Date bites

These are Mom�s melt-in-your-mouth date bites, or Assabe3 bel tamer. They�re closer to sugar cookies(or French sables) than the traditional Maamoul. Living away from home, it’s one of the things that brings me closer to the good old days to when my mom used to make these. We would seriously have about 5 to 10 in one sitting!

The trick to these is to bake on very low fire in the oven (160 degrees) so they can stay super soft. If you can’t find date paste in any store, you can simply chop very soft dates(or use a mixer) and add some melted butter to them.

You need:

5 and a 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cups icing sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

400 grams soft butter

1 teaspoon crushed walnut

About 350 grams date paste

Mix all ingredients to make a dough then take a small piece on a lightly floured surface and roll it into a not-too-thick not-too-thin layer. Place the paste on the border and roll the dough just to cover. Then cut lengthways then start cutting the dough with paste into small pieces(about 2 inches). Roll them vertically until date paste is covered and place them on a baking tray. Bake for about 10 minutes until it’s just white(don’t get them to the golden state).

Sprinkle with icing sugar and crushed pistachio and enjoy!!

Will post step by step pictures soon!!