Sweet Cheese Rolls, aka Halawet el Jibn are a simple, unique dessert that is sweet and creamy! Sweet cheese may sound weird at first, but you have to try them! They are incredibly delicious and they look beautiful too!
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Sweet Cheese Rolls are one of my favorite desserts! They are so unique and sooo addictive! What’s worse is that you can’t help but eat like ten of them at a time! They are cut into these cute little bite sized pieces so you don’t realize that once you start, you can’t stop! But hey, you don’t need to, this recipe seems like it makes a lot, but these babies go fast!
A lot of Middle Eastern desserts have cheese in them. If you’re not familiar with Middle Eastern dessert, eating sweet cheese may sound weird or gross to you. But, I can’t emphasize enough how delicious sweet cheese desserts are or how much you’re going to love them as soon as you try them! Sooooo, give it a shot! I’m pretty sure you’re going to be hooked!
Some other great Middle Eastern style desserts to try are Kanafeh Cones with Tahini Mascarpone, Date Cake with Chocolate Tahini Drizzle and Semolina cake!
Find our Sugar Syrup recipe here!
A perfectly unique dessert that isn't as hard to make as it looks! It's sweet and creamy and once you try one, you won't be able to stop eating these bite sized wonders!
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup sugar, white
- 2 tablespoons rose water (orange blossom water)
- 1 cup semolina, fine
- 2 cups mozzarella, shredded
- 2 cups table cream
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add water and sugar and bring to a simmer. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add rose water and stir.
Add semolina and stir until it is well combined.
Add mozzarella cheese and stir continuously until a dough begins to form. It will start off stretchy and messy but keep stirring until the dough-like texture comes together.
Allow the dough to cool just enough to be able to handle it, about 5-10 min. Then take the dough and knead it until it is even and smooth. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces.
You can either spread some syrup on your counter/surface to prevent the dough from sticking and roll it out on that, or use plastic wrap. Taking one half of the dough, roll it out with a rolling pin or use your hands to make as close to a rectangle shape as you can. Cut off all the edges so you have clean, sharp lines.
Start about 1/2" from the edge of the dough, and with a spoon, take some of your table cream and spread it out in a log shape from left to right. You want the cream to be about 1/2" in thickness.
Then with that 1/2" of dough, you will pull it up and over the cream and roll it over until the cream is covered and the dough overlaps. Then with a sharp knife, slice closely to the end of the roll from left to right. Repeat this process until all the dough is finished.
Line up all your now filled log roles and slice them into smaller pieces about 1 1/2" wide or smaller if you prefer, cutting through all the rows from top to bottom.
Top with crushed pistachio and sugar syrup and serve!
You can find our recipe link for Sugar Syrup at the end of the post. Also, you can add a teaspoon of rose water to the sugar syrup if you would like. You can also add more cream to the filling as you go if you feel you would like more.
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