Maamoul - Middle Eastern cuisine

Ingredients

1 lb. (500 g) plain white flour (up to a quarter of the flour may be replaced with fine semolina)
2 tbsp. white sugar
½ lb. (250 g) unsalted butter (Normandy butter is best)
1-2 tbsp. rose water or orange flower water
2 tbsp. water or milk
icing sugar
pinch of salt (optional)
baking powder (optional)

Pistachio filling

Mix ½ lb. (250 g) finely chopped pistachios with a somewhat smaller weight of sugar and 1 tbsp. rose water. (Some people use ground almonds, with or without green food colouring, instead of pistachios.)

Walnut filling

Mix ½ lb. (250 g) finely chopped walnuts with a somewhat smaller weight of sugar and 1 tbsp. cinnamon.

Date filling

Chop 1 lb. (500 g) stoneless dates, and bring to the boil with half a teacup of water, squashing the mixture against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon until approximately uniform in consistency. Blend with an electric chopper if desired. One variant is to add some butter to the mixture as it cooks. Allow to cool.