Place the ghee and powdered sugar in a large bowl, mix with your hands to integrate together; add the flour a little at a time, and start mixing with the tips of your fingers. The mixture may first crumble, continue kneading until you have a dough of one texture, knead for more until it has a malleable smooth texture. Alternatively, you can use your stand mixer. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate just for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to150 ° C/ 350 °F with a rack in the center of the oven.

Meantime, prepare the date filling: Pull open the dates and remove the pits using a serrated knife.

Transfer the dates to a food processor and add the ghee, orange blossom water and mastic gum, if used, and blend to get a paste. If your food processor is having a hard time making the chunks smaller and smooth, add a couple of tablespoons of water into the mix. Roll the date into small balls roughly to 2 -inches bites, if the dates are sticking to your hands rub your hands with a little oil. Set aside.

Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

Place the raw pistachios in a food processor and pulse a few times to roughly grind them. Transfer to a large plate and spread in a single layer.

To put together: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead well again. Take a bite sized dough a little bit bigger than the date balls. Make a hole in the center of each ball, with your finger fill the hole with a date ball. Seal the hole patching the dough together and roll it into a ball. With your hands, try to shape the date filled ball to miniature log, continuing to smooth and shape the dough by hand into a log, ensuring there are no cracks, then dip in the crushed pistachios, press well to help the pistachios stick to the date log on both sides. Roll it one more time on a countertop back and forth to ensure the pistachios are engraved. Carefully transfer the cookies to the parchment lined baking sheets and place them 1 inch apart.

Bake one sheet pan at a time, in the center of the oven, watch carefully while they are baking, respect the oven temperature and baking time, so you want to take them out the right moment, tamara should be kept snow white. In order to achieve this but still make sure the tamara is entirely cooked through, you need to bake it at a low temperature. Typically, it should be baked at 300F / 150°C for 20 to 22 minutes.

Tamara ghraybeh will be slightly soft once they come out of the oven, but will firm up as they cool down, so avoid touching or moving them while they are still hot so you don’t break them.

Don’t ruin your efforts by rushing the cooling process. Tamara cookies need to be completely cool to the touch before you store them. Hot cookies will release condensation into the air making your Tamara soggy, which is something we need to avoid.

A cookie this festive calls for a good cup of coffee on the side. Divine!