🍪 Kleija
Kleija are spiced cookies from the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia, made from a ghee-rich dough fragrant with cardamom and cinnamon and filled with date paste. They are pressed into patterned rounds and baked until golden. Crumbly outside and soft inside, they are served with Arabic coffee.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g flour
- 150 g ghee, melted
- 60 g sugar
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 150 ml warm water
- 350 g date paste
Method
- Mix the flour, sugar, spices and baking powder, rub in the ghee and add water to make a soft dough; rest 30 minutes.
- Divide into small balls, flatten each and place a spoon of date paste in the centre.
- Close the dough around the dates and press into a flat round, patterned with a mould or fork.
- Bake at 180 °C for 20 minutes until golden.
How to make it lighter
- Make smaller cookies of about 30 g.
- Reduce the ghee to 120 g; the dough will be slightly less crumbly.
- Pair one cookie with unsweetened Arabic coffee rather than sweet drinks.
History
Kleija is strongly associated with Qassim in central Saudi Arabia, where an annual kleija festival is held in Buraydah. It is a traditional hospitality sweet, served alongside gahwa and dates across the region.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →