Dubai chocolate is a thick filled chocolate bar containing pistachio cream and toasted kunafa pastry. It was created in Dubai in 2021 by FIX Dessert Chocolatier, and the name was invented by the internet rather than by the makers. The defining feature is texture: a shell that snaps, a soft pistachio filling, and shredded pastry that stays audibly crisp inside.
Where did Dubai chocolate come from?
It came from a pregnancy craving. Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian engineer living in Dubai, started making filled chocolate bars at home in 2021, with her partner Yezen Alani. The first bar was called Can't Get Knafeh of It: pistachio, knafeh and tahini inside milk chocolate. The company is FIX Dessert Chocolatier.
In December 2023, a TikTok creator posted an ASMR clip of the bar cracking open. The video ran away — tens of millions of views — and the world started calling it "Dubai chocolate" because that was where it came from. As the founders have put it, the world named it. FIX has since gone from a home kitchen to counters at Dubai International Airport, Changi in Singapore and Harrods in London.
Credit where it is due: FIX started this category. Everything since, including our own Pistachio Kunafa bar, exists downstream of that.
What is kunafa, and why is it in a chocolate bar?
Kunafa — also spelled knafeh or kanafeh — is a Levantine dessert built on kataifi, a shredded filo pastry that looks like fine pale noodles. Traditionally it is layered with cheese or cream, soaked in syrup and baked.
In a chocolate bar, the kataifi is toasted in butter until it goes golden and brittle, then folded into the filling. It is doing one job: staying crunchy. Pistachio cream on its own is smooth to the point of being boring. The kunafa is what makes the bar interesting on the second bite.
What is actually inside a Dubai chocolate bar?
- The shell — milk or white chocolate, cast thick enough to crack rather than bend.
- Pistachio cream — ground pistachio, usually loosened with oil and sugar. Quality varies enormously here.
- Toasted kunafa — kataifi pastry, buttered and toasted.
- Tahini — in some recipes, including the original, to cut the sweetness with a sesame bitterness.
How do you tell a good one from a bad one?
Four checks, in order of how often they catch a bad bar:
- Listen. A good bar is audible. If the kunafa has gone soft, the bar has been sitting too long or was made with untoasted pastry.
- Look at the colour of the filling. Real pistachio is a muted, slightly grey-green. A vivid highlighter green usually means colouring.
- Read the order of the ingredients. If sugar and vegetable oil come before pistachio, you are buying sweetened paste with a pistachio note.
- Check where it was made. Most bars sold abroad under the "Dubai chocolate" name were not made in Dubai. That is not automatically bad — but it is worth knowing what you are paying for.
Why does it melt so easily?
Filled bars carry more fat and more moisture than a plain tablet, so they soften faster. In the Gulf that matters. Keep the bar below 18°C, out of direct sun, and eat it within a few days of delivery — the kunafa loses its crispness long before the chocolate goes off.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dubai chocolate actually from Dubai?
The original is. FIX Dessert Chocolatier created it in Dubai in 2021. Many bars now sold internationally under the name are produced elsewhere and reference the style rather than the origin.
What does Dubai chocolate taste like?
Sweet and nutty from the pistachio, with a toasted, almost buttery flavour from the kunafa, and a slight sesame bitterness when tahini is used. The dominant impression is textural rather than flavour-led.
Is Dubai chocolate halal?
It depends on the maker. Bars made in the UAE are generally halal certified. Felora is halal certified. Check the pack if it matters to you.
Does it contain nuts and gluten?
Yes to both, usually. Pistachio is the point, and kunafa is a wheat pastry. Anyone avoiding nuts or gluten should avoid this category entirely.
Why is it expensive?
Pistachio is one of the costliest nuts in food manufacturing, and filled bars are slower to produce than moulded tablets. Price tracks the pistachio content more than anything else.
Our version
We make a Pistachio Kunafa bar in Dubai: white chocolate shell, pistachio cream, toasted kunafa, 40 g, halal certified. It sits alongside six other flavours in our chocolate bars range, and there is a chocolate-dipped date version for anyone who prefers it that way.
We did not invent this category. We are just one of the makers who actually work in the city it is named after.