Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer/ Lebanese Date Bars

Maamoul Mad bil Tamer/ Date Bars bring up images of my mom and her friends, drinking tea from delicate china cups with those maamoul squares assorted on polish silver trays, something elegant and refined and one of the true Lebanese culinary classics. The older I get the more I appreciate maamoul in all forms. They are the perfect thing when you want just a little bit of dessert, not the whole ball game.  Maamoul are destined to become holiday classics, but don’t wait for Eid and Easter  to indulge your craving for Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer, they are perfect too for casual picnics or pickup desserts after a light meal.

If you ever had the chance to visit some gourmet sweet pastry shops in Lebanon, then you must have seen Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer / Date Bars assembeled on round baking trays, cut to squares upon serving, they are extremely popular and guess what, they can be sometimes overpriced. Remind yourself  that you can make them right in your own kitchen! Wait till you see how fun they are to make at home, just like the pasrty shop style if not better, it is a great recipe, trust me on that!

Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer / Lebanese Date Bars

Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer/ Date Bars are every date lover’s dream. They have a supremely dense date middle, sandwiched in a buttery crumbly semolina dough; they appear in Lebanon in numerous varieties and fillings, they are made with either dates, walnuts or pistachios. The word  mad literally translates to spread, so maamoul mad means spread in a pan or tray. Here, forget about the individual maamoul molding and baking batch by batch, just one pan and you’re done, yes way less tedious to prepare without compromising on taste.

The dough gets divided into two equal portions where one dough is pressed into the pan, followed by a date paste and topped with the remaining dough then get cooked at one time. Cool and cut into squares and serve with a cup of coffee. Just Sublime!

Cutting the date bars into diamonds or squares makes the pieces eye-catching with that dense date filling.

Dates are nutritious!

Dates are a great source of natural sugars such as sucrose, fructose and glucose which makes them sweet by nature, packed full of fiber and complex sugar, they are a source of bone-friendly minerals including phosphorus, calcium and magnesium. In addition to their vitamin and mineral content, dates are rich in health-protective antioxidants.

You can find the items used to make Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer in  Middle Eastern Grocery Stores or Online:

• Dates:Use fleshy, soft and moist dates like Omani, Khudri or Medjool dates, and avoid any dry type, since you are going to transform them to a soft paste.
• Semolina:  coarse semolina is always referred to as semolina here on our blog.  Smida or semolina is prouduced from the milling of the durum wheat.
• Farina: It s the same kind of semolina that is used to make pasta, breakfast cereals and pudding. Simply it is the very fine semolina. In Arabic it is called farkha.
• All- purpose Flour: as the name suggests, all-purpose flour is suitable for all types of baked goods, and maamoul mad bil tamer is no different.
• Ghee:  not all ghee brands are equally reliable, use the best ghee you can find!
• Powdered Milk
• Powdered Sugar: will dissolve quickly.
• Orange Blossom Water: a clear fragrant water distilled from the macerated blossom flowers of Seville oranges; used liberally in most Arabic sweets.
• Rose water: a clear fragrant water distilled from macerated fresh wild roses. Used in most oriental sweets
• Mastic: adds an aromatic flavor to the date filling and will take the maamoul to a whole new level, if you can’t find mastic add a pinch of cinnamon powder.
• Baking Soda: provides the maamoul dough with a crisper texture, you need just a small amount.

To make Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer:

Prepare the filling: Pull open the dates and and release the pits by hand. Transfer the dates to a food processor and add the ghee, orange blossom water and mastic gum, 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.

Prepare the dough: in a large bowl, place the farina, semolina, flour, ghee, powdered sugar, milk powder, baking soda and rose water. Mix the dough with the tips of your hands, the mixture would first crumble, continue kneading until you have a smooth malleable dough. Divide it into two equal portions.

To put together:  Lightly grease a 40 cm /15 inches round oven pan with a tablespoon of ghee, and with the palm of your hands, spread one of the dough evenly over the greased cake pan, fully covering it. Evenly spread the date filling (if the date filling is still stiff add 1 or 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water to make the date more malleable and easy to spread, but don’t go heavy), the date equally should cover the dough. Top it with the other half of the dough. Divide the dough into pieces and spread it over the filling one piece at a time, patching it together with your wet palm, level the patches forming a smooth connected surface. With a fork make criss-cross marks on the surface of the maamoul mad bil tamer, they are identified by their criss-cross marks.

Bake: Bake until top and bottom has an attractive golden brown color. It takes about 25 minutes, but keep an eye on it, and remember that ovens are different. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely. With a pairing knife,score into medium-sized squares.

We are a big date fan at our house, and these are basically everything we want in a dessert; maamoul mad bil tamer are date filled bars sandwiched in buttery semolina dough, the quick and easy way to make maamoul in a sheet pan.  There is no need for molding and cooking in multiple batches, just one pan and you’re done, yes way less tedious to prepare without compromising on taste!

Craving more date recipes?

• Date Maamoul:  
• Tamara Ghraybeh
• Iraqi Kleicha
• Date Walnut Bread
• Banana Date Bread with Tahini and Carob molasses
• To Die for Date and Goat Cheese Salad
• Couscous Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Fried Dates
• Banana and Date Smoothie

Storage: Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer/Date Bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 6 days, refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 2 months.

• Author:Hadia Zebib Khanafer, 
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Baking time: 25 minutes
• Serving: Makes 40 pieces

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2 cups farina (taheen farkha in Arabic)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semolina
• 1 tablespoon powdered milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ¼ cups ghee or clarified butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup rose water
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ghee to grease the baking pan

Date filling:

• 1.5 kg / 3 lb 5 oz. Medjool Dates or any quality soft variety
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• ½ teaspoon mastic gum, crushed or a pinch of cinnamon powder
• 3 tablespoons orange blossom water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/ 375 °F with a rack in the center.
2. Prepare the filling: Pull open the dates and and release the pits by hand.
3. Transfer the dates to a food processor and add the ghee, orange blossom water and mastic gum, 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 to the mix.
4. Prepare the dough: in a large bowl, place the farina, semolina, flour, ghee, powdered sugar, milk powder, baking soda and rose water.
5. Mix the dough with the tips of your hands, the mixture would first crumble, continue kneading until you have a smooth malleable dough. Divide it into two equal portions.
6. Lightly grease a 40 cm / 15 inches round oven pan with a tablespoon of ghee, and with the palm of your hands, spread one of the dough evenly over the greased cake pan, fully covering it.
7. Evenly spread the date filling (if the date filling is still stiff add 1 or 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water to make the date more malleable and easy to spread, but don’t go heavy), the date equally should cover the dough.
8. Top it with the other half of the dough. Divide the dough into pieces and spread it over the filling one piece at a time, patching it together with your wet palm, level the patches forming a smooth connected surface.
9. With a fork make criss-cross marks on the surface of the maamoul mad bil tamer, they are identified by their criss-cross marks.
10. Bake until top and bottom has an attractive golden brown color.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely.
12. With a pairing knife,score into medium-sized squares. Sublime!

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If you make "Maamoul Mad Bil Tamer/ Lebanese Date Squares" leave a comment below, or share your pictures on Facebook! I would love to see your creations!! Hashtag, #Hadia’s lebanese Cuisine