Kileche (Kleicha) are traditional Assyrian holiday cookies that are usually baked for Easter and Christmas. They come in three varieties: Date, walnut, and coconut, and go perfectly with a hot cup of Chai!
About This Recipe
Although I call these "Assyrian Holiday cookies," the truth is they are not only prepared by Assyrians. In fact, they are Iraq's National Cookie; specifically, the date-filled variety.
They are called "kileche" in Assyrian and "kleicha" in Arabic. Assyrians usually make Kileche twice a year, for Christmas and Easter. But the fact that we don't make them very often only makes them more special and gives us another reason to look forward to the holidays!
What Goes Into This Recipe
Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
- Nigella Sativa Seeds — Nigella Sativa Seeds (affiliate link) add a peppery flavor and are sometimes used in baked goods in the Middle East. If you can't find nigella sativa seeds, you can use black sesame seeds instead. If you need to, you can leave them out.
- Coconut — Unsweetened desiccated coconut (affiliate link) is usually used in coconut Kileche. It has a very fine texture. Because it's unsweetened, sugar is usually mixed in to sweeten the filling. If you use sweetened coconut, you don't have to add sugar.
- Dates — Pre-packaged Date Paste (affiliate link) is usually used to make date Kileche, it's quick and convenient. However, you can make your own date paste using my 3 Ingredient Cardamom Date Paste recipe. If you do, just follow the recipe steps, no need to add anything else to it.
How to Make This Recipe
Prepare the Dough
Step 1: Mix yeast into warm milk, then sprinkle with one tablespoon of sugar, mix and set aside until foamy.
Step 2: Meanwhile, add flour into a large bowl and whisk in the remaining sugar, salt, Nigella Sativa seeds, and cardamom.
Step 3: Stir melted butter, yogurt, eggs, and milk-yeast mixture into the flour until crumbly. knead by hand, until the dough is soft and smooth. Score the dough with a Cross, cover, and allow to rest in a warm place for one hour.
I once asked my mother why she and other Assyrians marked Chada and Kileche dough with a "cross." Mom explained that it was a way for the Assyrians to display their Christian faith when they were being persecuted and forced to convert to Islam during the Assyrian Genocide which took place in 1915 during WWI. The cross demonstrated that no matter what, their faith could not be taken from them.
Prepare the Fillings
Step 1: While the dough is resting, prepare the fillings. Mix the ground walnuts with the sugar and cardamom. Do the same with the coconut filling ingredients.
Note: The rose water helps the dry coconut to bind together, making it easier to work with. It also adds a classic rose flavor, but it is totally optional.
Step 2: To make the date filling, heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan. Add the date paste and sprinkle with cardamom. Stir and mix, over medium heat, until the date paste is toasted. Frying the dates really brings out their flavor!
Kileche Assembly Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 1: Divide the dough into 3 portions. One portion will be used for each filing. Any extra dough can be rolled into braids and wreaths and baked as is.
Step 2 | Walnut Kileche Instructions: Take a small portion of dough and roll it into a ball. Flatten using your thumbs and index fingers. Mold the dough into a bowl shape and fill it with a teaspoon or two of walnut filling. Fold the dough in half and press the edges together. Make small folds all around the edges. Continue until all of the dough or filling is used up. Place the cookies on a parchment-covered cookie sheet as you make them.
Step 3 | Prepare the Glaze: Whisk eggs and milk to make the glaze. Pierce Kileche a few times with a fork and brush generously with glaze. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Continue with the next filling.
Step 4 | Coconut Kileche Instructions: Use one tablespoon of dough, and flatten it into a circle. Fill with a few teaspoons of coconut and pinch the dough together. With the pinched portion facing up (so that it ends up on the bottom of the cookie) press and flatten into a Maamoul Mold (affiliate link). Tap mold to dislodge the coconut-filled cookie. If you don't have a mold, just shape it into a circle.
Step 5: Continue until you have used up the coconut filling, glazing, and baking as you go.
How to Make Date Kileche
Step 1: Place half of the date paste onto an approximately 24" piece of waxed paper (shiny side up). Cover with another same-sized sheet (shiny side down). Roll into a thin layer using a rolling pin.
