KAHK - EGYPTIAN COOKIES
Kahk are traditional Egyptian Cookies that are generally baked during Eid. These cookies are amazingly tasty with a fabulous fine crumb, melt in the mouth texture, and aromatic.
Ingredients
FOR THE DOUGH
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg powder
- ½ tsp instant yeast
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds roasted
- 1 cup ghee solid part
- ⅓ -½ cup milk or water warm
FOR THE AGAMEYA FILLING
- 1 tbsp ghee solid
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds roasted
- ¼ cup pistachios coarse powder
- ¼ cup walnuts coarse powder
OTHER INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
PREPARATION OF THE DOUGH
- Sieve flour, spices, salt, baking powder and yeast together.
- Add the roasted sesame seeds and mix.
- Add ghee in a mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar.
- Using your food processor or hand whisk, cream the ghee and sugar till it becomes pale in colour. I used a food processor and it took 10 minutes.
- Add the flour mixture. Turn on the machine again. Allow the dough to be mixed with the ghee. It should resemble like cookie crumbs or sand.
- At first add ⅓ cup liquid to the flour ghee mixture. Using your hand, knead the dough gently to bring it together.
- If the dough appears dry, add 1 tbsp liquid at a time till you have a pliable dough.
- Take a small piece of the dough, roll and press it. If no cracks are formed, the dough is good. If it cracks then you may need to add more liquid, tbsp at a time.
- Cover the dough with cling film or a lid and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes.
PREPARATION OF AGAMEYA, THE FILLING
- Melt the ghee in a wide pan over low to medium heat.
- Add the flour and roast it till it turns dark brown. This takes about 5-7 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat. Add sesame seeds and honey.
- Return the pan to the heat. Mix till the mixture becomes thick.
- Take the pan off the heat. Add the nuts and mix well.
- Allow the filling to cool down for 10 minutes.
PREPARATION OF THE COOKIES
- Preheat the oven to 180℃.
- Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
- Divide the filling into 20 parts. Roughly each part is about 1 tsp.
- Roll them into balls.
- Now divide the dough. You can use a weighing scale and weigh each part into 20g. Or use a tablespoon measure.
- Roll them into balls. Make sure there are no cracks. If cracks appear wet the hand slightly with water and roll the dough.
- I added the filling to 20 balls. The rest were baked without any filling.
- Take one part of the dough ball and using your fingers, shape into a cup.
- Place the filling ball in it. Cover it up with the dough. Repeat till all the filling is used up.
- Make sure no cracks appear, so roll them properly.
- Arrange the dough balls in the baking tray.
- Using a cookie press or a fork, make patterns on top of each dough ball.
- Bake the cookies for 20 minutes or till the bottom is light golden in colour.
- Allow the cookies to cool in the tray for 5 minutes.
- Move them to a wire rack and allow them to cool down completely.
- Sprinkle the cookies with powdered or icing sugar before serving them.
Notes
If the cookies become brown on top, lower the temperature to 160°C for the next batch.
Add filling of your choice.
Amount of liquid required for the dough will depend on the flour. Some absorb more liquid than others.
Can bake them without filling.