Delicious Dubai Haystacks
Mixing a viral food trend with a classic holiday dessert! How can this possibly not turn out great?
Things to know:
What is the origin of haystacks (food)?
If you know haystacks as a dessert, they are small, crunchy, no-bake drop cookies made of crispy chow mein noodles, shredded coconut coated in melted butterscotch or chocolate, or our favorite version using potato sticks (I have seen them made with Ruffles Potato Chips also).
The Betty Crocker Boom (1963): While variations of noodle-and-chocolate “Ting-a-Ling” candies existed earlier, the specific recipe and name “Haystack” were officially popularized in 1963 when they were featured in the highly influential Betty Crocker Cooky Book.
It was designed as a quick, child-friendly convenience treat. The name was chosen because the messy, overlapping crunchy noodles perfectly mimic a miniature pile of dried hay.
What is the origin of Dubai chocolate?
Dubai chocolate originated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2021 when founder Sarah Hamouda and pastry chef Nouel Catis Omamalin created the “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” bar for FIX Dessert Chocolatier. The treat became a worldwide internet sensation in late 2023 and 2024 after a popular ASMR TikTok video showed someone breaking open the crunchy shell.
What is Dubai chocolate made of?
Dubai chocolate is made of a chocolate shell filled with a mixture of sweet pistachio cream, toasted kataifi (shredded phyllo dough), and tahini.
Where are the most pistachios grown?
Most pistachios in the world are grown in the United States and Iran, with the U.S. leading global production, producing 60-65% of the world’s pistachios, of which about 99% are grown in California.
What city is known as the pistachio Capital of the World?
Avenal, California is known as the self-proclaimed “Pistachio Capital of the World”, while Bronte, Italy claims the title for its prized green pistachios.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup Shoestring Potatoes (also known as Potato Sticks or Stix…we used utz brand)
1 12oz bag of chocolate chips
3 T butter
1/2 cup Pistachio Cream
1/4 cup partially crushed shelled pistachios
1/2 t Vanilla extract
1. Pour the potato sticks into a good sized bowl.
2. Place your pistachios into a ziplock bag and whack them a couple times with a meat tenderizer. You are not trying to make a paste, just breaking them up a bit.
3. Mix the chocolate chips, pistachio cream and butter in a microwave friendly bowl.
4. Microwave the chocolate-pistachio cream mixture for 30 seconds, then stir to mix. Repeat until the mixture is fully melted and smooth.
5. Add the vanilla extract and partially crushed pistachios then stir to mix throughly.
6. Add the chocolate mixture to the potato sticks and mix until all of the sticks are fully coated.
7. Place your desired size haystack onto a wax paper lined baking sheet and allow to set (about an hour).
8. Serve and ENJOY!
DISCLOSURE: When we link to products and services, those links may be customized affiliate links. If you click on any of those affiliate links and make a purchase within a certain time frame, We’ll earn a small commission. The commission is paid by the retailers.
Here’s an example: If we link to our favorite vegetable peeler, and you click on that link and complete a purchase within the next 24 hours, we may receive a commission somewhere between 1 to 10 percent of your total order.
We are careful to link to products and retailers that we use ourselves and recommend. These affiliate programs use cookies to track visits for the purposes of assigning commission on these sales. Money earned keeps Galley of the Sun running and allows us to do what we love.
Thank you for your support.
SELECT AFFILIATE PROGRAM DETAILS: We are currently members of affiliate programs with Amazon and Dalstrong. We are eligible to earn from qualifying purchases.