Gluten Free, Vegan Klaicha - Date Filled Cookies

• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan
• pinch of Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt
• ½ cup rapadura sugar
• 250g / 9 oz vegan spread like Earth Balance or Nuttelex
• 3 tsp pure rose water
• ¼ cup filtered water

Date filling

• 250g / 9 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) pitted dates
• 2 Tbsp Earth Balance vegan buttery spread

1. Sift flours and xanthan into a mixing bowl and combine well. Add in the sugar and mix evenly.
2. Cut room temperature butter into small pieces and rub into flour with fingertips until distributed evenly. I do this in a food processor and just keep pulsing until the butter is evenly distributed and there are no clumps. Don’t walk away and leave the machine on or you will end up with a butter ball.
3. Mix the rose water with the filtered water and sprinkle onto flour mixture. Pulse again to form a firm dough and then knead lightly until smooth. Cover the dough with cling film and rest for about 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile make the filling – Chop the dates and then gently heat them on low with the butter, stirring until the dates have softened, about 5 – 10 minutes, depending on your dates. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. Roll the dough into small round balls about the size of a large walnut or tablespoon.
6. Flatten each ball like a pancake in the palm of your hand and place a teaspoonful of the date filling in the centre. Fold over the edges of the dough to close over and cover the date filling. Roll the dough back into a ball with your hands. This can be a bit tricky if you fill the balls with too much filling.
7. If you want to be really traditional you can press each ball into a special Middle Eastern carved mould similar to a tabi. Alternatively, (which is the way I did it) press each side of the ball with a fork to indent, slightly flatten, and then press the sides of the balls to round up, before placing on a baking sheet.
8. Bake in the oven at about 160 C / 325 F oven for 30 minutes until lightly browned.
9. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray as they will firm up and get a little bit more crispy. Store in a sealed container for use later – if they last that long. It is pretty hard to stop at one! YUM!