I got off to a slow start this year due mainly to the fact that my cold just didn’t want to give up, even though I was doing everything right, like my Chicken Soup, Kelly’s delicious alcohol free Hot Toddy and lots of ginger tea with honey. And I still have a slightly lower octave voice but I’m feeling a lot better!
My Hungarian blogging buddy Zsuzsa suggested I post a list of my baking again this year, so here you go, my friend! I will also snap a few photos and post recipes in the days to come. Previously posted recipes are linked back, unless the photos were gross, in which case, I redid them and posted them again with a little twist!
Here is this 2012’s round up:
- Ma’amouls (a middle eastern stuffed cookie)
- Chewy Peanut Butter Bars
- Anzac Biscuits
- Butterscotchy Almond Bars
- Lemon Coconut Squares
- Cherry Squares
- Mexican Spiced Macaroons
- Ginger Snaps
- Nanaimo Truffles (a twist on an old Canadian favourite)
- “Home Made” rolled sugar cookies
- Fruit Paste truffles
- Ma’amouls change up.
Now I bet you’re wondering where on earth did I get this gorgeous cookie mold; my dear friend Barb of Profiteroles and Ponytails was lovely to give it to me as a gift last June (shame on me for taking six months to make these gorgeous cookies with them). I know some of the bloggers (Betsy’s recipe, Sawsan’s recipe to name a couple) I follow have posted some very tantalizing recipes for ma’amouls, but I lacked their ingredients so I needed to find a recipe for which I had everything in my pantry. Plus these shortbread cookies have a lot, and I mean a lot of fat in them, so I searched and searched for a slightly lighter version. I made Bethany’s recipe with minor alterations and I also halved the quantity not knowing if we would love them. The dough is melt in your mouth shortbread dough, but it’s also a bit crumbly. The filling is lovely with the right amount of spice; before you jump to conclusions about the powdered sugar, I read somewhere that the date filled cookie is never sprinkled with powdered sugar . I will make these again, and I you’ll see how I’ve changed them up.
Ma’amouls
Please click here for original recipe, Bethany gives some great instructions.

Apparently the traditional ma’amoules are not dusted with powdered sugar.
Dough Ingredients:
- 425 g semolina
- 100 g potato starch
- 225 g of butter, melted
- 125 mL orange blossom water (I substituted water with a few drops of orange essence)
- 100 g of caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground green cardamom
- 1 ma’amoul mold
Date Filling Ingredients:
- 125 g dates, pitted
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 25 g of almond flour

I was lucky that mine did not crack. Picture perfect.
Directions:
- Combine the semolina, farina, cardamom, sugar and butter together.
- Slowly add the orange water a tablespoon at a time, kneading it into a soft sticky dough (it shouldn’t stick to your fingers). Cover the dough and let it sit 2 hours.
- Prepare the filling while the dough rests. Add all the ingredients to a food processor container and process until smooth
- After it has rested, knead dough one more time and then divide into two or three even balls. Roll out each ball into a rope with a thickness of 2.5 to 3 cm. Cut to about 2.5-3 cm and roll into a ball.
- Flatten the dough using the palm of your hand on the counter and spoon a small size ball of filling into the centre. Lift up all sides and form into a nice round ball. It was suggested to roll this in some additional semolina before you press it into the mold, but it was greasy enough and the mold released it quite quickly.
- Bake in a preheated oven 200° C / 400° F until the sides are slightly brown in color. It will vary depending on oven — I baked mine for 20 minutes. Cool and serve.