Step 2: Divide the last piece of dough into two sections. Roll one of the pieces into a thin layer, approximately the same size as the date layer or a little bigger.
Step 3: Slowly peel back one of the sheets of wax paper. Now flip and press the dates into the dough. Gently peel back the remaining sheet of wax paper.
Note: If some of the date paste sticks to the waxed paper, scrape it off using a spatula and reapply where needed. Trim off excess dough and save to make Kleicha.
Step 4: Slice dough lengthwise into two sections and roll into two long tubes. Flatten by pressing down gently with your hands. Make sure the sealed side is facing down. Cut into 2" sections with a crinkle cutter or slice with a sharp knife. Pierce, glaze, bake, and repeat.
Expert Tips
- Walnut and coconut Kileche are shaped differently to identify what filling is hidden inside.
- If there is extra dough remaining, it's usually rolled into braids or other shapes and baked as is.
- A Maamoul Mold is used to make another Middle Eastern cookie, known as "maamoul." I like to use this awesome mold to form the coconut Kleicha.
- Another fun tool, a Crinkle Cutter can be used to add a decorative edge to the date Kleicha.
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📖 Recipe
Assyrian Holiday Cookies (Kileche/Kleicha)
Ingredients
Kileche Dough
- 1 tablespoon yeast
- 1 cup warm milk
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon yeast
- 10 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cardamom
- 1½ teaspoon nigella sativa seeds
- 2 cups unsalted butter (melted)
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt (room temperature)
- 3 medium eggs (beaten)
Walnut Filling
- 1½ cup ground walnuts
- ⅔ cup sugar (may reduce to ½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
Coconut Filling
- 1½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ⅔ cup sugar (may reduce to ½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 tablespoon rose water (optional)
Date Filling
- 16 ounce date paste (packaged, or make your own)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
Glaze
- 2 medium eggs (beaten)
- 2 tablespoon whole milk
Instructions
Prepare the Dough
- Mix yeast into warm milk, then sprinkle with one tablespoon sugar, mix and set aside until foamy.
- Meanwhile, add flour into a large bowl and whisk in the remaining sugar, salt, nigella sativa seeds, and cardamom.
- Stir melted butter, yogurt, eggs, and milk-yeast mixture into the flour until crumbly. knead by hand, until the dough is soft and smooth. Score the dough with a Cross, cover, and allow to rest in a warm place for one hour.
Prepare the Fillings
- While the dough is resting, prepare the fillings. Mix the ground walnuts with the sugar and cardamom. Do the same with the coconut filling ingredients.
- To make the date filling, heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan. Add the date paste and sprinkle with cardamom. Stir and mix, over medium heat, until the date paste is toasted. Frying the dates really brings out their flavor!
Kileche Assembly Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Divide the dough into 3 portions. One portion will be used for each filing. Any extra dough can be rolled into braids and wreaths and baked as is.
- Walnut Kileche Instructions: Take a small portion of dough and roll it into a ball. Flatten using your thumbs and index fingers. Mold the dough into a bowl shape and fill it with a teaspoon or two of walnut filling. Fold the dough in half and press the edges together. Make small folds all around the edges. Continue until all of the dough or filling is used up. Place the cookies on a parchment-covered cookie sheet as you make them.
- Prepare the Glaze: Whisk eggs and milk to make the glaze. Pierce Kileche a few times with a fork and brush generously with glaze. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Continue with the next filling.
- Coconut Kileche Instructions: Use one tablespoon of dough, flatten it into a circle. Fill with a few teaspoons of coconut and pinch the dough together. With the pinched portion facing up (so that it ends up on the bottom of the cookie) press and flatten into a Maamoul Mold. Tap mold to dislodge the coconut-filled cookie. If you don't have a mold, just shape it into a circle.
- Continue until you have used up the coconut filling, glazing, and baking as you go.
How To Make Date Kileche
- Place half of the date paste onto an approximately 24" piece of waxed paper (shiny side up). Cover with another same-sized sheet (shiny side down). Roll into a thin layer using a rolling pin.
- Divide the last piece of dough into two sections. Roll one of the pieces into a thin layer, approximately the same size as the date layer or a little bigger.
