In Due Season

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As spring days go, our Easter Sunday was a paragon– warm and sunny, with the scent of violets in the air and a sprinkle of tiny flowers in the lawn. Brunch was a veritable feast, an abundance of food lovingly prepared by extended family. I’d been baking feverishly for several days, and contributed four kinds of cookie and an orange-rum bundt cake to the spread. Because I loved them so much, I made more of the Lebanese Easter Cookies from the Palm Sunday post. In addition, I made Greek koulourakia, Lebanese ma’amoul, and almond graybeh. These were all first-time bakes for me, and immense fun! I am sharing the recipes for the ma’amoul and koulourakia; visit Maureen Abood’s beautiful blog for her Almond Graybeh recipe.

These recipes call for a few specialized items. The ma’amoul and graybeh call for clarified butter, which you can buy ready-made or make yourself. I followed this Serious Eats tutorial to make clarified butter at home.

The ma’amoul also call for mahleb, which is the ground pit of a cherry. I found it at a local international grocery, and it can also be ordered online at places like Amazon. In a pinch, you can substitute cardamom or almond extract.

Ma’amoul molds can be found online on Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy, and come in both plastic and wood. My mold, like the mahleb, came from a local international grocery, so you might have luck at a similar place. It is traditional to use different shaped molds for different fillings– oval for date filling, domed for almond, and round/flat for date.

Koulourakia: Greek Easter Cookies

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

Koulourakia can be shaped in any way that strike your fancy: some ideas are spirals, snails, “s” shapes, braids, and twists. Let your imagination guide you!

• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg yolk ( for egg wash)
• 1-2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the orange zest and sugar together with your fingers until the sugar is evenly moistened with the zest.
2. Add the butter and beat on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for a full minute between additions. Mix in the milk and vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the dough a little at a time, mixing until just combined. Use a spatula to stir briefly, making sure there are no unmixed pockets of flour. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
6. Using about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie, roll the dough into a 7-inch rope and then shape as desired. Place the cookies at least 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
7. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with 1 1/2 teaspoons of water. Brush over the cookies, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, until golden brown– about 20 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet, then store in an airtight container (up to 2 weeks.)

Ma’amoul: Lebanese Easter Cookies

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Recipe by Kristen Massad, Inkfoods.com

These cookies need to be started the day before you plan to bake them, so I recommend reading the recipe carefully and planning ahead.

• Dough
  • 1 c. clarified butter, room temperature
  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 c. semolina
  • 1 teaspoon mahleb
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 c. milk, warmed to about 100 degrees
  • 1/2 teaspoon yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons orange blossom water
• Pistachio filling
  • 2 c. pistachios
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon orange blossom water
• Almond Filling
  • 2 c. almonds
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons orange blossom water
• Date Filling
  • 1 c. date paste
  • 1 Tablespoon orange blossom water
  • 1 Tablespoon clarified butter

1. THE DAY BEFORE BAKING
   • Combine the flour, semolina, sugar, mahleb and butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix well, until you have a dough that is soft but not sticky. Cover and set aside overnight (do not refrigerate.)
   • Make the filling of your choice.
   • for PISTACHIO FILLING (oval mold) or ALMOND FILLING (deep round mold) pulse the pistachios OR almonds in a food processor until they are finely ground. Remove to a small bowl and mix in the sugar and orange blossom water.
   • for DATE FILLING (shallow round mold) Mix the date paste, orange blossom water, and clarified butter. Stir until well combined. *You can make your own date paste by pureeing pitted dates in a little bit of water until a smooth paste is formed. Soak the dates for 30 minutes beforehand in warm water to help soften them.*
2. ON BAKING DAY
   • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
   • Combine the yeast with warm milk in a small bowl. Let it sit until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes.
   • Mix the yeast and orange blossom water into the previously prepared dough with your hands, kneading just until combined. Do not overknead: the dough should be soft but not sticky.
   • TO FORM Press about 2 Tablespoons of dough into the mold, until it has formed the shape of the mold. Extra dough will extend above the mold. Place a teaspoon of filling into the cavity, then pinch the dough closed over the top of the filling. Remove any excess dough, then flatten the top of the dough, pressing it firmly into the mold to get the best impression. (Alternately, you can press out the piece of dough into a flat disk, place a teaspoon of filling the center, and then pinch the dough closed around the filling. Press this little dough bundle into the mold.)
   • Tap the mold sharply against your work surface to remove the shaped cookie. If the dough sticks, dust the mold with flour for future cookies. Repeat the process until all the dough is used up.
   • Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet, and make 20 minutes (until they are lightly golden on the bottom.)
   • Once the cookies have cooled, dust them with powdered sugar. They will keep for a week in an airtight container.