Makrout

Makrout pastry , very popular throughout the Maghreb, known for its diamond shape (here I made rectangles) and its delicious date or fig flavor. It's often fried and then dipped in honey flavored with orange blossom. This gluten-free version uses fine cornmeal instead of wheat semolina, while maintaining the makrout's crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Here's the recipe for gluten-free makrout with fig paste.

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Cooking time 45 minutes

Total time 1 hour 25 minutes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 10

Special diet: suitable for gluten-free diet

Ingredients

For the dough:
250g of fine cornmeal (you can replace the cornmeal with corn flour)
75g of melted butter
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp of cinnamon (optional)
Orange blossom water to bind the dough
Water to bind the dough
For the joke:
150g of date paste (or fig paste, according to your preference )
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tbsp of melted butter or neutral oil
1 tablespoon of orange blossom water

For the honey coating

100 ml honey
1 tbsp Orange blossom water

Preparation

1
Preparing the dough:
2
In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal (or the flour and cornmeal mixture), salt and cinnamon.
3
Add the melted butter or oil and rub it between your hands with the semolina to incorporate it well. Let the mixture rest for 30 minutes so that the semolina absorbs the butter.
4
After resting, gradually add water and orange blossom water to the mixture while lightly kneading until you obtain a homogeneous dough that is neither too soft nor too dry.
5
Preparing the stuffing:
6
In a bowl, mix the date paste with the cinnamon, melted butter and orange blossom water.
7
Form small, long, thin rolls with the date paste, which you will use to garnish the makrout.
8
Shaping the makrout:
9
Take a portion of dough and flatten it into a rectangle on parchment paper. Place a roll of date paste in the center.
10
Fold the dough over to enclose the filling and roll lightly to form a long roll.
11
Use the parchment paper to gently flatten the sausage with your hands, then cut it into diamonds (or rectangles to simplify).
12
Continue in this way with the rest of the dough and filling.
13
Cooking :
14
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.
15
Coated in honey:
16
While the makrouts are cooling, gently heat the honey with the orange blossom water.
17
Dip each makrout in the warm honey to coat them generously, or use a brush to coat them.
18
Then place them on a rack to drain the excess honey.
19
Storage: Makrouts can be stored for one to two weeks at room temperature in an airtight container.

Keywords: makrout, Algerian pastry, gluten-free, dates