"The star of the show every ramadan. These light and fluffy Middle Eastern “pancakes” are stuffed with cheese or walnuts and then drenched in simple syrup."
Atayef
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- Recipe Card
Prep time 45mins
Cook time 25mins
Serves or Makes: 36
Recipe Card
For the Batter
ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 1/2 cups cold milk
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups fine semolina
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon active dry Yeast
- 1/2 teasopon Baking Soda
For the Batter
Method
Step 1
Using a blender, pour the water and milk in first. Add all the dry ingredients, except the Baking Soda. Blend for 20 seconds until incorporated. Don’t overblend. See notes for using an immersion blender.
Step 2
Allow the batter to rest for 20 minutes, meanwhile preheat your griddle to 375 F.
Step 3
Once rested, add the baking soda, and 1 tbsp water, blend for 5 seconds to mix it in. If you overblend your batter will need to rest again.
Step 4
Pour your atayef batter onto your griddle in the desired size you want. Once it bubbles and drys remove it from the griddle. Don’t flip it to cook the other side. Instead, flip it onto a towel or pillowcase. You want the bubbly side down so it doesn’t dry out. Allow to cool. Repeat until you finish the batter.
Step 5
To stuff your atayef, fold it in half, bubble side in. Pinch the seams together halfway up so you are left with a cone like atayef. Stuff with desired filling and then pinch the seams the rest of the way up.
Step 6
Rub each Atayef with ghee or clarified butter. You can deep fry, saute or bake them. I prefer baking. Bake on a sheet pan at 450 F for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Don’t over bake so the cheese doesn’t ooze out. Once they’re done, drench them in simple syrup and enjoy!
Filling
ingredients
- 1 pound Sweet Cheese
- 1 pound fresh Mozzarella
- 3 cups finely chopped Walnuts
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Filling
Step 1
Cube your sweet cheese and pulse it with the slices of fresh mozzarella. Set aside.
Step 2
Finely chop your walnuts and mix in the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
Simple Syrup
ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 3 cups sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
Simple Syrup
Step 1
Pour the water into a saucepan. Turn the heat on medium high. Pour the sugar into the middle of the water so it doesn’t splatter onto the sides of the pan. Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
Step 2
Squeeze in a 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice. Allow the syrup to boil on a low heat for an additional 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.