Ka'ak bil Tamr (Date-Filled Ring Cookies)

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, semolina, sugar, baking powder, salt and mahlab in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the melted butter with a fork until the mixture feels like damp sand, then add the milk and orange blossom water and knead briefly into a soft, smooth dough.
3. Cover and rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
4. Mix the date paste, softened butter and cinnamon and roll into 24 thin ropes about 12 cm (5 inches) long.
5. Divide the dough into 24 pieces (about 28 g each). Flatten each into a strip, set a date rope in the center, roll the dough around it into a tube and seal the seam.
6. Bend each tube into a ring and pinch the ends together firmly. Place seam-side down on parchment-lined sheets.
7. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame and bake at 350 F (175 C) for 20 to 22 minutes, until pale golden underneath and lightly golden on top.
8. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack.