Homemade Halawet el‑Jibn (Sweet Cheese Rolls)

Ingredients

• 1 small coffee cup sugar syrup (qatir)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup fine semolina or very fine flour
• 3 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded or finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoons rose water
• 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
• Syrup (qatir/shira) for serving
• Filling for the halawet el‑jibn (cream filling):
• Quresha (fresh cheese):
• 1 cup milk powder
• 3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• Cooked cream (ashta):
• 3 tablespoons milk powder
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 can Qeemar cream (optional)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• How to prepare the filling (the cream filling):
• Start with the quresha: put 1 cup milk powder with 3 cups water in a pot. At boiling, add the vinegar and let it boil for up to 5 minutes. Strain well and let the quresha cool to room temperature.
• In another pot, prepare the cooked cream: put all the cooked‑cream ingredients together and stir until boiling. When the mixture thickens slightly, remove from heat.
• Reem Al‑Sadiq
• For more delicious Arabic sweets see: Macaron Dessert Recipe

Method

1. Put the coffee cup of syrup and 1 cup of water in a pot on the heat. When it boils, add the cheese and semolina gradually, stirring with a wooden spoon from the bottom up.
2. Add the rose water and orange blossom water and continue stirring from bottom up. When the dough becomes cohesive and elastic due to the melted cheese, remove from the heat.
3. Pour syrup on a clean surface or table, then immediately roll out the hot dough with a rolling pin, flattening it thinly while still hot.
4. Cut the rolled dough lengthwise into strips wide enough to fold around the filling twice.
5. Spread the cream filling along the length of the dough, then roll the dough twice around the filling.
6. Cut the long roll into medium‑sized sticks — you will get halawet el‑jibn fingers.
7. Serve the halawet el‑jibn with syrup (qatir) for dipping.
8. Mix the hot cooked cream with the quresha immediately while hot and stir well.
9. Let the cream filling cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator before using it to fill the halawet el‑jibn.
10. Note: The homemade cream used here is a mixture of the quresha and the cooked cream — it’s used in many cream‑based Arabic desserts.