12 Middle Eastern Desserts So Rich and Fragrant You Will Want Seconds

Middle Eastern desserts are made for sharing. Think flaky layers soaked in honey syrup, crushed green pistachios, dates, rose water and orange blossom that make the whole kitchen smell like a festival. Families make them for Eid, weddings and long evenings with tea and coffee. You do not need a special bakery to enjoy them. These Middle Eastern desserts are easier than they look, and every one tastes like a warm welcome..

Honey Walnut Baklava, the Most Famous of All Middle Eastern Desserts

Golden, flaky and dripping with honey syrup, baklava is the dessert most people picture first. Thin sheets of phyllo are brushed with butter, layered with chopped walnuts and cinnamon, baked until crisp, then soaked with a cool honey syrup. The contrast of hot pastry and cold syrup is what keeps it crunchy. It keeps for days, so it is perfect for gifting. Do you like your baklava with walnuts or pistachios?

You will need: Ingredients: 1 lb phyllo dough, 1 cup melted butter, 3 cups chopped walnuts, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup honey, 1 tsp lemon juice.

How to make it: 1. Heat the oven to 350F. 2. Layer 8 buttered phyllo sheets in a 9×13 pan. 3. Sprinkle nuts and cinnamon, then add 4 more sheets, repeating to the top. 4. Cut into diamonds. 5. Bake 50 minutes. 6. Boil sugar, water and honey for 10 minutes, cool, and pour over the hot baklava.

Pistachio Baklava Squares

In Turkey, the best baklava is often made with bright green pistachios instead of walnuts. The color alone makes it special, and the flavor is buttery and a little floral. Cut it into neat squares, sprinkle extra ground pistachio on top, and serve it with strong coffee or black tea. Have you ever tried pistachio baklava?

You will need: Ingredients: 1 lb phyllo, 1 cup melted butter, 2.5 cups ground pistachios, 1.25 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 1 tsp lemon juice.

How to make it: 1. Layer buttered phyllo in a pan. 2. Spread pistachios between the layers. 3. Cut into squares before baking. 4. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. 5. Pour cooled syrup over the hot pastry. 6. Rest 4 hours before serving.

Kunafa Nests, Crunchy Middle Eastern Desserts

Kunafa is made from shredded kataifi pastry that bakes into golden crispy threads. Shape it into little nests, fill them with nuts or sweet cheese, and soak them in syrup. These Middle Eastern desserts are crunchy, sticky and beautiful on a tray. Quick poll: how do you like kunafa? A) with melty cheese B) with pistachios C) with cream D) all of the above.

You will need: Ingredients: 1 lb kataifi pastry, 3/4 cup melted butter, 1.5 cups pistachios, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup water, 1 tsp orange blossom water.

How to make it: 1. Pull the kataifi apart and toss with butter. 2. Twist handfuls into small nests in a muffin pan. 3. Fill the centers with pistachios. 4. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. 5. Pour warm syrup with orange blossom water over them.

Date Ma amoul Cookies

Ma amoul are soft, crumbly semolina cookies stuffed with date paste or nuts and pressed in a carved wooden mold. Families bake trays of them for Eid and Easter, and every home has its own pattern. A dusting of powdered sugar finishes them. They taste like a buttery cookie and a fig bar had a lovely baby.

You will need: Ingredients: 2 cups fine semolina, 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup melted butter, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp rose water, 1 cup date paste, powdered sugar.

How to make it: 1. Mix semolina, flour and butter, then rest 2 hours. 2. Add sugar and rose water to form a dough. 3. Wrap small balls of dough around date paste. 4. Press into a mold or flatten with a fork. 5. Bake at 350F for 18 minutes. 6. Dust with sugar.

Ghraybeh Butter Cookies

Ghraybeh are melt in your mouth butter cookies from Lebanon and Syria. They have only a few ingredients, so the quality of your butter matters. Press a pistachio or almond into each one and bake them pale, not brown. They are so tender they almost dissolve. What is your favorite cookie to serve with tea?

You will need: Ingredients: 1 cup ghee or soft butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 2.5 cups flour, 1 tsp orange blossom water, pistachios or almonds.

How to make it: 1. Beat the ghee and sugar until very light. 2. Add orange blossom water and flour to form a soft dough. 3. Roll into small balls. 4. Press a nut on top. 5. Bake at 300F for 15 minutes, keeping them pale. 6. Cool on the tray.

Homemade Turkish Delight, Classic Middle Eastern Desserts

Turkish delight, or lokum, is a soft, chewy sweet flavored with rose water or lemon and rolled in powdered sugar. Making it at home takes patience because you stir the pot for about an hour, but the result is so much fresher than store boxes. It is a classic gift during the holidays. Rose, lemon or orange: which flavor sounds best?

You will need: Ingredients: 4 cups sugar, 4.5 cups water, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 tsp cream of tartar, 2 tbsp rose water, powdered sugar.

