Mahmoul Halaby, Aleppo Stuffed Cookies

When I was young, I was always amazed at the many sweets that my grandmother would make for us during the holidays. It wasn’t until I started my own family and got her instructions for these sweets that I realized the dough for these cookies needed a mold. What a revelation!

Making Mahmoul with Mold (7).png — Making Mahmoul with Mold

The molds for these sweets are usually hand-carved and made throughout Syria and the Levant. Sitto’s molds were old and I presume she had them from the beginning of her married life. Or maybe one was given to her by her mother-in-law, my great grandmother, Sitto Lucy. I’m told that Lucy was a wonderful cook and baker and Sitto often fondly recalled learning a lot from her.

I watched our family and so many of Sitto’s friends enjoy the Mahmoul, which were traditionally made at Easter, to signify the egg and Resurrection. Some liked them filled with sweetened chopped walnuts, some with pistachios and even others loved the date filling in them.

The best part of Mahmoul is the technique used to make the design for these marvelous Middle Eastern delights. The reason for the design is so the powdered sugar topping can nestle in the grooves of the design as they are served!

As you’ll see in the cookbook, the filled dough portion for the Mahmoul is egg-shaped. When placed in the mold, the palm of the hand is gently pressed down into it to “imprint” the design. As the cook inverts the mold and taps the cookie onto the baking sheet, the beautiful carved design will magically appear, ready for baking. For this reason, it’s such great fun for youngsters to help bake these!

Whichever way you fill your Mahmoul, know that your holiday table will be so very special this Easter with these as your centerpiece!