White Cheese Pastries (Fatayer Jebneh)

White cheese pastries or Fatayer Jebneh in Arabic are widely known and loved by adults and kids alike in the Arab countries. They are available in bakeries, cafes, shops, and even school cafeterias in the Middle East. They are great to be served as appetisers if you’re having a home party. They are also great for breakfast, lunch,weekend brunch, picnics, and they are also perfect for lunch boxes or portable snacks to take with you to work or when you’re going somewhere!

These pastries are usually boat-shaped but you can make them in any shape that you are comfortable with, have fun with the shapes as the are delicious in any shape!

I baked mine using feta cheese, but any salty cheese you like would do! You can also use different flavourings, for example add cilantro, parsley, mint leaves, nigella seeds…

White Cheese Pastries (Fatayer Jebneh)

Traditional Middle Eastern soft pastries filled with white cheese

4 from 1 vote

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Course: Appetisers

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Author: Diana @ LittleSunnyKitchen

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast mixed with a little bit of warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar
• a pinch of salt
• sesame seeds optional
• Filling:
• 1 1/2 cups feta cheese or any other salty cheese
• 1/4 cup minced parsley If you don't like parsley substitute with nigella seeds/black cumin

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200°.
• Gently mix instant yeast with warm water and sugar in a cup (yeast should become bubbly, if it doesn't it means that it has gone bad and you should replace it with another package).
• In a medium sized bowl mix feta cheese with the minced parsley and/or nigella seeds. Put aside.
• In another bowl mix the dough ingredients and blend well. Leave the dough for 30 minutes to rest in a warm place and cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap (it should double in size).
• Cut the dough into egg sized balls and cover again with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.
• Roll each dough ball into oval shape then add filling to the centre.
• Fold the dough to cover the filling and press the edges to seal it.
• You can brush the pasties with some olive oil or an egg to give them a golden colour when they bake. Sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds (optional)
• Bake in the oven until the tops are golden.

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Serve with sweet mint or green tea!