🍰 DESSERT
Kleicha
Spiced pastry spirals filled with date paste and cardamom, Iraq's national cookie, made for every celebration.
Iraqi · medium · serves 24
prep 45 min · cook 25 min
~230 cal · 3g protein · 35g carbs · 9g fat · 2g fiber · 16g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kleicha is widely considered the national cookie of Iraq, a treasured sweet with roots reaching back to ancient Mesopotamia, where similar date-filled cakes were made thousands of years ago. It is baked in great quantities for Eid, Christmas, and every family celebration.
The tender pastry, scented with and sometimes rose water, is most classically rolled around a paste of cooked with spices, then sliced into little spirals, though walnut and sugar fillings also feature. Baked until pale gold and brushed with egg for shine, they are only lightly sweet, fragrant, and made to keep, the taste of an Iraqi holiday.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 24
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cup oil
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tbsp nigella seeds (habbat al-baraka)
- 3 cups pitted
- 1 tbsp ground
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp rose water
Instructions
- 1Make a soft dough with the flour, oil, yeast, sugar, some cardamom, the nigella seeds, and warm water, and leave to rest and rise.✎ Chef’s noteKleicha dough is lightly yeast-leavened for its signature tender crumb, and the nigella seeds are the traditional aromatic that studs it.
- 2Cook the dates with a little of the cardamom, the cinnamon, and rose water into a smooth, spreadable paste.
- 3Roll the dough into sheets, spread with the spiced date paste, roll up, and slice into spirals.✎ Chef’s noteRoll the filled dough tightly and slice with a sharp knife so the spirals hold their shape and show the date swirl.
- 4Bake at 350F (180C) until pale gold, about 20 minutes.
Iraqi celebration tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Baghdad. Masgouf is cooked standing up. The carp is split down the back, salted, staked on a frame around a wood fire with the open side to the flames for close to an hour, then laid flat on the embers to finish. The riverside strip at Abu Nuwas is where Baghdadis go for it.
🗺️
Iraq. Iraqi cooking descends from ancient Mesopotamia, famous for masgouf grilled river fish, dolma, and slow-cooked stews over rice. Dates, tamarind, and dried lime lend a distinctive sweet-and-sour depth.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Iraq
Iraqi DolmaVine leaves and vegetables stuffed with tomato-and-pomegranate rice, packed tight and steamed until sweet-sour and tender.
Kahi with GeymarFlaky layered pastry baked crisp, soaked in syrup, and topped with rich clotted geymar cream.
MasgoufButterflied river fish marinated and slow-grilled over open flame, Iraq's national dish and the pride of Baghdad.
Browse all Iraq recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kleicha?
Spiced pastry spirals filled with date paste and cardamom, Iraq's national cookie, made for every celebration.
Where does Kleicha come from?
Kleicha is an Iraqi dish from Baghdad, Iraq.
Can Kleicha be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kleicha recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kleicha safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kleicha take to make?
About 70 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 24.
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