Ma-moul cookies ~ Greybah (Butter Cookies) ~ Thumbprint cookies ~ Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

                                             

 36 COOKIES

 

RECIPE BY: MAUREEN ABOOD

Clarify the butter using this method, or melt the butter over low heat, let it rest in the pot until the solids fall to the bottom, then strain through a fine strainer. Be sure to bring the butter to cool room temperature for this recipe. Find ma'moul molds at my online shop here; to clean them just rinse, without soap. 

Ingredients:

1 cup (8 oz.) clarified butter, cool room temperature
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk
2 cups plus a few tablespoons all-purpose, unbleached flour
For the filling and finishing:
2 cups walnuts, toasted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

Using a hand-held or stand mixer, beat the butter until it is light, fluffy, and holding peaks like whipped cream, about 6 minutes. Enjoy the beauty. Add the vanilla, orange blossom water, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar and beat for another couple of minutes.

Sift in the flour and gently incorporate it into the butter with a wooden spoon. Add the milk, and then add more flour by the tablespoon until, as Sitto says, “the dough is ready to shape.” That means you should be able to make a ball that will flatten in your floured palm without melting into your hand or without cracking. Get your hands into the dough and knead it for a minute or two. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

Make the filling by processing the nuts until they are nearly-finely ground. Don’t take them too far or they will become paste. The nuts can also be finely chopped by hand. In a small bowl, combine the nuts with 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon orange blossom water, using your fingers to evenly distribute everything.

Line two heavy baking sheets with parchment or Silpats. Pre-heat the oven to 325⁰F.

To form the ma’moul, I like to press a bit of the dough in to grease the mold, then flour the ma’moul mold generously so that all grooves are coated. Pinch off about a tablespoon, walnut-sized piece of the chilled dough (larger or smaller depending on the size of your mold. A few tries will tell you how much to use). Flour the palm of your hand to prevent the dough from sticking, and flatten the dough in your palm to make a small (about 2-inch) round. Place about a teaspoon of the walnut filling in the center of the dough, then fold it over like a crescent and seal the edges. Stretch the dough a little to get the dough over the nuts to seal.

Gently nestle the stuffed dough, seam-side up (facing you), into the mold cavity. Using a light touch, press the dough into the mold—it doesn’t take much for the dough to assume the form of the mold. Flatten the exposed dough and wipe away any access with your fingers, making sure that the edge of the molded shape is clear of dough, for a defined cookie edge. You will get a feel for how much dough your mold takes, and how much filling you need, as you make a few of the cookies.

Turn the mold over and slam it against the work surface until the cookie falls out. If you need to keep slamming to work out any stress in your life, have at it.

Repeat this process with the remaining dough and cookies, moving the cookies to the sheet pans. If the dome of your cookies doesn't seem tall enough, plump them up by nudging the dough around the base of each cookie in a bit.

Bake one pan of cookies at a time, until they are still mostly white but golden on the bottom. Check them by lifting one with a flat metal spatula after 15 minutes, and then again every minute or so for about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.

Sift confectioner’s sugar over the cookies lightly while they are still warm, and then again when they are room temperature. Store them in an airtight container, where they will stay nice for at least one week.

The cookie mold may be purchased at MaureenAboodMarket.com

Maureen Abood, c/o 1611 E. Kalamazoo Street, Lansing, Michigan 48912 United States

*****

Graybeh

Lebanese Butter Cookies, Graybeh  
24 Cookies   Recipe by: Maureen Abood

The Lebanese butter cookie is one of the least elaborate, yet most delicious, cookies in my holiday parade. These cookies can be shaped in diamonds, as I’ve done here, or in simple flattened circles (start with a small ball, then flatten). Top with a blanched almond or pine nut (before baking) instead of dusting with powdered sugar. Flavor the dough with vanilla instead of orange blossom water, or nothing at all. Good butter (like Plugra) will always make these cookies taste wonderful; be sure it's clarified. The recipe is easily doubled. This recipe has been updated to the same base recipe in my cookbook.

Ingredients

3/4 cup (6 oz.) unsalted clarified butter, at cool room temperature
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 3/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus a few more tablespoons as needed

Directions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees and place rack in the center of the oven. 

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or sturdy hand-held mixer, whip the butter on high speed until fluffy, creamy and pale, about six minutes. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula for even whipping. Add the sugar and orange blossom water and whip until well combined and fluffy. On low speed, slowly blend in the flour, ½ cup at a time.

Handle the dough as gingerly and swiftly as possible to shape the cookies. Take a large handful of the dough and shape it into a log about 1-inch tall and wide (this is pretty narrow!) on a lightly floured work surface. If the dough is crumbly, gently push it together. Use a sharp knife to cut ½-inch pieces diagonally (these are quite small; they expand when baked). 

Place the diamonds on a parchment-lined heavy sheet pan and bake until the cookies are baked through but still pale, about 18-20 minutes. The cookies should not be browned except for very minimally on the bottom.
Remove from the oven and cool on the sheet pan. 

Remove carefully with a metal spatula and sift powdered sugar over the cookies to serve. Graybeh keeps frozen or in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

*****

Thumbprint Cookies:

Apricot and Mulberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies 

This recipe is adapted from Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking magazine. I love to add orange blossom water to the cookies; all-vanilla is good too. To make-ahead and freeze the cookies, after indenting the unbaked thumbprints, freeze them on cookie sheets, then place in freezer bags. Bake from frozen (don't thaw) for about 15 minutes, then reshape the indentations with the back of a teaspoon and proceed with the recipe as usual from there.  Recipe by: Maureen Abood

Serves: About 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup jam (apricot, mulberry, or your favorite)
2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
⅔ cup sugar
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the cream cheese, egg, flower water, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Reduce mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture just until combined.

Roll the dough into balls between the palms of your hands, about 1 ½ teaspoons of dough per ball. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 1 ½ inches apart. Use your thumb, moisted in water to prevent sticking, to indent the center of each cookie.

Bake until the cookies are just beginning to set, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and, working quickly, reshape the indentation using the rounded bottom of a teaspoon. Use a small spoon to carefully fill the indentations with jam.

Return the cookies to the oven and bake until light golden, 12 to 14 minutes.

Cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

*****

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

With Orange Blossom Water

Recipe By: Maureen Abood

  

Yield 40 cookies

These cookies have a lot of flair--they're deeply chocolatey, with both cocoa and chocolate pieces; can be made ahead (freeze the balls already rolled in confectioners' sugar, then bake whenever you're ready), and have an unexpected hint of orange blossom flavor (to substitute orange blossom water, just leave out and increase vanilla to 2 teaspoons).

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
3 oz. dark chocolate, chopped or chips
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Beat the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat again at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and orange blossom water and beat until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture and the chopped chocolate to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until moistened, then on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Chill the dough, covered, for at least one hour and up to one day.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees if baking the cookies right away. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment or silpats. Put the confectioners' sugar in a small bowl. 

Make the dough balls by pulling off about a tablespoon of dough for each ball by hand, or using a tablespoon scooper. Shape the ball between the palms of your hand, then roll heavily in the confectioners' sugar (shake off excess if needed).

If freezing the dough for later, place the balls in a single layer on a sheet pan or platters that will fit in the freezer. Freeze, then put the balls into ziploc bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen in preheated oven following the directions below, adding to baking time by a minute or two.

Place the coated balls about 2 inches apart on the lined sheet pans. Bake for about 11 minutes. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack. Repeat this process with the remaining dough.

Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days.