249 – Rfiss Tounsi – No Bake Date Cookies / رافس تونسي

Ingredients :

• 8.8 oz (250 grams) fine semolina
• 8.8 oz (250 grams) date paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (or cinnamon)
• Pinch of salt
• 4 tablespoons (57 grams) butter
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions :

1- The first step is to roast the semolina (and I am using a fine semolina) in your pan, on medium heat. You have to keep stirring it constantly to avoid burning.
2- You will notice that the semolina will start taking a deeper golden color. Keep stirring constantly to avoid burning – this is a very important step.
3- After around 10-12 minutes, the semolina is ready. It has a beautiful deep golden color.
4- Now mix all the ingredients. Place the semolina in a bowl and add the butter. Mix with a wooden spoon. Be careful the semolina is really hot!
5- Add ground cardamom to flavor the semolina. Also add a pinch of salt (every time we bake something sweet you need to add a little bit of salt). If you do not like cardamom you can skip it, use ground cinnamon, or any other flavoring of your choice.
6- Add the honey. (Shout out to Mouna Mena, a viewer, who shared with me her recipe that has a special honey touch!)
7- Finally we are going to add one of the most important ingredients in this recipe which is date paste. You can purchase it already made from a store or make it yourself (check out my recipe on how to make date paste).
8- Since the semolina cooled down, you can now mix the semolina and date paste by hand.
9- Transfer the dough from the bowl to your working station and knead it.
10- You can shape the cookie in multiple ways. You can roll the dough and cut it into squares. The squares can be thin or thick depending on how you like them. You can also use molds (I am using Maamoul mold).
11- Feel free to play this dough and make all the shapes you like!
12- You can decorate the cookies with roasted sesame seeds, shredded coconut, or even dip them in chocolate!
Bon Appetit!