Pistachio Knafeh Chocolate Bar Recipe

Pistachio Knafeh Chocolate Bar Recipe

If you've been wanting to try the viral knafeh chocolate bar from The FIX in Dubai, this recipe is for you! This copycat recipe has all the flavors of the original: a decadent filling of sweet pistachio cream, crisp buttery toasted kataifi, and a hint of tahini enrobed in rich chocolate.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Arabic and Middle Eastern

Keyword Knafeh Chocolate Bar, Viral Dubai Chocolate Bar

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 0

Other Time: 1

Servings chocolate bars

Calories 643kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Equipment

Silicone chocolate bar mold

Ingredients

Decoration:

Edible gold luster dust (optional)
50 grams white chocolate chopped
Liquid green food coloring or blue and yellow food coloring (optional)

Chocolate Coating:

150 grams milk chocolate chopped
150 grams 70% dark chocolate chopped

Pistachio Kataifi Filling:

2 tablespoons salted butter or unsalted butter + a pinch of salt
1 cup chopped kataifi lightly packed (1 cup chopped kataifi is about 90g)
1/2 cup pistachio cream or up to 1/4 cup more if desired (1/2 cup pistachio cream is about 120g)
1 tablespoon tahini (1 tablespoon tahini is about 15g)
2 tablespoons shelled unsalted pistachios toasted and finely chopped (2 tablespoons pistachios is about 15g)

Instructions

Decorate:

Dip a brand new small paintbrush or cotton swab into the edible gold luster dust and dab it haphazardly inside your chocolate candy bar mold. Don’t overdo it, we just want a few spots of gold luster.
Melt the white chocolate in a microwave-save bowl in the microwave or in a double boiler. Stir in green food coloring (a drop or two at a time) or a blend of blue and yellow food colorings until it reaches your desired shade of green.
Randomly drizzle the green chocolate in the molds with the edible gold luster dust. Be sure not to add too much, we want to be able to see the milk/dark chocolate too.
Let the green chocolate set.

Coat the Molds with Chocolate:

Melt the milk and dark chocolate together in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave or in a double boiler, and stir gently to combine. (If you want to properly temper it, I give instructions for how to temper chocolate in the post above.)
Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted chocolate into each mold on top of the gold dust and green chocolate. You can use a spoon to spread the chocolate evenly across the mold and up the sides, or pick up the mold, rotate it to evenly coat the inside with chocolate, and let the excess drip out.
Let the chocolate set. (You can pop it in the fridge if you want it to set faster.)
Meanwhile, make the filling.

Make the Pistachio Kataifi Filling:

Add the butter to a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Once mostly melted, stir in the kataifi. Continue cooking until the kataifi is golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. You can turn the heat down slightly as necessary if it starts to cook too quickly in spots. Once the kataifi is golden, transfer it to a large bowl and set aside until the chocolate in the molds is hardened. (Don’t leave it in the hot skillet or it can scorch.)
When the chocolate has hardened enough to be able to fill it, finish making the filling. To the bowl with the kataifi, add the pistachio cream, tahini, and chopped pistachios. Stir the mixture, adding more pistachio cream if necessary to reach your desired consistency.

Add the Kataifi Filling and Top with Chocolate:

Add about 4 teaspoons of the kataifi filling to each chocolate mold, spreading or smoothing it out evenly into each.
Add about 1 tablespoon of melted chocolate on top, smoothing it out (a kitchen bench scraper can be helpful here).
Let the chocolate bars set before removing from the molds.

Notes

Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes 6 candy bars, and the nutritional information given is for 1 bar. They are quite rich and indulgent, and I recommend 1/2 or 1/3 of a bar as a serving.
Candy Bar Mold Size: The mold I used was 4.5 inches long by 1.9 inches wide by 0.6 inches deep. The amounts given for this recipe are based on this mold. If you use different a mold, your amounts and yield will vary.
Storage: Store these chocolate bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. In general, chocolate should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place, but not necessarily the fridge. However, these chocolate bars need to be refrigerated because of the dairy in the pistachio cream filling.
The Kataifi Will Soften Over Time: After you make these chocolate bars, the kataifi will absorb some of the moisture in the filling, which does cause the kataifi to soften. This is why I recommend making these chocolate bars on the same day you want to eat them for the best flavor and texture. And this is also why I add a little bit of finely chopped pistachios to the filling; to bump up the crunch factor a bit.
Don't Overstuff with Filling: You need to leave enough space in the molds so you can add more chocolate to seal the bars. If you want a super thick filling, look for thicker molds.
Tempering the Chocolate: Properly tempered chocolate is glossy, doesn't melt on your fingertips when you touch it, and snaps beautifully when you bite into it. See the post above for full instructions on how to temper chocolate.
Pistachio Cream: You don't have to make your own pistachio cream, but it's a heck of a lot more cost-effective than buying a jar of it. A jar around 200g grams typically costs around $15USD (check it out for yourself on Amazon), which is approximately what it costs to buy a 1 1/4-pound bag of shelled pistachios! And bonus, homemade pistachio cream is easy to make, as well as fresher and more delicious than store-bought.
Kataifi: Kataifi is shredded phyllo dough. I buy it frozen at my local Arabic grocery store, but you can also find it at Greek or other Mediterranean grocery stores. When you buy it frozen, it typically comes in long, thin strands that you'll need to chop to make this recipe. You can also find dried chopped kataifi on Amazon, which will work fine for this recipe.

Nutrition