Do you know those cookies that have already been eaten before they could even make it from the oven to the cooling net? Those that if one is not in the area when they are ready, there is a slim chance of getting any? At our home these were the Ma’amoul. Mom would start making them already on Thursday evening, kneading the dough, cooking the date’s mix, rolling them into balls, filling them up, and with quick fingers pinching the dough so that the cookies will not only taste good but also look good. I remember her sitting by the kitchen table preparing one cookie after the other. One tray would go into the oven, the second one waiting in line. Half an hour later the first tray would go out and the Ma’amouls would be placed to rest on the cooling net. Only the second batch of Ma’amouls would make it into the cookie jar. We ate the ones from the first tray right off the cooling net while mom would protest “at least wait for them to cool…”. When she realized that this was a lost war, she started making a simpler, “Lazy Man’s Ma’amoul”. It did not matter to us, roulade...cookies...we still ate the first round of the Ma’amouls, right off the net.
Ingredients
3 ½ cups flour
1 TBS sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 TBS vanilla sugar
1 ¾ stick butter
¼ cup oil
¼ cup orange juice
16 oz jar date spread
¾ cup crushed pecans
Sugar powder
Place flour, sugar, baking powder and vanilla sugar in a mixer bowl with kneading paddle and stir. Add butter, oil and orange juice and knead only until dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap and cool for about an hour.
Heat oven for 350 F. Divide the dough into three equal parts. Roll out each part of a rectangle about ⅛ of an inch thick. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the edges from the rectangle to get straight edges. Spread thin layer of dates spread on each rectangle, leave a ⅓ inch margins. Spread about two tablespoons of crushed pecans and roll to roulade. Place in a baking sheet covered with baking paper, and Using a sharp knife, cut a slots ½ inch apart.
Bake for 30 minutes, until light golden. Take out of the oven, and let chill a little. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and slice the roulade according to the slots marked earlier while it still warm. Let cool, and try to leave some for the rest of the family.
