Honeycomb bread stuffed with cheese (Khaliat Nahl)

This traditional bread is so soft, fluffy and tender. Each bun is filled with a soft cheese, sprinkled with sesame seeds and baked until golden. Drenched in a warm saffron and honey syrup it is the perfect recipe for Eid or any occasion

I first tasted this bread at a friend’s house (hey Manar!) almost a decade ago and I was hooked! As I’ve been recently leaning more into nostalgic recipes that have impacted me or brought me comfort and joy given the current state of affairs. I baked the recipe after that to recreate the flavors of salty cheese, buttery bread, nutty sesame seeds and the sweet syrup which were absolutely perfect when combined together. By no means is my recipe a traditional one but it definitely does hit the spot and is beginner friendly. Hence if you’ve not made these buns before then this is your sign to do it. It’s always a wonderful feeling to learn about other cultures through their food.

There are 3 parts to this recipe and we will go through them individually so you understand how to make it. Now you might say these buns don’t look like a honey comb and you’re right but that’s cause I wanted to get it shaped like a crescent since Eid is coming up. You do not need to do this and can bake it in a round tin to create the honeycomb look.

What is Honeycomb bread stuffed with cheese (Khaliat Nahl)?

This dish has its origin from a few places in the Middle East but it has been popularized from Yemeni and this recipe is similar to that. The dish itself is essentially a fluffy buttery dough ball, stuffed with cream cheese/kiri cheese, topped with sesame seeds and drenched in a sweet saffron and honey syrup. The word Khaliat Nahl or Khaliat al Nahal is a traditional Arabic bread that simply translates to bee hive in English.

What ingredients do you need to make this recipe?

For the dough I have used my no knead dough which I use to make my cinnamon rolls. We need all purpose flour, milk, yeast, sugar, salt, yogurt, butter and mixed sesame seeds to make it. I have stuffed each bun with kiri cheese squares you could use laughing cow cheese or cream cheese too. The buns are brushed with egg wash. For the syrup we need saffron strands, honey, water, sugar.

What equipment do we need to make this recipe?

For the buns we need a large mixing bowl and rubber spatula. I have used a dough scraper to portion the dough but you can use a knife as well to cut it into small pieces. For the syrup we need a sauce pan and spatula to stir it. I have baked these buns in a 10 inch round tin fitted with a 4 inch round tin to create a crescent shape. They are lined with baking paper to avoid sticking.

Pro Tips on making these buns:

3 Parts to the recipe – i) the dough ii) filling and baking the dough iii) soaking the buns in syrup.
Allow the dough to proof until it has doubled in volume, this could take 1 hour as mentioned in the recipe or it might even take longer depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Hence the indicator is not the time but the size of the dough.
I like making these buns small usually hence you can get 20 pieces from this dough but that makes them small in size, or you could do 14 pieces but make them a little larger as you see in the photos here.
Do not over bake these buns as they will continue to cook in the tin once it is out of the oven.
The cream wash is purely for color you could do egg wash as well.
I like drenching them in the syrup while still warm and still keeping a little syrup on the side for more dunking as needed.
The syrup is more on the liquid side and less thick if you like the syrup thicker add 1/4 cup extra sugar and cook the mixture longer until it has reduced.

How to serve and store the leftover buns?

They are best served warm with tea or black coffee. To be honest the leftovers are also best warm so you can heat it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds or until warm and then serve with more syrup on the side. The leftovers can be stored in air tight containers in the fridge. I like freezing these buns for up to 1 month, when ready to eat make sure the buns are defrosted before serving or heat them in the microwave for 1 minute.

Looking for Eid inspired recipes?

Now that we have covered how to make this honeycomb bread, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it. Don’t forget to follow along for more fun recipe inspiration.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on pinterest & instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.