Makrout: semolina cookies with date filling
Makrouts are often made for Eid al-Fitr, sometimes also to use up the dates from Ramadan. These days, you can simply buy dates at Albert Heijn, but the best ones can be found at the market or your greengrocer.
Method
For the dough, melt the butter and mix it with the semolina, salt and icing sugar. The dough should be smooth and easy to roll out. You can add a little water to make the dough slightly more moist, if necessary. Cover and leave to rest outside the refrigerator for ten minutes.
Filling
Remove the stones from the dates and chop finely. Finely chop the peel of the half preserved orange (or grate it). Bring the dates, preserved orange peel, ground cinnamon, orange blossom water and water to the boil and cook the dates over low heat for four minutes. Remove from the heat and let the date mixture cool.
Baking
Heat the sunflower oil in a (deep-frying) pan to 160 °C.
Carefully roll out the dough on a baking mat or baking paper into a rectangle. Spoon the date mixture onto the bottom of the dough in a ‘strip’. Using the baking mat (or baking paper), roll the dough over the mixture so that the mixture is no longer visible. Once the dough is wrapped well around the mixture, cut away all the excess dough.
Deep-frying
Cut the rolled-up dough into even pieces approximately 3 centimetres thick. Deep-fry the pieces in the sunflower oil for approximately 3 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Immediately place the golden-brown makrouts in the warm honey and leave them to soak for approximately 4 minutes.
tips:
You can also make the dough a day in advance and store it in the refrigerator. Makrouts are delicious when warm, but Mounir finds them even tastier cold, with a crispy crust.
Recipe: Mounir Toub
Image: Guelle Recette
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