Using dates as a filling is quite famous in the Middle Eastern cuisine. To be honest, it is my favorite kind of filling. It is naturally sweetened and with the right kind of spices it takes your palate to a new different level. Getting cookies or sweet pastries that are filled with dates is the best and most common thing you can get from your local bakery in the Middle East.

So I wanted to work on my own version of these kind of cookies. So I decided to start tweaking another dough recipe that I worked before with. I chose to work with beigli which is the Hungarian walnuts roulade which I shared on this blog before. You can find the recipe here.

Of course I had to tweak it and add my Middle Eastern touch to it and thus created these super easy, soft and chewy dates stick cookies. They are perfect for your tea time as they are light, not overly sweet and easy to eat with your fingers.

You can watch the video with English detailed instructions here:

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 cups flour
• 100 grams of cold butter cut into 1 cm cubes
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds powder

Filling:

• 250 gram dates paste “check tips”
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds powder
• 1/2 teaspoon star anise powder

For the glaze:

• 1 large egg, its yolk and white separated

Tips:

•  Make sure that the butter is cold
• Make sure to knead the dough long enough between 7 – 10 minutes.
• Lightly beat the egg yolk and the egg white separately before brushing each to the roulades’ surface.
• After rolling the dough into a rope you can further stretch it until you get the thickness you prefer.
• When glazing, you start with the egg yolk and let the dough rest and the glaze dry before glazing again with the egg white before baking. This will create the tiger like golden finish to your cookies.
• Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180 C in a normal oven and 160 C in a fan forced oven.
• Make sure that the cookies has completely cooled before storing in an airtight container.

You can present them as one large tart, or individual portions of small tartlets. Either ways these delicious tarts are easy to make and it will impress your guests.

To know how to make these tarts please watch the video:

Ingredients:

Custard

• 1 liter full cream milk
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 Vanilla pod or 1 tbsp vanilla extract or essence

Pastry “These are double the amount mentioned in the video as I ended up having to make another batch to use ai all my custard filling”

• 400 grams A/P flour
• 200 grams cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp icy cold water

Topping

• Mixed berries of your choice, frozen or fresh
• berries jam “optional”

Tips:

• The amount of custard I made in the video is enough to fill 12 medium size tartlets AND 1 big tart. So I had to make another batch of the dought for that. Alternatively you can cut the custard ingredients by half.
• When making the dough make sure that everything is really cold; butter, egg and water.
• Don’t overwork the dough as this will stop the dough becoming short and melt-in-your-mouth.
• Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before rolling it.
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-15 mins or until the edges of the tart becomes golden.
• When adding the milk  to the beaten eggs be careful to do it slowly while whisking all the time or else you might have scrambled eggs.
• When the custard is ready cover its surface with plastic wrap so as it doesn’t form a crust. Leave it to cool completely in the fridge before using.
• It is better to assemble the tarts before serving and make sure that the tart and custard are completely cold.
• You can use any mix of berries you wish whether frozen or fresh. If frozen use as, no need to thaw it.

There are two key points to keep in mind when making the perfect pie. First, you have to pick the right kind of apples. You should be looking for hard apples with a bit of tart to them Granny Smiths are the most perfect ones. But you can also use Pink Lady or Royal Gala. Second important point is the pastry. It has to be short for and that you need to use cold butter and water. And you have to use as little water as you can get away with. And you shouldn’t over work the dough as we don’t want those gluten strands to over develop.

To make my pie even more extra special I add crushed walnuts to the mix and use brown sugar to give a caramel taste to the filling. Of course you can choose not to do so if you wish.

To know how to make apple pie my way please watch the following video:

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 7 apples
• 1/2 up brown sugar
• 45 grams butter
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 215 grams cold butter cubed
• pinch of salt
• 1 cold egg
• Around 100 ml chilled water

Tips:

• It’s better to use hard apples as they will hold their shape after cooking and baking and not turn into a mush.
• You can use white sugar instead of brown sugar in the filling
• You can add any kind of nuts you want like walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts. You can also use any kind of spices you want like cinnamon or cloves.
• When making the dough make sure that everything is really cold; butter, egg and water.
• Don’t overwork the dough as this will stop the dough becoming short and melt-in-your-mouth.
• Leave the dough to rest int he fridge before rolling it.
• Before baking you can brush the pie with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180C for 45 mins or until the pie becomes golden.
• You can eat apple pie warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

You can bake those during Ramadan and have them as a light snack.

To know how to make these bagels please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 500 grams AP flour
• 200 ml lukewarm milk
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 60 grams melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp instant dried yeast
• 1 tsp ground aniseeds
• 300 grams dates paste
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground aniseeds
• 1 tsp ground fennel seeds

Tips:

• Dates paste can be purchased ready at Middle Eastern stores or you can make your own at home by deseeding dates and then ground them in a food process.
• You can replace olive oil with any other oil or even melted butter or ghee.
• When kneading the dough make sure to do that for 10-15 mins. You want the dough to become elastic and smooth.
• Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it doubles in size between 1-2 hours.
• Make sure you oil the surface and the rolling pin before working with the dough so as it won’t stick.
• You make the bagels as shown int he video and making sure that the ring is wide enough as it will still rise and close down a bit.
• Leave the bagels to rest for 1 hour.
• Brush the surface of bagels with milk or egg wash if you want a shinier finish.
• Bake the bagels in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 mins or until golden.

I will be following a Macedonian recipe which you can watch in this video:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup lukewarm milk
• 2 tsp flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 6 tsp dried instant yeast
• 5 cups flour
• 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 eggs at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp lemon or orange zest
• 3/4 cup raisins

Tips:

• The milk should be around 40C and the eggs at room temperature.
• If the dough seems  a bit too dry you can add some milk one tablespoon at a time until the dough is soft and doesn’t stick to the hand.
• Knead the dough for 10-15 mins until it becomes elastic and smooth.
• Leave the dough to prove in a warm place until it double in size for 1,1/2 hours. After that we knead the dough again for 5 mins and leave again to prove for 45 mins.
• When shaping the bread you can use different braiding techniques. The one shown in the video is easy and traditional.
• After shaping the bread leave to rest for 45 mins.
• Bake the Kozinjak in a preheated oven at 180 C for 30-4 mins or until golden.

To know how to make the Walnut Roulade please watch this video:

Ingredients:
– For the filling:
:: 2 1/4 cup walnut
:: 1/2 cup bread crumbs
:: 3 tablespoons raisins
:: 2 tablespoons candied orange peel or orange marmalade.
:: pinch of ground cinnamon
:: 2/3 cup sugar
:: 1/4 cup water
:: 2 tablespoons honey
:: zest of one lemon

– For the dough:
::1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
:: 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
:: 2 cups flour
:: 3 tablespoons sugar
:: pinch of salt
::100 grams of cold butter cut into 1 cm cubes

– For the glazing
:: 1 large egg, its yolk and white separated

Tips:
– Make sure that the butter is cold
– Make sure to knead the dough long enough between 7 – 10 minutes.
– Lightly beat the egg yolk and the egg white separately before brushing each to the roulades’ surface.
– When rolling the roulades don’t roll them too tight
– Remember to pinch holes in the roulades’ sides and tops before putting them in the over so as they don’t burst from any steam inside of them.
– Only cut the roulades once they are completely cold.