Knafeh

ByRose
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What is Knafeh (Kanafa)?

Knafeh is popular Lebanese and Middle Eastern dessert made with a layer of shredded Phyllo dough, a layer of sweet cheese and a special knafeh filling mixture. Lebanese knafeh is then topped with a simple syrup, making a delicious savory and sweet dessert. It is also known as kanafa, kunafa, kanafeh or knafe.

kunafa

In Middle Eastern cuisine Knafeh is a traditional breakfast, much like waffles or pancakes in the US. This impressive dessert is best served hot or warm. Making knafeh looks more intimidating that it actually does. The hardest part about this recipe, is finding the ingredients, especially the phyllo dough. 

Lebanese Knafeh

Ingredients you Need to Make Lebanese Knafeh: 

Shredded Phyllo Dough:

Shredded phyllo dough can be found at any Middle Eastern store or you can order it online. Our local Middle Eastern store carries Ziyad Brand Kataifi. Shredded phyllo dough comes frozen or dried, both work for this recipe. If you buy the frozen one, make sure it’s completely thawed and at room temperature before using. Once it’s thawed, you can then break it up into smaller pieces by pulsing it a few times in your food processor.  

Cheese:

A mix of ricotta and mozzarella cheese.

Butter:

To mix it with shredded phyllo dough and create the knafeh crust. 

Milk:

To make the knafeh filling.

Sugar:

Few tablespoons to sweeten the filling mixture. 

Cream of wheat:

Or fine semolina flour, works as a thickener for the knafeh filling.

Simple syrup:

Can be easily made with sugar and water. I like to add rosewater and a slice of lemon for extra flavor. 

homemade knafeh

How to Make Lebanese Knafeh Recipe: 

  • Make the Sugar Syrup: The first step to making this knafeh recipe, starts with making this simple sugar syrup- combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and place on a medium high heat, mix well until sugar is well dissolved and bring mixture to a boil. Stir in lemon juice, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 8-10 minutes. remove from heat, stir in rose water if you’d like and set aside to cool down. Sugar syrup needs to be completely cooled down before topping the knafeh. 
  • Prepare phyllo dough crust: Place thawed phyllo dough in a food processor to finely shred it into smaller pieces.  Transfer to a medium sized bowl, and mix with melted butter until all pieces are coated with butter.
  • Prepare the cheese Mixture: In a medium size bowl, mix together shredded mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese. I like to shred my own mozzarella cheese, but you can use the already shredded mozzarella bag. Make sure they are not salted.
  •  Make the knafeh cheesecake Filling: In a small non-stick pan, over medium heat combine milk, cream of wheat or fine semolina and sugar, whisking constantly to work out any lumps. Bring mixture to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes and until the mixture thickens.

Assemble the Kanafa:  

  • Preheat oven to 375 F.
  • Coat the bottom of a 9-inch baking pan with baking spray.
  • Add a layer of the buttered shredded Phyllo dough to bottom of the pan, spread it firmly and evenly.

how to assemble the kunafa

  • Add a layer of the shredded mozzarella and ricotta cheese mixture.
  • Top the cheese with a layer of the knafeh filling.

assembly

  • Bake until bubbly and browned a little on the side and top- about 40 minutes. 
  • Remove pan from oven and wait a few minutes just until its comfortable to handle but still warm. 
  • Using a butter knife, scrape the sides of the knafeh, if they are sticking to the sides of the pan. 
  • Invert (you might need kitchen mittens) the pan into a serving plate. The shredded Phyllo dough will be the top of the Knafeh.

kanafa

  • Pour half of the cooled sugar syrup over the knafeh and garnish with crushed pistachios on top of the knafeh, if using. Reserve the rest the sugar syrup for serving with each piece on the side.
  • Enjoy!

knafeh

More Lebanese Desserts?

Lebanese Milk Pudding- Mahalabia

Baklava

Date Roll Cookies

Sfouf- Lebanese Cake

If you like this knafeh Lebanese style recipe or any other recipe on The Salt and Sweet Kitchen, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! You can also follow me on my Instagram page for more recipes!

The Best Kanafeh Recipe: 

Lebanese dessert

Knafeh

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Knafeh is a delicious Middle Eastern savory and sweet dessert.

Ingredients

For Knafe Filling

For Rose water syrup

Instructions

Start by making the sugar syrup:

  1. In a small sauce pan, combine sugar and water over medium-high heat. Stir well.
  2. Bring mixture to a boil.
  3. Add lemon juice.
  4. Lower heat to medium low and simmer for another 10 minutes.
  5. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the rosewater, give it a quick stir.
  6. Set aside and let it completely cool down before topping your knafeh.

