Kleicha with Date Filling

Pour off half of the warm milk, stir in the dry yeast and sugar, and let stand for 5 minutes until foamy.

Combine the flour, salt, ground mahleb, and nigella seeds. Add the melted butter, the yeast mixture, and the remaining warm milk; knead for 5 minutes into a soft but fairly firm dough. Cover and let rise for 25 minutes.

For the filling, warm the ghee in a saucepan, add the fennel seeds and cardamom, then stir in the date paste and cook over low heat, stirring, until pliable. Mix in the sesame seeds and let the filling cool to room temperature.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 6 mm thick. Separately, flatten the date filling between two sheets of parchment to the same size, place it on the dough, and remove the parchment.

Cut the rectangle lengthwise in half, roll each half into a long log with the filling inside, flatten the logs slightly, brush with beaten egg, and cut into pieces about 1.5 cm wide.

Arrange the pieces seam-side down on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 182°C for 15 minutes. Switch on the top heat and brown the kleicha for another 1–2 minutes, watching closely.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and serve with hot tea.