Kleija

Ingredients

Dough

• 600 gplain flour
• 150 gsugar
• 200 gbutter or ghee, softened
• 2eggs
• about 150 ml warm milk
• 7 gdried yeast
• 2 teaspoonsground cardamom
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• a pinch of saffron, steeped

Date filling

• 500 gdate paste
• or 600 g soft dates, stoned
• 50 gbutter
• 1 teaspoonground cardamom
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoonground cloves
• 1 teaspoonfennel seed, ground
• 1 tablespoonsesame seeds

To finish

• 1beaten egg, to brush
• sesame seeds, optional

To serve

• Arabic coffee
• or tea
• for guests and for Eid

Directions

1. Crush the saffron threads between your fingers. Put the threads into a small bowl. Pour on two tablespoons of warm milk. Let them steep for twenty minutes. Warm the rest of the milk gently. Stir the yeast and a little sugar in. Let it stand until it foams up. Give it about ten minutes to foam.
2. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the cardamom and the cinnamon. Make a well in the middle of it. Beat the eggs and add them in. Add the softened butter or ghee. Pour in the yeast milk and the saffron. Bringing it together takes a moment. Work it into a soft cohesive dough. It should be soft but not sticky. Add a little flour if it clings badly. Turn it out onto a floured surface.
3. Knead it for about eight minutes. It should become smooth and pliable. Put the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm. Give it at least one full hour there. Put the date paste into a large bowl. Add the softened butter to it. Add all of the ground spices to it. Add the sesame seeds in as well. Working the filling takes effort. Knead it together with your hands.
4. Work it until it is completely even. It should be soft and pliable. Warm it gently or add butter if it is stiff. Stone all of the dates completely. Warm them in a pan with a little water.
5. Mash them down into a smooth paste. Let it cool right down before using it. Divide the dough into small pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball. Flatten it into a disc in your palm. Put a ball of date filling on it. Pinch the top firmly to seal it. Pinch it firmly and check each one. Turn each sealed ball seam side down.
6. Press it gently into a flat disc. Aim for about a centimetre thick. Press evenly from the centre outwards. Work gently rather than forcing it. Press a wooden mould onto the top. Set them on a lined baking tray. Cover them loosely with a cloth.
7. Let them rest for twenty minutes. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees. Brush the tops with beaten egg. Scatter sesame seeds over them if you like. Bake them for about eighteen minutes. Judging them takes a careful look. Take them out while still pale gold.
8. Let them cool down completely there. The filling is extremely hot at first. Set them out on a serving plate. Serve Arabic coffee alongside them. They keep a week in a sealed tin.

Technique

• Qassim is a major date growing region of central Saudi Arabia and the cookie uses that abundance directly: the filling is almost entirely date with no added sugar, spiced heavily with cardamom, cinnamon, clove and fennel to cut a sweetness that would otherwise be cloying.
• There is yeast in the dough, which is unusual for a filled cookie and gives a softer breadier texture closer to a filled bun than a biscuit; the butter and sugar slow the yeast, so it rises but not dramatically.
• Date filling holds heat for a long time and can genuinely burn the mouth, so let them cool at least twenty minutes and warn anyone reaching for them early.

Substitutions

• Soft stoned dates warmed and mashed make date paste where a block is unavailable.
• Ghee in place of butter is used in many households.

Variations

• They are made as flat rounds, as filled rings, or stamped with a wooden mould.
• Some families have a carved stamp used as a household signature.
• Sesame seeds are scattered on top in some versions and left off in others.

History

Qassim cookie flavoured with cardamom and filled with date paste, baked for guests and for Eid.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kleija?

Kleija is a dessert from Saudi Arabia: qassim spice cookies filled with date molasses. Qassim cookie flavoured with cardamom and filled with date paste, baked for guests and for Eid.

How long does Kleija take to make?

Kleija takes 1 hour plus resting of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 cookies. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kleija?

Yes, within limits. Soft stoned dates warmed and mashed make date paste where a block is unavailable. Ghee in place of butter is used in many households.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kleija?

Press it gently into a flat disc. Aim for about a centimetre thick. Press evenly from the centre outwards. Work gently rather than forcing it. Press a wooden mould onto the top. Set them on a lined baking tray. Cover them loosely with a cloth.