This recipe is originally one from a selection of recipes that I developed for a school project (EPQ) I did back in 2020/2021, which was a recipe book dedicated to different biscuits/cookies from an array of different countries all over the world.
These Assyrian/Middle Eastern holiday biscuits (Kileche/Kleicha) is known as the national cookie of Iraq, and has many different filling variations. Anything from pistachios to coconut and even turkish delight could be a filling, but this recipe is to make a simple date filling, making a treat comparable to the classic fig roll biscuit.
Ingredients
Dough
- 50ml Warm milk
- 1/2 tsp Yeast
- 15g Caster sugar
- 260g Plain flour
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom
- 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds
- 90g Melted butter
- 20g plain yogurt
- 1/2 An egg
Date filling
- 90g Date paste
- Dash of vegtable oil
- Pinch of cardamom
Glaze
- 1/2 An egg
- 1 tbsp Milk
Directions
- Mix the warm milk and yeast and lightly sprinkle with sugar, then cover and set to the side
- Then, in a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients
- Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients and combine to form a breadcrumb consistency, then mix in the milk mixture and yogurt
- Beat the egg in a separate bowl, and then add 1/2 into the rest of the mix and knead by hand until the dough is smooth, then score the dough with a cross, cover, and set to the side
- Preheat the oven to 175° (155°C fan)
- While the dough is resting, prepare the filling by heating the vegetable oil, date paste and cardamom in a small pan
- Stir the mixture over a medium heat for a few minutes, and once thoroughly mixed, set aside to cool
- Next, take the dough and roll it into an even rectangle, around 1/4″ thick, and spread the paste in an even layer across the dough
- Roll the dough into a spiral ‘sausage’ and cut into segments around 1′ thick
- Place the little spirals onto a baking tray and wash with a glaze made from the other 1/2 of the egg and milk
- Bake for 30 minutes, until lightly browned, and once cooled store in an airtight container