Get the Phyllo dough ready:

  1. Use a food processor to finely shred the Phyllo dough into smaller pieces. They will look about the size of vermicelli.
  2. Transfer to a medium sized bowl, and mix with melted butter until all pieces are coated with butter.


Make the Knafeh filling:

  1. In a small non-stick pan, over medium heat combine milk, cream of wheat and sugar, whisking constantly to work out any lumps.
  2. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until you bring the mixture to a boil and until the mixture thickens. (Frequent stirring is essential to avoid the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan).
  3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 5 minutes.
  4. Set aside.

To get the Knafeh ready for baking:

    1. Preheat oven to 370 F.
    2. Coat the bottom of a 9-inch cheesecake springform pan with baking spray.
    3. Add the mixture of shredded Phyllo dough and butter to the bottom of the pan, spread it firmly and evenly.
    4. Add a layer of the shredded Mozzarella cheese.
    5. Top the pan with a layer of the knafeh mixture.
    6. Bake for 40 minutes. or until the sides are golden brown.
    7. Remove pan from oven and set aside until its comfortable to handle.

TO SERVE:

  1. Place a flat serving plate on top of the pan and using both hands flip the pan over onto the plate. Keep the pan in place upside down for a couple minutes to help keep the knafeh in shape.
  2. Then slowly start raising the pan to release the formed knafeh. The shredded Phyllo dough will be the top of the Kanafeh.
  3. Pour half of the cooled sugar syrup over the knafeh. Reserve the rest for serving with each piece.
  4. Garnish with crushed pistachios on top of the kanafeh, if using.
  5. Serve each Knafeh piece with the remaining sugar syrup on the side.
  6. Enjoy!

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 349Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 230mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 10g

Please note that the nutrition label provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.

Did you make this recipe?

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© Rose- The Salt and Sweet Kitchen
Cuisine: Lebanese / Category: Desserts

28 Comments

  1. I’m having a hard time getting the filling to thicken. Should I just add more cream of wheat? It spills out from my pan as it’s cooking.

    Reply

    1. Hello Amy, the filling doesn’t need to be too thick. It’s ok if it was a little runny, but feel free to add more cream of wheat to thicken it a bit 🙂

      Reply

  3. Thank you so much for the recipe! Everyone at home loved it. I thought it would be complicated, but it was easier than baking a cake. Not to mention your instructions were very clear, I love it!
    Thanks again!

    Reply

    1. Hello Noor,
      Yes, you can assemble the Knafeh the night before, warp in an airtight plastic wrap and place in the fridge till the next day. Try to bring it to room temperature before baking or just increase the baking time by few minutes. Knafeh is best enjoyed warm, so this is actually the best way to ensure you eat it fresh! Hope this helps.

      Reply

    1. Wow, Mike! You’re on the roll with trying all these Lebanese recipes! So happy you and your family have been liking The Salt and Sweet Kitchen’s recipes 🙂 Knafeh is a favorite of mine!

      Reply

  6. Store bought shredded mozzarella cheese bag comes salted, is it okay to use it?
    I didn’t find unsalted bag.
    Do I have to do something to it before baking ?

    Reply

    1. Hello Mike,
      Shredded salted mozzarella cheese won’t work for knafeh. If you are located in the US, I always buy BELGIOIOSO CHEESE, it works great. If not, I know in Lebanon, they buy regular salted mozzarella, and they soak it for few days in water in the fridge. Keep changing water, until it loses most of its salt. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  7. My only question is what about the ricotta cheese as you haven’t mentioned whether to put it along with the mozerella oR not. The rest sounds very good especially the cream of wheat – will definitely try after I hear from you thanks a lot

    Reply

    1. Hello Mila, sorry about that. Yes, I add Mozzarella and ricotta cheese together. Hope this helps, let me know how it turns out for you!

      Reply

  8. I made this knafeh recipe with my husband. We loved how simple yet delicious it turned out to be! Thank you for sharing a recipe.

    Reply

  9. This kunafa recipe was exceptionally good! I love that you make the semolina Pudding with it. Other recipes only include cheese! So good.

    Reply

  11. Great recipe, very easy and my husband said it tasted just like Lebanon. I skipped the ricotta and used “sweet cheese” that I got at a middle Eastern grocery store

    Reply

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