Date Bracelet Cookies (Ka'ak Asawer)

4.87 from 22 votes

Date bracelet cookies, known as ka'ak asawer, are aromatic Palestinian cookies stuffed with date paste that are amazing with a cup of tea or coffee.

Servings: cookies

Start by mixing the dry ingredients. Flour, aniseeds, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add in the olive oil and mix by hand until the flour mixture gets the texture of wet sand. Gradually add in the warm water and knead by hand until your dough is smooth and shiny (knead for at least 5 minutes).
Divide the dough into equal parts and roll into little balls. This recipe will give you around 20 cookies, so divide accordingly.

Make your date paste. Blend pitted dates and hot water using a hand immersion blender. Mix your date paste with cardamom (and optionally a tablespoon of olive oil).

Roll a little ball of dough into a log, then flatten with your hands. Fill with date paste in the middle. Fold the dough over the date paste so you have a cylinder. Pinch both ends and fold into a circle, then use your finger to press both ends together.
Repeat until all your dough is rolled into cookies.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 ℉ (180 ℃) for 25-30 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden. Cool before serving.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Flour: Make these cookies with white all-purpose flour and with wholemeal flour. If you prefer wholemeal, use equal parts wholemeal and white flour, because the texture will be off if you only use wholemeal flour.
Fat substitutes: You can use half olive oil and half ghee. I'm personally not a huge fan of the flavor ghee gives these cookies, and I think olive oil compliments them just perfectly. But it's really up to you.