No one will kick you out of bed for leaving crumbs!
Hi Eva – haha, I can’t believe we both ended up making something as obscure as ma’amouls (they are pretty obscure to us in the west to be honest) at pretty much the same time! Great job with yours… Some of mine cracked a little but they are (were) incredibly good aren’t they? I can really recommend a bit of rosewater in the dough if you don’t mind the stuff… it really gives a fantastic flavour and fragrance!
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Thank you kindly Charles, they will certainly be added to my festive cookie repertoire. It was indeed a coincidence!
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I’m glad you’re feeling better. I had a nasty cold last month. It just hung on and hung on. I’m afraid Mike and Miss A are coming down with something now. Just in time for the holidays! I’m planning to pump them full of vitamins (and wash my hands A LOT!). Your ma’amouls are just beautiful. I do love how pretty these little cookies are and I can imagine how delicious they taste and smell. 🙂
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What a shame that Miss A and Mike are coming down with something, it really sucks to be sick over Christmas. Hope you and Mr. N can avoid it, Kristy.
Thank you.
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Thanks Eva! Fortunately I think they are fighting it and warding it off! 🙂
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I’m glad to hear that.
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Thanks for posting your amazing Christmas cookie recipes again! I made the Anzac biscuits this year and added them to the cookie basket I give to Rowan’s teachers at school. I’m sure they’ll love them. I didn’t have Lyle’s Syrup so I used maple syrup instead, and I substituted vegan butter spread for the butter, and they turned out great. So crispy and chewy at the same time, with a subtle coconut flavour. Thanks again! Merry Christmas and best wishes for a fantastic 2013!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed the Anzac’s Michela. I too love the texture of this unusual cookie. It’s so lovely that you give a cookie basket to Rowan’s teachers; I’m sending a bunch in with JT on Saturday, and the other handouts will be done on the weekend!
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Haha, love the spirited title – start your ovens indeed! Eva, you are on a big time roll… all of these Christmas delights to choose from plus these extraordinary Ma’amouls! I am not a huge baker and am in complete admiration of the detail work that goes into such projects… your moulding came out beautifully on these biscuits. I was telling Charles that it’s a darn good thing he (and now you!) don’t live close by because I would simply not be able to resist these little beauties… there is nothing in the ma’amouls that I don’t love!
p.s. good to hear that you are starting to feel better… you were really hit hard… happy the toddy was of some help! :).
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Thank you kindly Kelly, the ma’amouls are indeed a lovely festive cookie, stay tuned for a big change-up in the coming days.
Yes, I absolutely LOVED your toddy, so tasty.
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gorgeous and tempting! Love the cardamom with the almonds together.
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Thank you Jessica, it’s definitely an exotic combo.
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Almonds and cardamom just feel like Christmas to me…I will be searching for this beautiful mold =)
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I hope you find one SM. Stay tuned for another post in a couple of day where I turn this traditional Middle Easter cookie up-side-down!
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Hi Eva, These Ma’amouls are exquisite! The flavor profiles of the cookie and the filling must pair splendidly. Your other items lined up for holiday baking sound equally as tantalizing.
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Thanks so much Brooks, I stopped by your site and I’m flattered that you would stop by and comment on my site, your site it gorgeous! I’ll be sure to check by your site often.
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I love this pattern mold. The cookies are gorgeous; like art!
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Thank you Judy, it was really fun to use.
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You’ve been busy with your baking Eva! 😀 These lovely biscuits with their beautiful pattern are gorgeous!
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Thank you kindly Lorraine, They worked out very well indeed.
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You have a very good friend there to gift you that beautiful ma’amoul mould. I’d love to be able to find one locally and give these stuffed fruit pastries a try.
I’m amazed at your baking for the season. You must have a lot of very happy friends dropping over for a treat.
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Thanks Maria, it’s quite special and makes a beautiful cookie.
I bake for friends and family who are not bakers, it’s fun and I live giving th away.
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I love these Eva, they are so pretty with that gorgeous pattern and yes, they have turned out so very well. It’s good to be back visiting your blog. I loved hearing all about your honeymoon cruise but how horrid to be stuck at a table of old-folk who were all firm friends. I would have sent the steak back but I was seated opposite the client who was tricky to get on with and she was paying for my dinner so I didn’t want to create a scene. At least the parmesan fries were good! xx
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Oh I know what you mean, about not wanting to rock the boat (pardon the bad pun) and complain about the steak. It’s too bad, and I’m sure it happens more often than not.
Thank you kindly for your lovely words about my cookies, they are indeed very festive looking.
I am very glad you are back visiting, you were missed. XO
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What a line up Eva! Congratulations. The Ma’amouls are fabulous! We love dates!
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Thank you do much Zsuzsa, I’m doing another version tonight, a North American twist!
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These look top drawer Eva. I love how you try to make things a light as possible, not like my cold chocolate fondant! Can you make these without a mould?
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Hi David and thank you for your lovely compliment; yes, these can be made without the mold, you’d just fold the flattened dough over the filling and seal; they might bake evenly if you flattened the filled ball in the palm of your hand. Or better yet. Roll the dough to a rectangle and fill one half in the centre, and fold over and seal lengthwise, then cut them into slices like a fig newton!
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These are such a beauty! You are right, they are picture perfect!
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Thank you so much Angie, they are such fun to make, for sure!
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Who knew I had a Ma’amool mold? I must bake these beauties!!!
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How cool is that, Liz! This is why I adore blogging, it opens our eyes to new and different things.
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Your Ma’amools look lovely, Eva, and thank you for the shout out. That’s quite an impressive cookie line up you have there! I still have some sugar cookies and ice box cookies to go.
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Thanks Betsey, they are a fun cookie to make! Tonight I’m making the change up, cross your fingers that it goes well!
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I cannot imagine a professional baker’s ma’amouls being better prepared than these that you made, Eva. They look fantastic.
I’m glad to read you’re feeling better. No relapses now. You’ve got plenty of baking ahead of you! 🙂
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Thanks John, the baking gets more and more challenging every year, so much to do, so little time!
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Looks really good 🙂
Cute photo by the way
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Thank you kindly Nicole.
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One dozen cookie varieties, that’s a lot of cookies! You probably have them all baked, packaged and distributed to all the lucky recipients already. So admire your organizational skills and energy. Hopefully some will rub off on me.
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Hi Norma, I wish I did, I have quite a few done, but still have some on my list. Hopefully will finish this week.
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You’ve been busy Eva. I am excited to see some new cookies on the list and relieved to see the old favs like Anzac cookies! It will be interesting to try your version of the date filled cookie (I just gave up because of auto correct) as we made them here too! I am loving your stamp cookie which I just saw on Facebook! Thanks for the shout out — glad you were able to use the mold.
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That stamp is pretty cool and what’s even cooler is that I had just seen it on Angie’s blog! Such a coincidence. I made a couple more things yesterday but petered out from standing all day. Not sure why I do this to myself every year.
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I don’t think I will ever forget what ma’amuls are (I have just visited Charles). What a coincidence! Your ma’amuls look gorgeous. As I told Charles, I don’t like dates, but I can see these cute mini-cakes filled with lots of other dried fruits too (although then they wouldn’t be exotic I suppose…).
I am impressed by your ambitious list of baked goods! I am trying to limit this year’s sweets to three or four positions at most and make sure I don’t remain with leftovers in the fridge 😉
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Thank you kindly Sissi; there are many recipes out there stuffed with nuts, so there are options. I’m also wondering if there is a good savoury version, or perhaps I shall have to invent it myself!
I know what you mean about cutting back, I just love hanging my goodies out so we won’t have many left at our house.
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Mmmm got my oven on and spatula in hand my friend ready for Christmas baking onslaught 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Woohoo! Some healthy completion from CCU! You GO GIRL!
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