Qatayef

If you know someone of Arab heritage, and you merely mention the word Qatayef, I can pretty much guarantee you will have their full undivided attention. You see, this stuffed pocket of goodness is one of the most delicious desserts to ever come out of the Middle East. What's not to love? A soft crepe, filled with a sweetened smooth cheese, or a spiced walnut mixture, folded and smothered in butter, baked or fried until crisp and then drenched in syrup. Ohhh yaaaa....

If you want to enjoy this, and feel some serious guilt (because there's NO way you can just east one or two... more like seven) give the recipe a try.

Ingredients

Crepe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup warm water

1/2 milk (room temperature)

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp dry active yeast

Filling - Cheese

2 cups smooth ricotta cheese

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp lemon zest
*can be severed with crushed pistachio 

Filling - Nuts

2 cups crushed walnuts

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Syrup

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tbsp orange blossom water

(cook in saucepan and let simmer on low heat for 10 minutes)

Method

In a large bowl add yeast, warm water and buttermilk. Mix and let stand 5 minutes. In the bowl of your electric mixer, add remaining dry ingredients. On low speed, slowly pour the wet ingredients and slowly raise the speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes. Cover the bowl with the batter with a towel for 20 minutes.

When ready to make, lightly grease and heat a pan or griddle and pour 1/4 cup of the batter per each crepe. When the open face is covered with bubbles, remove from pan. Do NOT flip like a pancake. Then choose your mixture, fill with 2 tbsp and fold closed into a crescent moon shape by pinching the edges. When complete, place on large cookie sheet, brush each one with a bit of melted butter and bake in oven at 400F for 10-12 minutes so they crisp up. Then pour syrup over top when ready to eat. This recipe will yield 16 Qatayef.

Enjoy!