Kleicha
Kleicha are Iraq's national cookies, baked for Eid and family celebrations. A tender, lightly yeasted butter and cardamom dough is rolled up with date paste and sliced into spirals, then brushed with egg yolk and sprinkled with sesame before baking. They are fragrant and not too sweet — the sweetness comes mainly from the date filling — and perfect with strong black tea. This amount of dough makes about 40.
Your own work in that: 35 min.
- Dough 15 min
- Resting the dough 30 min
- Date paste 10 min
- Rolling up 20 min
- Chilling the logs 15 min
- Baking 40 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the dough
Mix the flour with the sugar, yeast, cardamom and salt. Pour in the melted, slightly cooled butter and rub it in with your fingers until the flour looks like wet sand. Add the milk and knead to a soft, smooth dough.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 50 g sugar · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp ground cardamom · 1 tsp salt · 200 g butter or ghee, melted · 150 ml lukewarm milk
Rest the dough
Cover the dough and leave 30 minutes. It will not visibly rise, but it becomes elastic and easy to roll.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 50 g sugar · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp ground cardamom · 1 tsp salt · 200 g butter or ghee, melted · 150 ml lukewarm milk
Make the date paste
While the dough rests, warm the dates with the butter and cardamom over low heat, mashing with a fork, until they form a smooth paste, about 10 minutes. If the dates are dry, add 2–3 tablespoons of water. Spread the paste on a plate and cool completely.
Ingredients: 500 g soft pitted dates · 15 g butter · 1 tsp ground cardamom
A smooth, thick paste — easy to spread.Roll out and spread
Divide the dough in two (about 450 g each). Roll each into a rectangle about 30 × 40 cm and 3–4 mm thick. Spread thinly with half the paste, leaving a 1 cm border.
Ingredients: 500 g soft pitted dates · 15 g butter · 1 tsp ground cardamom
Roll into logs
Roll the dough up tightly from the short side into a log about 30 cm long and seal the edge. Wrap the logs in film and chill 15 minutes — chilled, they slice cleanly. Heat the oven to 180°C.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 50 g sugar · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp ground cardamom · 1 tsp salt · 200 g butter or ghee, melted · 150 ml lukewarm milk
Rolled tight — the spiral will be clear.Slice into spirals
Slice the logs with a sharp knife into 1.5 cm rounds (about 20 per log) and lay them on two lined trays, 2 cm apart.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 50 g sugar · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp ground cardamom · 1 tsp salt · 200 g butter or ghee, melted · 150 ml lukewarm milk
One and a half centimetre slices.Brush and sprinkle with sesame
Beat the yolk with a spoonful of water, brush the cookies and sprinkle with sesame.
Ingredients: 1 pcs egg yolk · 10 g sesame seeds
Bake until golden
Bake the trays one at a time, each for 18–20 minutes (about 40 minutes in total), until golden. Cool on a rack — they crisp up as they cool.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 50 g sugar · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp ground cardamom · 1 tsp salt · 200 g butter or ghee, melted · 150 ml lukewarm milk
Before you start
Other shapes
In Iraq kleicha are also shaped into small filled rounds pressed in a wooden mould, like maamoul, or into half-moons filled with walnuts and sugar.
The spice
In Iraq a ready-made kleicha spice blend is often added to the dough, containing cardamom, dried rose petals and fennel among other spices. A pinch of ground fennel and a teaspoon of rose water give a similar aroma.
Storage
Kleicha keep 2 weeks in an airtight tin at room temperature. They also freeze well.
