Kaak

كعك

Butter biscuits with icing sugar

Buttery biscuits with sesame seeds covered in icing sugar.

Made in other parts of the Arabic speaking world in a variety of styles, Sudanese kaak are crumbly, buttery, slightly nutty, and smothered in icing sugar. They are a firm favourite of many though getting the right texture can prove tricky for novices.

Kaak

Butter biscuits with icing sugar

كعك

Buttery biscuits with sesame seeds covered in icing sugar.

Ingredients

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sesame seeds, baking powder, ¼ teaspoon cardamom, the sugar, and salt. Add the warmed ghee and dissolve into the dough by pressing between fingers until evenly distributed. Once the batter is cool, pour in the milk and knead into a firm and malleable dough similar to pie crust. Leave the dough to rest for 2 to 3 minutes.
Flatten the dough using clean hands at first then use a rolling pin into a thickness of about 2cm. Use a 2 inch/5cm circular dough cutter to cut each biscuit. Combine the scraps and reroll, cutting biscuits until the dough finishes.
Make a hash symbol with a fork on the tops of each circle and arrange on the baking tray. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool down completely for up to 30 minutes on the tray or on a cooling rack. Once cooled, mix the icing sugar and remaining ½ teaspoon cardamom in a deep and wide dish. Place the biscuits in the mixture and turn a few times each until fully coated with a layer of icing sugar. Dust off any excess sugar, stack, and serve.

Optional

Add 50ml water to the cooled batter instead of milk for a drier and harder biscuit.
If shaped dough cutters are not available, anything around the house can be used to cut circles out of the dough, such as plastic lids or small glasses.
Add ½ teaspoon edible camphor to the dry ingredients.

Kaak

Kaak

Ingredients

Directions

Optional

Hint

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