Maamoul, Levantine semolina cookies

Melt 500 grams of butter in a pot over medium-high heat, then turn it down to medium and cook a few minutes until a light foam forms on the surface.

Pour the melted butter into a jug and leave it at room temperature about half an hour so the milk solids sink and settle and the foam floats back to the top.

Skim the surface with a spoon until all the foam is removed, and discard it.

Weigh 250 grams of the clarified butter into another jug or bowl without tilting the settled milk solids in, and cool it completely to room temperature.

Mix 500 grams of fine semolina with one tablespoon of mahlab powder in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

Add all the clarified butter and mix with your hands, scooping the semolina and butter up from the bottom until it starts to clump into pieces.

Grab handfuls and rub them together in your palms about five minutes until the colour is a single uniform yellow and there are no dry spots.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave the semolina to rest and hydrate overnight.

The next day rub it between your palms again for a few minutes to warm the butter until it comes together into a soft pliable dough.

Add a quarter teaspoon of salt and 150 millilitres of orange blossom water and mix until the liquid is absorbed, the dough grows and it no longer feels wet.

Cover and rest the dough 30 minutes to an hour.

For the syrup put 100 grams of sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat, pour in 50 millilitres of room-temperature water and add a squeeze of lemon juice.

Swirl the pot so all the sugar is covered, bring it to a boil, swirl again to dissolve the rest, then simmer uncovered on low 10 minutes until thickened; cool completely.

Chop the walnuts to the size of a grain of rice or two, by rocking a kitchen knife through them or by pulsing a food processor or blender on and off so you do not make nut butter.

Add to the chopped walnuts half a teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of mahleb and an eighth of a teaspoon each of cloves, cardamom and mace or nutmeg.

Add one tablespoon of granulated sugar and one tablespoon of light brown sugar, mix, then add three tablespoons of the cooled syrup and mix thoroughly until it clumps and presses into a cluster; add a little more syrup if it does not.

Pulse 150 grams of pistachios a second or two, then finish chopping with a knife to the same size as the walnut pieces.

Mix the pistachios with three tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of the syrup until it clumps like the walnut filling.

Mix 200 grams of date paste with 20 grams of clarified butter until the butter is incorporated and the dates are soft and pliable.

Mix a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon into the date filling and set it aside.

Portion the dough at 20 grams per cookie — two 10 g scoops — and roll each portion into a smooth soft ball; 43 balls here.

For the pistachio ones roll a ball into a short stubby log, press the centre down until it is hollowed out like a small boat without going through the underside, compress about a teaspoon of filling and lay it in.

Fold the two tips of the log in over the filling, press the sides in and over to seal, roll it smooth until the seam disappears and compress it to fit the mould.

Press the log into the mould, not so hard that the nuts displace, then bang the mould hard against the edge of a cutting board — on the joint of the shape for a plastic mould — until the biscuit pops out.

For the walnut ones make an indentation in a ball with your thumb, add a teaspoon of filling, pull the edges up around the nuts and press them together into a sealed ball, roll it smooth and press it into a circular mould.

For the date ones make an indentation, add a teaspoon of the date filling, squish the dough closed, roll it smooth and press it into the wooden mould, which releases more easily.

Spread them evenly on a tray — with no leaveners in them they barely change shape — and bake at 200 degrees Celsius or 390 Fahrenheit for 12 minutes, rotating the tray after six.

Cool 15 to 30 minutes, then dust generously with powdered sugar.

Let them sit at least six hours, ideally a full day, so the biscuit rehydrates and the texture and flavour improve.