Mersu Cookies

Thank you for your request. Below is the recipe for Mersu Cookies with the metric system of measurement.

Prep time: 10 min Cook time: 20 min Serves: 12 cookies Level: Easy

Some History

There's a food order on a clay tablet dating to the 18th century BC. It reads, "120 liters of dates and 10 liters of pistachios for making mersu." It was for the meal of the king, Zimri-Lim. Mersu was a mix of flour that, except for dates and pistachios, likely included butter. They would have baked it in a dome oven which is the closest we can get to our modern ovens.

What’s fun about mersu cookies is that not everyone could make them. Only people with the title episat mersi (maker of mersu) knew the secret recipe. So if you succeed, don’t forget to add episat mersi to your resume.

Ingredients

Step 1 - Filling

1 ½ dl pistachios (peeled and unsalted)

1 dl date syrup

How to

Step 1

Set the oven to 175 degrees celcius.

Chop the pistachios and mix them in a bowl together with date syrup.

Step 2

Mix the butter and honey in a bowl until you get a smooth batter.

Add the dry ingredients and knead until it becomes a dough.

Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized balls. Form a hole in each ball and fill it with about one tablespoon of the date and pistachio filling. Then pinch the dough together and place it on a baking sheet with the closure facing down.

Gently press a whole pistachio nut onto the top of each cookie.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 15-18 minutes or until the sheen of the butter has disappeared from the cookies.