- Slowly peel back one of the sheets of wax paper. Now flip and press the dates into the dough. Gently peel back the remaining sheet of wax paper.
- Slice dough lengthwise into two sections and roll into two long tubes. Flatten by pressing down gently with your hands. Make sure the sealed side is facing down. Cut into 2" sections with a crinkle cutter or slice with a sharp knife. Pierce, glaze, bake, and repeat.
Notes
- Walnut and coconut Kileche are shaped differently to identify what filling is hidden inside.
- If there is extra dough remaining, it's usually rolled into braids or other shapes and baked as is.
- A Maamoul Mold is used to make another Middle Eastern cookie, known as "maamoul." I like to use this awesome mold to form the coconut Kleicha.
- Another fun tool, a Crinkle Cutter can be used to add a decorative edge to the date Kleicha.
Zsuzsa says
Hi Hilda,
Would it be possible to detail the ingredients using grams? IT always ends in disaster when I try to decipher the cup. What is the weight of a cup of flour, butter, etc please? I would really appreciate your help, thank you, Zsuzsa
Hilda Sterner says
Hi, Unfortunately, unless I recreate the recipe, I can't give the accurate measurements in grams. Here's a link to a conversion calculator that you can try. You can choose the ingredient and amount in US measurements and it will convert it for you into grams. I hope it helps! https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/cooking/cups-grams.php
Zsuzsa says
Thank you, I will definitely try using this calculator. I recently went to Egypt and bought something called ara'eesh that looks EXACTLY like this date filled kleicha, so I am very excited to try and bake it!!!!
Hilda Sterner says
You'll have to let me know if they taste the same, good luck!
Marina says
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. My Assyrian Nana, who was my favorite person in the world, passed away last November . She wasn't religious but being Assyrian, celebrating Easter still meant a lot to her. My way of celebrating this year was to bake these based on your recipe (we used to make Chadeh together a lot, but it's not my favorite thing, so did these instead), and they came out lovely. They still have that simple, old world, wholesome flavor but with those delicious spices and aromas from the cardamom and rose water. Thank you for sharing this. I wish I could post a photo cause they came out beautiful even though I'm not the most elegant baker.
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you so much Marina, and sorry for your loss! Your grandmother sounds wonderful! I'm glad the Kileche recipe worked for you, naneelakh. I'd love to see a pic. You can post it on social media and tag me in it if you'd like, or post it on my hildaskitchenblog group on FB. FYI, I will have to approve the post. Happy Easter!
Nadine says
first time making klecha and got complements about how soft and flavorful it is! highly recommend
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Nadine,
I'm so glad you liked them and that you got complimented for your hard work. As we say in Assyrian, "Edakh la maree," or for the rest of you, "may your hands not hurt!" ❤️
Kathy Fisher says
Amazing recipe. All 3 fillings are terrific. I loved the crunch of the sugar in the walnut filling. Having a friend whose family are date growers in Yuma I have enjoyed a variety of date recipes but I especially loved the date filled kileche. This is a perfect time for kileche with Christmas just around the corner. Guaranteed to impress.
Hilda Sterner says
I knew you'd like them, yay!
Alison M says
I have a Syrian neighbour on one side of me and an Iraqi on the other... I get double batches of these cookies at Christmas and Easter! Both ladies use the traditional fillings, but with slightly different shaping - the Syrian lady uses the wooden mold for the coconut variety while my Iraqi neighbour makes crescents with both the coconut and walnut fillings, so it's a bit of a surprise when you bite in. I'm British so make traditional gingerbread or easter (currant) biscuits for them. We all do very well out of the exchange, culinary and culturally!
Hilda Sterner says
I love that! Can I be your neighbor? I'm on a 65-acre parcel in a very rural community so no neighbors to exchange food with. I miss that!
Nora says
Hi Hilda,
First and foremost; thank you for the easy to follow recipe! I’m so happy that everyone loved the keleche this Christmas that I actually had to make it twice as I ran out just before Christmas 🙂
May I however ask; the sugar added to the fillings such as the walnuts tastes amazing obviously but the crunch of the sugar is not preferred by all. Is it possible to use icing sugar instead? If yes; would it be the same amount of sugar or less?
