Dubai cookies are TikTok‘s latest viral dessert trend—and pistachio lovers can’t get enough. Inspired by the wildly viral Dubai chocolate bar, this new sweet treat uses a brown butter cookie base and stuffs it with pistachio creme and kataifi, a shredded pastry that gives it a signature crunch.
The result is a crispy, gooey, green-centered cookie that has been taking over social media feds all through March. But Dubai cookies are just the beginning—TikTok specifically is full of inventive takes and twists on the recipe, from brownies to lattes—and even cheeseburgers.
What are Dubai cookies, and how do you make them?
To make Dubai cookies, start with a typical chocolate chip cookie recipe. The brown butter variety is particularly popular. Then, once the dough is ready, the trick is to stuff it with a mixture of pistachio cream or butter and kataifi. The shredded Middle Eastern pastry looks like thin noodles or long hashbrowns and has a texture like the wafers in Kit Kat bars.
The trickiest part of the recipe is finding some of these ingredients. You might need to shop online for the key two.
After stirring the kataifi and pistachio together until all the shredded pastry dough is covered, you want to stuff that into your cookie dough balls. Some accomplish this by making two flat rounds of cookie dough and putting the kataifi and pistachio mixture in between like a sandwich, then rounding out the results into an oblong ball.
As a result, your cookies have a green cream in the middle when you break them apart and an intoxicating texture. Recipe videos for Dubai cookies have been getting massive traction all month, with @alexisvacoba gaining 2.4 million views for her entry on March 6, which is only 13 seconds long.
What is Dubai chocolate?
Similar to the cookies, Dubai Chocolate takes the kataifi and pistachio cream and puts it in a chocolate bar, sometimes with the addition of tahini paste. The large, stuffed bars are the creation of Sarah Hamouda, founder of FIX Dessert Chocolatier. It all started as a pregnancy craving.
“I was looking for something unique and fulfilling that I couldn’t find in typical desserts,” she told Falstaff. “I wanted to create chocolate bars that combined different textures and flavors, leading to the concept of ‘extra-filled’ bars that offer a satisfying and rich experience.”
Her creation went mega-viral on TikTok after users discovered it, leading to unboxing and tasting videos that did massive numbers. User @mariavehera257 has gathered over 121 million views with one entry in which all she does is eat Dubai chocolate bars for the camera. These things are made for mukbang videos.
Others, like @touchdalight, gained millions of views with chocolate bar comparison videos, since these confections can get rather expensive.
@touchdalight this actually really surprised me #dubai #chocolate #foodreview ♬ Crystal Waters Gypsy Woman (Live) – Dj djacky mix
More Dubai chocolate recipes
@tinekeyounger Making the viral Dubai chocolate covered strawberries
♬ original sound – Tini
The Dubai chocolate phenomenon has so gripped the internet that multiple variations on the original have gone viral on TikTok and other platforms. Back in January, it was the Dubai chocolate strawberry cup. This was such a sensation that the Daily Dot’s Eilish O’Sullivan tried making it herself a couple weeks ago.
In addition to the Dubai cookies, TikTokers have tried brownie recipes in this style, layering pistachio cream and kataifi between the brownie and chocolate icing. Others have found ways to get joints like Dunkin Donuts to make drinks like a Dubai chocolate latte. Or, if you’re insane, you could try the Dubai chocolate cheeseburger.
One of the biggest sensations, however, might be the Dubai chocolate peanut butter sold by Nerdy Nuts. People often call it “Dubai chocolate in a jar,” though obviously they include peanut butter in the mix with chocolate chips, pistachio cream, and kataifi. Just open a jar and eat it with a spoon.
Dubai peanut butter chocolate chip cookies when? Get on it, TikTok.
The Daily Dot has reached out to FIX Dessert Chocolatier for comment via Instagram.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
