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If you’ve never heard of Dubai chocolate, we’re guessing that you’re not a social media user. The sweet treat has been all over TikTok and other platforms, and people are drooling over it so much that fast food and other restaurant chains are adding Dubai chocolate-inspired items to their menus. Here’s what the viral chocolate is all about, and where you can get it now.
Dubai chocolate refers to some combination of creamy, bright green pistachio butter, chocolate, and thin, crunchy strands of shredded phyllo-like dough called kataifi. It’s inspired by knafeh, the Middle Eastern dessert made with similar ingredients, but minus the chocolate.
A chocolatier in Dubai created the fat, chunky chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream and crunchy kataifi in 2022. A year later, it went viral when an influencer posted a TikTok of herself eating the decadent treat, which the chocolatier named “Can't Get Knafeh Of It.” Since then, people have gone wild for it. It’s delicious, like eating a fancy, grown-up version of a KitKat bar, with the same kind of crisp texture.
For a while, Fix Dessert Chocolatier only sold the original Dubai chocolate bars in Dubai, but it’s available to ship in the U.S. now. However, it’s so wildly popular that everyone from local chocolate shops to big makers like Lindt have their own versions, which is why restaurants are trying to get in on the trend, too. Here’s where you can try Dubai chocolate-inspired items.
First introduced in Shake Shack’s locations in the United Arab Emirates, the Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake is now available in the U.S. as well for a limited time. It’s made with pistachio frozen custard and kataifi inside a chocolate-shelled cup (think Magic Shell).
Paris Baguette, a South Korean chain of bakeries with over 200 locations across the U.S., has a new lineup of Dubai chocolate-like items for its summer menu.
This chocolate, ice cream, and fudge chain — with more than 175 locations across 28 states — just released a Dubai chocolate truffle inspired by the original candy bar. Kilwins rendition has thick pistachio and kataifi filling coated in either milk or dark chocolate with a green and yellow design on the top.
Milkshake Factory has locations in over a dozen states where you can get chocolate and over-the-top milkshakes. It’s added a new Dubai chocolate-style bar to its stores that’s made with pistachio crème and crispy toasted kataifi covered in milk chocolate.
This cutely named frozen yogurt chain with over 30 locations across five states has a new frozen yogurt flavor inspired by the trendy chocolate. It’s got a pistachio base with crushed milk chocolate bites and a little bit of cocoa mixed in.
After a successful test in Texas, Marble Slab Creamy is rolling out a Dubai chocolate sundae to its locations nationwide. It’s made with sweet cream ice cream in a chocolate-dipped, pistachio-dusted waffle bowl and topped with chocolate, pistachio butter, broken waffle pieces, and ground pistachios.
Nick the Greek is a Mediterranean chain with locations mostly across California, but also in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Utah. It’s added a Dubai chocolate frozen yogurt dessert to the menu. It’s made with froyo swirled with pistachio butter and kataifi and topped with a chocolate shell.