I look forward to hearing from you and giving the recipe another go for Easter!
Many thanks again! Happy new year!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Nora,
Thank you so much for the review. I'm glad they were enjoyed. Regarding your questions, I've never seen powdered sugar used in Kileche. However, you can try grinding the sugar first or using finer sugar like castor sugar. That should keep everyone happy! 😊 MERRY CHRISMAS!
Marie Anne says
I'm so excited to find your page and try these out! I never got to learn the recipe from my nana so I'm happy to have found this.
HildaSterner says
Hi Marie and welcome! That was the whole reason I published my Assyrian cookbook and started this blog. I mean let's be honest, who's nana passed down written recipes? 🤗
Nahrainn says
Hi Hilda,
If I want 5 cups of flour as I’m the only one eating koleche in house hold. What the recipe for this please
Thanks 😊
HildaSterner says
Hi Nahrainn, Thanks for the question. Since the recipe calls for 10 cups and you want to use 5, just divide all the remaining ingredients by 2. It's going to take a few minutes. The Recipe card has a slider that you can adjust the servings, but it doesn't work great.
Rita says
Amazing recipe!! Even Mslawis complemented me on this, so I know it was good!
HildaSterner says
Hi Rita,
Thanks for coming back and rating the recipe. Glad you had success with the recipe! 🙂
Arlette says
Marhaba Hilda... Nice to meet you and see your Assyrian cooking blog..
I thought Kleesha are the Easter Cookies our grandmas make . I have a recipe from a great cook, have tried it several times, but i am not getting the same texture or flavor as she used to make them back home. In Jazirah - Syria they use "Shabbeh" in their Kleesha, don't know the name in English or how it looks like. This is the link to my Kleesha
http://phoeniciangourmet.blogspot.ca/2009/04/lebanese-easter-cookies.html#links
HildaSterner says
Hi Arlette,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! What texture are you trying to achieve? Dry and crumbly, or softer? The ones I used to make had baking powder, and were more crumbly. I preferred them that way. Then someone complained they were too dry, so I shared this recipe, using yeast. I'm curious which you prefer? I'm going to check out your link now 🙂
Cynthia Robbins says
Hi Hilda, I have had your book for a few years now, and I love it! My Assyrian mama is coming to town this Christmas and I am going to FREAK HER OUT by making kileche for the first time. My question is, "Beni's recipe" in your book does not call for yeast...is it necessary? I would ask my mom, but again - it's a surprise. Thank you!
HildaSterner says
Hi Cynthia,
I'm so happy to hear that you have my book and that you love it, thank you! I'm excited for you and for the fact that you will be surprising your mom. The recipe in my cookbook uses baking powder, and this one uses yeast. I had another lady who purchased my book tell me that she preferred softer kileche dough, so I decided to experiment using yeast instead of baking powder. I personally like both recipes, but some prefer one over the other. Maybe you can try one recipe this year and the other next time, and see which one you prefer? Good luck, I'd love to hear about how it goes. You can post pictures of your kileche on my Assyrian Cookbook facebook page, if you'd like. Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Cyn Robbins says
Thank you! I have the mixer going as we speak! I will keep you posted 🙂 god bless and eidakh brikhtah!
HildaSterner says
Update?
Amira's Pantry says
I think it is so similar to what we call in Egypt Ara'eesh. We make them year round and they are pretty much sold in every bakery, small of big. They are indeed yummy cookies and I like them for breakfast with a cup of black tea :). We do not have the walnut or coconut varieties we make them filled with dates or turkish delights and of course plain as well. I am like you, I like stuffed ones more :). Your recipe looks so delicious Hilda.
HildaSterner says
Hi Amira, I'm not surprised you have them in Egypt too. I'm surprised the name sounds so different. Usually it seems the food names are similar in the Middle East, no matter what country. My family members also buy them from the Middle Eastern markets year round (in Chicago). I guess making them is a different story, since it's so time consuming. I like the idea of making them only a few times a year. Gives me something to look forward to in the holidays. I've never heard of the ones filled with Turkish delights, I'm definitely looking into that further! I enjoyed your comment, don't be a stranger!