Healthier Homemade Classic Stuffed Qatayef (Middle Eastern Pancakes)
Qatayef  (Atayef) are a staple Ramadan dessert. I look forward to eating them each Ramadan 😋. It is a sort of sweet dumpling or folded pancakes that is served with many filling variations. This year, I prepared a healthy vegetarian version from scratch which tasted better than the store-bought. I stuffed them with nuts, baked them to perfection and finally dunked them in a honey syrup.
Healthier Homemade Classic Stuffed Qatayef (Middle Eastern Pancakes)
Yield: 20 qatayef
Calories: 97kcal
Equipment
- Stove Top
- Oven
Materials
The Batter
- 2 cup Wholemeal flour
- 1½ cup Warm water
- 1 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1 tsp Instant yeast
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- â…› tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Canola oil
The Filling
- ¼ cup Roasted walnuts chopped
- ¼ cup Roasted Almonds chopped
- ¼ cup Roasted Pistachios chopped
- ¼ cup Coconut flakes shredded
- 1 tsp Coconut oil
- 1 tbsp Brown sugar
The Syrup
- ¼ cup  Honey
- â…› cup Hot water
Instructions
Preparing the qatayef
- In a bowl, add 1 cup of warm water, 1 tbsp sugar and yeast. Leave for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in another bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder.
- Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. Add gradually the remaining ½ cup of warm water to the mixture and whisk vigorously until there are no lumps. The batter should have the consistency of pancake batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for around 15 minutes.
- Heat a drop of canola oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. using a small ladle, pour the batter creating small circles of qatayef.Allow to cook on one side. You will notice lots of bubbles forming. Cook until the surface is longer wet, and the bottom is golden brown.
- Now your qatayef are ready.
- Store the prepared qatayef in an oven dish covered with a clean towel, so they don't dry out.
Preparing the filling
- In a small bowl, add the chopped almonds, pistachios, walnuts, shredded coconut and 1 tbsp sugar.
- In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil and add the filling ingredients. Heat for short until the nuts are coated with the coconut oil.
Preparing the syrup
- To prepare the syrup, mix the honey and the boiled water in a bowl. Leave to cool.
Assembling
- Preheat oven to 200°C.Add a little from the filling mixture in the center of the qatayef.
- Fold the qatayef and pinch the sides firmly.
- Place the stuffed qatayef on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Brush the qatayef with canola oil.Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp
- Dunk each of the qatayef while it is hot in the cooled syrup.Transfer them to a serving plate and garnish with chopped pistachios.Serve hot to enjoy them crunchy!
