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Side view of a pile of sweet cheese rolls on a slate board with a spoon of syrup being poured on top

Sweet Cheese Rolls (Halawet el Jibn)

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!

Course Dessert
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Resting Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 30 pieces
Calories 130 kcal
Author Deana Kabakibi

Ingredients

  • 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

Instructions

  1. 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.

  2. Add semolina and stir until it is well combined.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. Top with crushed pistachio and sugar syrup and serve!

Recipe Notes

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.