By Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff

Maamoul cookies are healthy and among the few cookie recipes that I like. However, preparing maamouls is a bit of time-consuming process. But I think the time spent is worth it and can be a creative process.

Why are Mammous healthy? First of all, they are not very sugary. In fact, you can make them without a sweetener. But I add just a little sugar. And they are filled with protein-rich nut meal. How are they time consuming to make? Because, first you make the dough and chill it. Then you roll out cookie discs and sandwich the filling in between two discs. The process has to be speedy as the dough must remain somewhat cool while you are working.

Ingredients for the Cookie Dough:

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup semolina (can be found in bakery section of most food stores)

1 cup vegan spread (or butter) chilled but not frozen and cut into small bits

1 to 2 tablespoons rose water or water

Ingredients for the Filling:

¾ cup walnuts, lightly roasted

¼ cup pistachios, lightly roasted

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon cardamom powder (preferably freshly ground from cardamom seeds)

2 tablespoons rose water 

The cookie making process has 4 steps but each one can be done separately. (1) First make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for several hours. (2) Next, make the nut meal filling. (3) Then, assemble the cookies by rolling out the dough into small, thin discs and then taking two discs at a time, filling each cookie with a spoonful of nut meal and sealing them at the edges to secure. (4) Lastly, bake the cookies.

To make the dough, place the flour and semolina into a mixing bowl. Then add the vegan spread (or the butter) bits and the water or rose water. Thoroughly mix these ingredients using an electric mixer or by hand. The dough will be slightly crumbly, but that is OK. If the dough is too dry, add a spoonful of water until the dough is homogeneous. Then cut the dough into two pieces and form them into 2 logs. Place the logs into a container with a tightly fitting lid and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

To make the filling, first lightly roast the nuts. Place them onto an iron skillet or a heavy bottomed pan and roast them briefly while stirring. Don’t allow them to brown too much. Set the nuts into the bowl of a food processor or into a blender. Briefly grind the nuts into a fine nut meal without turning it into a nut butter. Transfer the nut meal into a mixing bow and add the sugar. Add the cardamom and rose water. Stir the nut meal to mix everything and set it aside.  

When ready to bake, set the oven at 350 degrees to preheat. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

Take the chilled dough out of the refrigerator and work with one log at a time, keeping the other one in its closed container. Separate the log into 12 lime-sized pieces. Then, make two very thin discs out of each piece. To make them thin, dust the dough piece lightly with flour, then sandwich the dough in between two pieces of parchment paper. Then, with a rolling pin, roll it into very thin oblong-shaped piece. Cut this oblong piece into two discs with a round cookie cutter. You may need to use a small knife to retrieve the discs from the paper. Next, take one disc and make a cup-like hollow shape using your fingers. Fill the cup with a heaping teaspoon of the nut meal filling. Quickly cover the filled cup with the second disc, pinching the edges to seal. Flatten the filled dough ball gently to make a dome-like shape. 

Now, if you have a gadget called maamoul mold, you can place the dome in the mold and flatten the surface. Flip the mold gently to retrieve the dome and you will have some nice design on top. If you don’t have the mold, you can make some design on top of the dome with a butter knife as I have done. (Making the design on maamoul cookies is a part of Middle Eastern cooking tradition, but it is not essential.) Continue the process by making more discs and filled domes. Set the maamouls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. 

Bake the maamouls for about 20 minutes until the bottom has become light brown. Don’t allow them to get too dark. When ready, the cookies are supposed to be light brown on the bottom, but beige on top. Cool maamouls for at least ½ hour before transferring them onto serving platter or a cookie jar. 

Makes approximately 24 maamoul cookies.  

Recipes by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff, copyright 2025. Shanta is a Sunset District resident and the author of “Cooking Together” and “Flavors of India,” available at Other Avenues Food Store at 3930 Judah St. Shanta writes recipes and articles on food and nutrition. She teaches vegetarian and vegan cooking classes at her home and gives cooking demonstrations for the public at SFPL branches frequently which you can find by viewing San Francisco Public Library’s event page. You can also view her recipes via videos on YouTube by searching Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff’s YouTube videos.