slightly.
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12
Place the pastries on a large baking tray.
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13
Make little decorations in the tops of the pastries with tweezers, or make little dents with the points of a fork.
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14
(This will help the confectioners sugar to cling after they are baked.)
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15
Bake in a preheated 325F oven for 2025 minutes.
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16
Do not let the pastries become brown, or they will be hard and their taste will be spoiled.
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17
While they are still warm, they appear soft and uncooked, but on cooling they become firm.
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18
When cool, dust the pastries with confectioners sugar.
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19
They will keep for a long time in a tightly closed tin.
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20
The following three nut fillings are considered the grandest, and they really are delicious.
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21
Use them instead of the date filling:
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22
2 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts mixed with 4 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the grated rind of 1/2 orange
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23
2 1/2 cups ground pistachio nuts mixed with 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon rose water
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24
2 1/2 cups ground almonds mixed with 4 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons rose or orange-blossom water.
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25
An easier version of the date-filled maamoul is a date roll.
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26
Divide the dough into 4 parts.
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27
Roll out and flatten each part into a rectangle 2 inches wide.
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28
Spread the date paste over each rectangle thinly and roll up lengthwise into a fat sausage shape.
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29
Cut diagonally into 1 1/4-inch sections.
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30
Prick the tops with a fork so that they will hold the sugar better.
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31
Bake as above and, when cool, roll in confectioners sugar.
