Our friend (Queen) Esther bakes the most amazing ma’amul cookies. Ma’amul are a traditional shortbread semolina cookie filled with dates, nuts and spices that originated in the Levant. They are very popular for every family celebration and festive holiday, but especially for Purim. The hidden filling represents the Persian Queen Esther, whose Jewish identity was hidden within the walls of the Palace of Achashverosh in the Purim Megillah.

Our Esther has a mouthwatering recipe and she uses the most beautiful wooden molds passed down from her grandmother to form these delectable stuffed treats. (She also has a very open door policy — we know that we can call her and tell her that we want to bake with her and she’ll drop everything for us.)

This year, instead of bothering Esther, we invited our friend Tarlan Rabizadeh, a rabbi from the American Jewish University, to come bake in the kitchen with us. And instead of using the wooden molds to make ma’amul, we were inspired to create an easier version — Date and Pecan Roll Cookies.

We made a dough with flour, parve Earth Balance, fresh orange juice, vanilla and orange zest. We made a filling with date paste, crushed pecans and a little powdered cinnamon.

We had so much fun showing Tarlan how to roll out the dough and spread a thin layer of the date paste. We showed her how to use the parchment paper to roll the dough into tight logs and how to score the tops of the logs, to make it easier to cut the logs into individual cookies.

We especially enjoyed biting into the warm cookies topped with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar. Although we laughed a lot while we were baking, we had poignant moments hearing the stories of Tarlan’s family — their escape from Iran and their fervent hope for the liberation of their beloved homeland.

We hope you are inspired to bake these cookies for your Purim Seudah and Mishloach Manot.

Purim Sameach!

—Sharon

Biscochos (pronounced biz-ko-chos) are a slightly sweet, lightly flaky, crispy ring cookie. A favorite of the Ladino kitchen, the recipe for this traditional cookie dates all the way back to medieval Spain.

Each Sephardic community has their own twist on the recipe. Some form the dough into rings, then cut lines into the outer edges to make a decorative design, others twist them into a rope bangle. Some biscochos are dipped in cinnamon sugar, others are garnished with sesame seeds before baking.

In the spirit of Purim fun, Tarlan, Sharon and I also made Biscochos topped with festive colored sprinkles.

Tarlan really enjoyed learning about these cookies and she couldn’t wait to dip them in tea!

Purim Allegre!

—Rachel

Easy Date and Pecan Rolled Cookies

Dough

4 cups all purpose flour, sifted

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

7 oz cold butter or parve shortening, cubed

1/4 cup avocado oil

2/3 cup orange juice

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp orange zest

Filling

1 lb date baking paste

1 cup crushed pecans

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, powdered sugar and salt. Add the chilled butter and beat slowly, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add the oil, orange juice, vanilla and orange zest, mix on a slow speed until dough is soft and sticky. Do not overwork the dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Roll one ball out on floured parchment paper into a thin rectangle. Spread an even layer of date mixture over the surface.

Use the parchment paper to roll the dough into a tight log. Transfer the log to a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to make shallow slits along the top of each log.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake for 20-25, until the logs are a very pale golden color.

Make sure not to overbake, so that cookies remain soft and crumbly.

Dust warm cookies generously with powdered sugar. Let them cool for 10 minutes, then before slice fully through the pre-scored marks to make 1-inch cookies.

Notes:

Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature. Baked cookies can be frozen.

Nutella, halvah, pistachios or another filling of your choice can be substituted for the date filling.

Biscochos Recipe

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 cups cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

Toppings

1/4 cup fine sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

Or

Color sprinkles

1 egg, beaten with 1/2 tsp water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a stand mixer, beat all the ingredients at slow speed until the dough comes together and forms a ball. (If dough is too sticky, add a few tablespoons of flour until it no longer sticks to fingers).

Place dough on a work surface and gently knead for about a minute, until dough is smooth and pliable.

Break off pieces of the dough and roll into walnut-sized balls. Take a ball and roll into a thin 4-5 inch strand, then close into a ring. Dip into the cinnamon sugar and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

To decorate with sprinkles, brush the ring with egg wash, then drop sprinkles on top.

Bake biscochos for about 20 minutes, until firm and golden brown.

Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool.

Lower oven temperature to 200°F.

Biscochar (crisp) the cookies by leaving in the oven for one hour.

Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool. 

Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food. Website sephardicspicegirls.com/full-recipes.