This Yemeni Honeycomb Bread is made with an easy and soft dough, filled with cream cheese, topped with sesame and nigella seeds, and drizzled in a delicious honey syrup.
What is Honeycomb Bread (Khaliat al Nahl)?
Honeycomb Bread (Khaliat al Nahl) is a delicious Yemeni appetizer that is made of a soft and luscious dough, filled with cream cheese, and drizzled with a honey syrup. Khaliat al Nahl translates to "bee's honeycomb" in Arabic and this delicious bread gets its name from the shape once placed in the pan.
Although it's a notable dish in Yemen, it is enjoyed by many countries across the Middle East and consumed throughout the year.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easy dough: This dough is incredibly easy to make and there's no kneading required.
Cheesy: You really can't pass up some cream cheese and carbs!
Honey: The sweetness of the honey combined with the soft dough and the cream cheese really brings this Honeycomb Bread recipe together.
Jump to:
Ingredients
There are very few ingredients needed for this Honeycomb Bread recipe
- Flour: All purpose flour is used in this recipe. No need for bread flour or any other type of flour.
- Yeast: I love using active dry yeast, but instant yeast will work as well.
- Milk: Whole milk is used for this honeycomb bread recipe for the richness, but any other type of milk will work.
- Sugar: A little sugar to feed the yeast. You can even use honey instead.
- Salt: Some salt to enhance and flavor the dough.
- Melted butter: Unsalted butter, but you can also use olive oil.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure to use block cream cheese, and cut it while still cold.
- Honey: Warm honey to drizzle on the bread.
- Egg wash: You can use an egg or a little milk to brush on the bread before baking.
- Nigella & Sesame seeds: I love adding a combination to the bread, but you can use one or the other, or leave it out entirely.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Honeycomb Bread
Make the dough
Activate the yeast: In a bowl, combine the warm milk, yeast, and teaspoon of sugar and let activate and foam.
Mix the dough: Once the yeast is activated, add the honey and melted butter to the bowl of yeast and mix well. Then add the flour and salt and combine until it forms a ball of dough. You shouldn't need anymore flour, but if it's too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough is tacky. This dough does not need to be kneaded. Transfer to oiled bowl, let rise for an hour, covered.
Shape the dough
Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. I highly recommend using a scale so that they're all the same size.
Roll all pieces into a ball and cover with a towel or saran wrap so that they don't dry out. Start with one ball at a time and flatten it out into a round circle.
Add a cube of cream cheese to the center. Start pinching opposite corners of the dough to meet each other (like the image below). Bring the remaining sides to meet each other and pinch for all sides to meet and merge together.
Pinch and then start to flatten it out to the bottom of the ball, and then roll the ball into the palm of your hand so that the seem is flat.
Once the balls are prepped, place them all in the prepared 9 in. pan, cover, and let rise.
Bake the Honeycomb Bread
While rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Once risen, brush with an egg wash or milk, then drizzle with sesame or nigella seeds and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
Substitutions & Variations
- Sugar: You can use sugar in the dough instead of honey, either granulated sugar or brown sugar works fine.
- Milk: If you don't have whole milk, you can use any other type of milk, even dairy-free milk. You can even use water in place of milk.
- Egg wash: I personally never crack an egg to brush on bread. I always use half & half because I know I ALWAYS have half & half on hand. I also don't like wasting an egg. Brushing milk or half & half on the dough works perfectly every time.
- Fillings: You can replace the cream cheese with chocolate, hazelnut spread, feta cheese, or other variations.
Storage
Any leftover Honeycomb Bread can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days, or wrapped in the refrigerator. Warm slightly before enjoying again.
Pro Tips
- Measure Flour Correctly: As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
- Don’t add too much flour: This dough will be tacky, but shouldn’t stick to your hands. If you feel like it's way too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time.
- Proof in pre-heated oven: One trick I love doing is to pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, then turning off the oven and letting my dough proof in the oven. This cuts down on proofing time, especially if I’m in a hurry, but it also helps in the winter when it’s especially cold.
- Cold cream cheese: I find it helps to work with cream cheese straight out of the refrigerator so that it's not too soft and doesn't leak out.
FAQ
Absolutely! You can stuff the bread with chocolate, feta cheese, pistachio spread, nuts, or other spreads.
Yes, a springform pan would work great with this recipe!
More Bread Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe Card
Honeycomb Bread (Khaliat al Nahl)
Ingredients
Yeast Mixture
- ⅔ cup warm milk 110° F.
- 1 package active dry yeast (7g, or 2 ¼ tsp)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Dough
- 2¼ cup (270g) all purpose flour see notes
- 2 tablespoon honey or sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon butter melted
Filling
- 6-8 oz. cream cheese cubed into 16 pieces
Topping
- 1 egg or tablespoon milk
- Sesame or nigella seeds
Honey Syrup
- ⅓ cup honey warmed
Instructions
For the Dough
- In a medium bowl, add warm milk and sugar and stir until combined, then sprinkle the package of yeast on top and set aside to for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to activate and foam.⅔ cup warm milk, 1 package active dry yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar
- Once the yeast is activated, add the honey and melted butter to the bowl of yeast and mix well. Then add the flour and salt and combine until it forms a ball of dough. You shouldn't need anymore flour, but if it's too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough is tacky. This dough does not need to be kneaded.2¼ cup (270g) all purpose flour, 2 tablespoon honey, 3 tablespoon butter, ½ teaspoon salt
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for an hour in a warm place.
Shape the dough
- Prepare a 9 or 10 inch round pan and brush with melted butter and set aside.
- Once dough is ready, divide equally into 16 round balls.
- Flatten each round ball into a small circle and add a cream cheese cube to the center and close the dough from all sides into each other and form a ball. Roll the ball into your hands and smooth it out (see post for images).6-8 oz. cream cheese
- Place all 16 pieces in the prepared pan, starting with the center ball and moving out into the shape that resembles a honeycomb. Cover the pan and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour until the balls have puffed up.
Bake the Honeycomb Bread
- Halfway through the rise, Preheat the oven to 375° F.
- Once the Honeycomb bread is done rising, brush with egg wash or milk, then sprinkle with sesame or nigella seeds. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.1 egg, Sesame or nigella seeds
Honey Syrup
- While the Honeycomb Bread bakes, prepare honey by heating it in the microwave or in a pot on the stove.⅓ cup honey
- Once the Honeycomb Bread is done baking, remove from oven and immediately pour the honey all over.
- Enjoy warm
Notes
- It is highly recommended to weigh ingredients. If you choose to use cup measurements for flour, properly measure your flour:
- Fluff the flour with a spoon
- spoon flour into a measuring cup, one spoon at a time
- scrape with a butter knife to level
Comments
No Comments