Lemon and pistachio cookies (ma’akaroon)

Middle Eastern ma’akaroon have nothing to do with French macarons. The Middle Eastern ones are traditionally made from semolina, olive oil and aniseed and are deep-fried before being drenched in sugar syrup. Here Sami Tamimi shares a buttery baked version.

Middle Eastern lemon and pistachio cookies (ma’akaroon). Credit: Ebury Books

• makes

  15

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 125 g pistachios, finely ground
• 125 g ground almonds (almond meal)
• 100 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp mastic, ground
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp finely chopped preserved lemon
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 3 tsp runny honey
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• 15 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2–3 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

Chilling time: 30 minutes.

Instructions

1. Line a large oven tray with baking parchment.
2. Put the ground pistachios, ground almonds, sugar, mastic, baking powder and ⅛ teaspoon of salt into a large mixing bowl and mix well, just enough to combine everything together.
3. Add the preserved lemon, lemon zest, vanilla, honey, egg and butter and give everything a good mix, using a wooden spoon or spatula. The mixture should be slightly sticky.
4. Place the icing sugar on a large plate and start rolling the batter into walnut-size balls, about 30 g each. Gently roll the balls in the icing sugar, making sure that they are well coated on all sides, and place on the prepared tray, evenly spaced out (or freeze – see Note). Cover the tray and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 175°C fan-forced and bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until they start to get a bit of colour. Leave them to cool completely before serving.

Note

• Once the cookies have been rolled, they can be kept in the freezer, in an airtight container, for a few weeks. When they are already baked, they will keep in an airtight container for 5 days.
• I like to make a big batch of these and gift them at Christmas.

This is an edited extracted from Boustany by Sami Tamimi (Ebury Press, $HB65.00). Photography by Ola O. Smit.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.