Fatayer Jebneh - Arabic Cheese Pies #BreadBakers

A soft yeast dough filled with a blend of three salty cheeses, cilantro and nigella seeds, fatayer jebneh or Arabic cheese pies are baked till golden on the outside. The melted cheese on the inside is the perfect complement to the tender crust.

Fatayer jebneh are boat-shaped cheese “pies” that are a popular traditional snack in many Arabic speaking countries. They are available not only in bakeries, but even supermarket deli counters will offer these convenient ready-to-go savory treats.

When we first moved to Cairo back in 2012, I started searching online for a book about the city and its food traditions. I came across Apricots on the Nile* by Colette Rossant, originally published as Memories of a Lost Egypt. Ms. Rossant weaves a fascinating tale of her childhood along with sharing many recipes for favorite dishes.

If you are interested in Egyptian cuisine, you might want to check out two other specialties I’ve made from Apricots on the Nile: Lahma Mashshiya or Beef Rolls with Onion Gravy and Sambusaks, another cheese-filled butter pastry but made without a yeast dough.

Occasionally Ms. Rossant would mention a dish for which the recipe was not included, so I started searching online for food blogs that might fill the gap. Despite living in Abu Dhabi years before, I found that I was woefully ignorant about much of Middle Eastern cuisine. One of my very favorites was called Chef in Disguise, written by a talented cook and photographer named Sawsan. As she says in her About Me, Sawsan is an orthodontist by day, a food blogger at night. A Palestinian who was raised in Jordan, she was passionate about sharing her traditional recipes – in English, thank goodness! – with the world.

Fatayer Jebneh or Arabic Cheese Pies 

This recipe is adapted from Chef in Disguise. If you cannot find the akkawi or kashkaval cheeses, substitute another salty cheese like feta.

Ingredients
For the dough:
1 tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup or 120ml warm water + 1-2 tablespoons more if the dough is dry
3 cups or 375g flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil, plus extra for the mixing bowl
1/4 cup or 60g plain yogurt

For the stuffing:
3 1/2 oz or 100g akkawi cheese, grated
3 1/2 oz or 100g kashkaval, grated
3 1/2 oz or 100g sharp cheddar, grated
1 tablespoon nigella seeds (aka kalonji)
small bunch cilantro, tough stems removed, chopped

2 tablespoons milk – for brushing on the fatayer jebneh before baking

Note on flour: Here’s the thing about flour and making bread dough. Sometimes, even if you measure your flour by weight, it might need more water when the dough starts coming together. The first time I made this recipe, we were living in Egypt and the dough came out beautifully with exactly half a cup of warm water. I don’t know if the flour I can buy here in Dubai is drier – or maybe the air is drier? – but I had to add two tablespoons of water as the dough came together so it would hang together so I could knead it. Use your best judgement.

Method
Add the yeast and sugar to a bowl or large measuring vessel then stir in the warm water. Set it aside until you need it again. You are looking for it to foam up, proving that the yeast is still active. If it doesn’t bubble up, buy new yeast and start again.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt till combined. This also helps aerate the flour and takes the place of sifting.

Drizzle in the oil and use a pastry cutter or your clean fingers to mix it in, creating a crumbly texture.

Add the yeast mixture and the yogurt to the flour and mix thoroughly.

I used my stand mixer at this point. You can certainly do it by hand, it’s just gonna give your arms a workout.

When you can press the dough into a ball, take it out of the bowl and knead it for several minutes or until it’s stretchy. This is also where you might need to add some more water, as I did, if the dough is not hanging together nicely and won't form a nice ball. (See photo above.)

After kneading, roll the dough into a ball and drizzle a little bit of oil into the mixing bowl. Put the dough back in and turn it so it’s well oiled.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel and put it in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Traditional fatayer jebneh are a bit bigger than the ones I made, each starting with an egg-sized piece of dough. You can get about 10 of that size with this recipe. I find those a bit large, so I divide the dough into 16 pieces.

Either way, the cheese filling is enough since the smaller pies hold less cheese. Divide your dough into either 10 or 16 small balls.

Cover the balls with a clean damp towel and leave them to rest for 10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cheeses, chopped cilantro and nigella seeds.

One at a time, roll each dough ball out into an elongated oval.

Fill the middle with the correct portion of cheese. For my 16 smaller pies, two tablespoons or (if you are a scale user) about 19g each worked perfectly.

Brush the ends of the oval with a little water.

Starting on the right side of the elongated oval, fold the far side toward you. Close that end by folding the near side back.

On the left side, start by folding the near side back, then close that side by folding the far side forward. In other words, the two ends should be mirror images of each other.

Use your fingers to press the sides of the gap together.

Place the fatayer jebneh on a baking pan, leaving room for them to expand a bit while they bake. When the first pan is full, set it aside for about 15 minutes and preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. Meanwhile, roll, fill and form the rest of the pies.

When the oven is hot, brush the fatayer jebneh with a little milk and pop them in the oven. I baked mine in two batches because I was still forming the second group when the oven was hot enough.

Bake for about 14-16 minutes or until the dough is golden and the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit before eating. Melted cheese will seriously burn your mouth if you bite in too soon!

Serve warm. If not eaten right away, these can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Give them 10 seconds on high in the microwave before serving.

Enjoy!

This month my Bread Bakers group are celebrating October with Middle Eastern breads. Many thanks to our host, Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories. Check out all the great recipes!

• Baked Pita Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Eggless Challah Bread from Cook with Renu
• Fatayer Jebneh (Arabic Cheese Pie) from Food Lust People Love
• Garlic Butter Glazed Talami Bread from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Jerusalem Bagels from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Kaak from Ambrosia
• Khobz Al Khameer (Traditional Emirati Bread) from Ruchik Randhap
• Kubaneh from Gayaythri's Cook Spot
• Laffa from Sizzling Tastebuds 
• Manakeesh from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Maneesh from The Mad Scientist's Kitchen
• Nan-e-Barbari from Anybody Can Bake
• Rose Shaped Dinner Rolls - Turkish Pogaca Pastry from Sneha's Recipe
• Tahinli Ekmek | Turkish Tahini Bread from Bread and Dreams
• Vegetarian Lahmacun (Turkish Pizza Snack) from Cook's Hideout

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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