How to make it: 1. Boil sugar, 1.5 cups water and lemon to 240F. 2. Whisk cornstarch, cream of tartar and remaining water until thick. 3. Slowly add the syrup and simmer, stirring, for 1 hour. 4. Add rose water. 5. Pour into an oiled pan and set overnight. 6. Cut and roll in sugar.

Muhallebi, the Gentlest of Middle Eastern Desserts

Muhallebi is a silky milk pudding scented with rose water or orange blossom and topped with crushed pistachios. It is one of the gentlest Middle Eastern desserts, perfect after a big meal. It needs only milk, sugar and a little cornstarch, and it sets in the fridge while you relax. Serve it chilled in small glasses.

You will need: Ingredients: 4 cups milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1 tbsp rose water, crushed pistachios.

How to make it: 1. Whisk the cornstarch into 1 cup of cold milk. 2. Warm the rest of the milk with the sugar. 3. Pour in the cornstarch mix and stir until thick. 4. Add rose water. 5. Pour into bowls and chill 3 hours. 6. Top with pistachios.

Walnut Stuffed Dates

Sometimes the simplest sweets are the best. Soft Medjool dates stuffed with a toasted walnut taste like caramel and crunch at the same time. They are served across the Middle East with coffee, especially during Ramadan. Dip half of each one in dark chocolate for a holiday twist. Would you try them plain or chocolate dipped?

You will need: Ingredients: 20 Medjool dates, 20 walnut halves, 2 oz dark chocolate (optional), pinch of flaky salt.

How to make it: 1. Slit each date and remove the pit. 2. Toast the walnuts for 5 minutes. 3. Tuck a walnut inside each date. 4. Melt the chocolate if using. 5. Dip half of each date and add a pinch of salt. 6. Chill until set.

Pistachio Cream Tarts

Pistachio is the star of so many Middle Eastern desserts, and these tarts let it shine. A crisp tart shell gets a layer of raspberry jam and a smooth piped pistachio cream. They look like they came from a patisserie window, but the cream is just pistachio paste whipped with mascarpone. Would you save one for later, or eat it right away?

You will need: Ingredients: 8 baked tart shells, 1/2 cup raspberry jam, 1/2 cup pistachio paste, 1 cup mascarpone, 1/2 cup cream, 3 tbsp powdered sugar, chopped pistachios.

How to make it: 1. Spread a little jam in each shell. 2. Whip the mascarpone, cream, sugar and pistachio paste. 3. Pipe it on top of the jam. 4. Sprinkle chopped pistachios. 5. Chill 30 minutes before serving.

Rolled Baklava Fingers

Rolled baklava, also called burma or sobiyet, wraps nuts in long tubes of buttery phyllo that bake into crisp fingers. They are fun to make with kids because the rolling is like making little cigars. Every bite shatters and then turns sticky with syrup. Do you like your pastry crispy or soft?

You will need: Ingredients: 1 lb phyllo, 3/4 cup melted butter, 2 cups chopped nuts, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup water, 2 tbsp honey.

How to make it: 1. Brush a phyllo sheet with butter and fold it in half. 2. Sprinkle nuts along one edge. 3. Roll up around a wooden dowel and push gently to wrinkle. 4. Slide off and line up in a pan. 5. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes. 6. Pour over cool syrup.

Pistachio Booza Ice Cream

Booza is the famous stretchy ice cream from Syria and Lebanon. It gets its chewy texture from mastic and salep, but a home version with cornstarch and lots of pistachios is still creamy and wonderful. It is one of those Middle Eastern desserts that surprises people the first time. Scoop it into bowls and top with more nuts.

You will need: Ingredients: 3 cups whole milk, 1 cup cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp rose water, 1 cup ground pistachios.

How to make it: 1. Whisk the cornstarch into some cold milk. 2. Heat the rest of the milk, cream and sugar. 3. Add the cornstarch mix and stir until thick. 4. Add rose water and pistachios, then chill. 5. Churn in an ice cream maker. 6. Freeze 4 hours.

Pistachio Rose Cake

This soft cake brings together two favorite Middle Eastern flavors: pistachio and rose. Ground nuts keep it moist for days, and a pink rose glaze with pomegranate seeds makes it look like a jewel box. Quick poll: what would you serve with it? A) mint tea B) Arabic coffee C) a cold glass of milk D) nothing, cake is enough. Hungry for more? Try our Christmas desserts from around the world next.

You will need: Ingredients: 1 cup ground pistachios, 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 tsp rose water, 1 cup powdered sugar, pomegranate seeds.

How to make it: 1. Heat the oven to 350F. 2. Whisk eggs, sugar, oil, yogurt and rose water. 3. Fold in flour, baking powder and pistachios. 4. Bake in a loaf pan for 40 minutes. 5. Mix powdered sugar with a little rose water for the glaze. 6. Pour over and add pomegranate seeds.