I’m sure Dubai Style Brownies have been made many times by now. Just like I’m sure the whole Dubai-style chocolate phenomenon is being studied. At least, I hope it’s being studied. I first saw a “Dubai-style chocolate” reel like two years ago. And then this past Christmas, Menards was selling bulk Dubai-style chocolates. Menards. Lindt and Godiva both have Dubai-style bars and bonbons. Trader Joe’s and a local ice cream shop both have versions of it. Pistachio butter is now available in the peanut butter aisle at Target. The past two years have been a case study in watching the market catch up to consumer demand and desires, but for an incredibly niche product. All started by… a TikTok?

The original bar was called “Can’t get Knafeh of It” and it was made by a chocolatier in Dubai called FIX. If you Google that now, there’s three websites: officialfixdessertchocolatier, fixdubaichocolatier, and fixdessertchocolatierdubai. Good luck figuring out which the real one is. On one of the sites, you can order 6 chocolate bars for $120! What a steal.

Anyways, it’s called “Can’t get Knafeh of it” because the original has pistachio butter and crumbled pastry called kataifi that’s used in Knafeh (an Arab dessert). I think it also utilizes tahini. But I’m trying to avoid accumulating pantry items, so I didn’t use tahini. And kataifi is still very hard to find here, despite the proliferation of pistachio everything that seems linked to this trend.

So instead of kataifi, I… very much Americanized this and used crushed saltines. They add that crunch that the pastry does, but conveniently used up the last sleeve of the saltines that I had in my pantry.

The ratio of frosting to brownie on these is… admittedly a bit ridiculous. You could probably do less if you wanted. But it’s partially because of all the crunch in the frosting, and I also think it’s on par with the amount of filling that is in the chocolate bars. They are filling heavy. So it’s a ratio that makes sense.

I think the thing that bugs me about this whole trend is how it’s just referred to as “Dubai style” chocolate. Like… can we not just call it crunchy pistachio or something? Just because the original bar was made by a Dubai chocolatier, it’s called “Dubai style,” now? By everyone? No matter who makes it? It’s named after a city? It’s literally the name put on the Lindt and the Godiva and the Menards products. How did just calling it a “Dubai bar” start?

This is why TikTok scares me. A video from December 2023 started all this and now it’s everywhere. And I’m writing about it and making brownies two years later. Maybe I’m just getting old.

Pistachio Frosted “Dubai Style” Brownies

Author: Audrey

Ingredients

Saltine Crumb

2 cups crushed saltines (1 sleeve)
1/4 cup (tightly packed) light brown sugar
7 tbsp unsalted butter melted

Brownies

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
5.5 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature

Pistachio Frosting

1 stick butter
1/2 cup pistachio butter/cream
1 1/2–2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt

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Instructions

For the saltine crumb: Heat the oven to 275°F
In a bowl, crush the saltines down until they’re about the size of rice krispies
Add and toss the saltines with the sugar. Add the melted butter and toss to coat all dry ingredients.
Spread small clusters of the crumbs onto a parchment or silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. They should look lightly toasted and smell buttery.
Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.
For the brownies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×9-inch baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together. Place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan (or using a double broiler) over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the and add the sugar and brown sugar. Whisk until completely combined, then remove pan from stovetop and allow to come to room temperature.
Add 2 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is still visible.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.
Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper.
Make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and pistachio butter on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Beat on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated, and then increase the speed to medium to keep beating until the frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Taste and add powdered sugar or salt if desired. You can add more powdered sugar to thicken the consistency or heavy cream (1/2 tablespoon at a time) if it needs to be thinner.
Using a spatula, fold in the saltine crumb until incorporated and every bit is covered in frosting.
Spread/scoop the pistachio frosting on top of the brownies, and smooth out as best you can.