Kleija

Najd·Medium·45 min

A stuffed disc-shaped Najdi cookie, crisp outside, filled with sweet date paste or spiced sugar. A famous treat of the Qassim and Riyadh region, distinct from ma'amoul in its disc shape and date-paste filling.

Kleija is a famous Najdi treat of the Qassim and Riyadh region, a stuffed disc-shaped cookie, crisp on the outside, filled with a sweet date paste or a spiced sugar-cardamom-clove filling. It is distinct from ma'amoul in its flat disc shape and its specific Najdi spicing, and it is a staple of Najdi hospitality, served with qahwa (coffee). The black sesame often sprinkled on top is a Qassim marker.

A crisp, slightly sandy biscuit giving way to a dense, sweet, date or spiced-sugar centre, the cardamom warm. Eaten with bitter coffee, it is sweet, aromatic and the Najdi hospitality bite.

The dough is a whole-wheat and ghee shortbread, rolled, cut into rounds, filled with either mashed date paste or a spiced sugar mixture, folded into a disc, and baked until crisp. The ghee in the dough gives the sandy, melt-in-the-mouth texture, and the disc shape (pressed flat in a special kleija press or by hand) is the defining form. The two fillings, date and spiced sugar, are the two traditional variants.

Variations

A spiced-sugar version uses cardamom, cloves and sesame. Some add nuts to the date filling.

On the Palate

Where Kleija sits in the Saudi flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 16

How it's made

6 steps · 45 min

1
10 min
Rub 300g whole-wheat flour with 100g ghee until sandy; bind with 100ml milk and a pinch of salt to a firm dough; rest 30 minutes.
Watch out
Rub the ghee into the flour until it's sandy before binding — that fat coating is what gives the melt-in-mouth crumb; skip it and the cookie bakes hard.
2
6 min
For the date filling: mash 250g pitted soft dates with 1 tsp cardamom to a paste.
3
6 min
Roll the dough thin; cut into 8cm rounds.
4
8 min
Place a spoon of date filling on one round; cover with another; seal the edges; press flat into a disc.
Watch out
Seal the edges well around the date filling — a gap lets the paste ooze and burn on the tray.
5
12 min
Bake at 180C for 18-20 minutes until golden and crisp.
6
4 min
Cool; serve with qahwa.

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Baking Sheet

Flat rectangular metal pan (sheet pan, half-sheet, quarter-sheet), 33×23 cm to 45×33 cm, with a low rim. The flat surface gives even heat for cookies, biscuits, roasted vegetables, sheet-pan dinners. Heavy aluminum sheets conduct heat fastest; non-stick coatings make cleanup easier but can warp over 200°C; rimmed half-sheet is the modern American restaurant standard.

Techniques

Baking Kneading