One of the best nostalgic memories of Middle Eastern people is enjoying hot Honeycomb Bread with a cup of milk for breakfast. Baked to golden perfection, this is one of the most relished mini-dough pieces.
Each bite of these fluffy bread rolls will take you on a trip to heaven! Enjoy making this easy Honeycomb Bread recipe and serve it at your family and friends’ breakfast gatherings.
Pillow of Fluffy Dough
What is Honeycomb Bread?
Honeycomb Bread is a common and widespread delicious baked goodness in Arab countries. It is called Khaliat Al Nahl meaning bees honeycomb in Arabic.
Being very popular in Middle Easter countries, like Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq, honeycomb buns recipe spread around the world becoming a trend pastry for breakfast.
As it became popular in different countries, you can find it under different names such as beehive bread or beehive sweet buns.
Honeycomb Bread is fluffy bread rolls stuffed with cream cheese, topped with sesame seeds and Nigella seeds, and drizzled with utterly divine honey before enjoying them.
Delectable Honey Fluffy Dough
Special Recipe You Will Love To Make
Fluffy and soft, these honeycomb buns have an aromatic heavenly taste. Once you try it, you will always ask for more and more!
Effortlessly easy to make, this recipe will take less than an hour of your precious time with simple steps.
These honeycomb bread are crowd-pleasers, kid-friendly, and a perfect dessert with jam to enjoy during the day, afternoon, or night.
Enjoy Your Warm Honeycomb Bread
Honeycomb Bread can be served as an appetizer, snack, breakfast, or light dinner.
One other great piece of news is that you can make these beehive sweet buns for suhoor in the month of Ramadan. They are so healthy and nutritious.
If you like to try it at breakfast, you can pair it with Authentic Labneh Balls, green olives, and a hot cup of tea. This is an authentic Middle Eastern breakfast to enjoy.
This sweet treat is a yummy snack when paired with jam and butter. Try it with strawberry jam, apricot jam, cranberry jam, blueberry jam, etc. The combination is mouthwatering!
Enjoy them hot with a hot cup of milk, Rich White Hot Chocolate Recipe, Middle Eastern Mint Tea (Shai Bi Na’Na), Karak Chai, or with cold beverages like this Coffee Banana Shake.
Give this Recipe A Go!
Honeycomb Bread Variations
Be creative and make your own version of this honeycomb bread recipe. Enjoy the experiment and use whatever fillings and toppings you like.
If you decide to enjoy these fluffy beehive bread for breakfast, then you can fill them with a mix of Akkawi cheese, parsley, and Nigella seeds.
You can also fill them with a mix of zaatar, olive oil, and sesame seeds.
Are you planning to enjoy them as a fluffy snack? A yummy option is on its way! Stuff these fluffy bread rolls with melted chocolate, Nutella, melted white chocolate, or any sweet cream you like.
Expert Tips
Sift the dry ingredients well when adding them to the rest of the wet ingredients.
You can shape the dough larger than the ones I made. For the presentation and mini meze or appetizers, I recommend mini ones like these.
Instead of normal honey, you could use hot honey for a kick.
You could use cream cheese in the tub, it might get a little messy.
Make sure that the cream cheese you add is cold so it can be cut into cubes without spreading.
Adjust the quantity of honey you add according to your personal preference.
Preheat your oven before baking bread rolls for about 5 minutes to 400 F.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Store the Honeycomb Bread leftovers on the counter at room temperature for 3 days or in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Reheat the beehive sweet buns slightly in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before serving.
Yes, honeycomb bread is freezer friendly. You can freeze your buns individually wrapped or together in a freezer safe container. When you are ready to enjoy, thaw on the counter or heat them up in the microwave for 20 seconds or in the oven for one minute.
You Will Ask for More
Ingredients
For the Dough
Flour
Oil
Yeast
Sugar
Salt
Baking powder
Powdered milk
Warm water or warm milk
For the Egg Wash
Large egg
Splash of milk
For the Filling and Topping
Cream cheese
Honey
Sesame seeds
Nigella seeds (habet el barake)
What a Nice Look
Instructions
How to Prepare the Dough?
First, mix 1 cup of flour with the yeast, sugar, salt, baking powder, and powdered milk (if using).
Once mixed, add the warm water or warm milk and whisk together well until no longer clumpy. Cover it and set it aside in a warm place for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, you should see the mixture look bubbly and frothy.
Now, add the remaining 1⅔ cups of flour and the oil. Mix in your stand mixer (or by hand) until smooth and soft dough forms, about 5-7 minutes. Now it’s ready to use.
How to Form and Bake the Honeycomb Bread?
First, divide the dough into 35 mini pieces (this mimics the small honeycomb bread balls) or you could make them larger.
Then, cut each brick of cheese into equal pieces, a full block of cheese makes 24 pieces.
Now, spray your round or rectangle pan lightly.
Next, spread a dough ball into a round flat circle and add the cream cheese to it.
After that, close the ends and ball it up and place it into your tray. Repeat until finished.
Note: Mine were close together since they are small, so there won’t be too much over-rising.
Last but not least, whisk the egg yolk with a fork and brush it on top of the dough balls.
Later, sprinkle with sesame seeds and Nigella seeds and bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.
Once out of the oven, immediately drizzle with honey.
Indulge Yourself
Must-Try Recipes:
Bakery Style Almond Croissants
Strawberry Mascarpone Crème Croissants
Zaatar and Cheese Breakfast Bake
If you’ve tried this recipe, don’t forget to rate it and leave a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Honeycomb Bread
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2⅔ cups flour
- ¼ cup oil
- ¾ tablespoon yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ tablespoons powdered milk optional
- 1 cup warm water or warm milk
For the Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
For the Filling and Topping
- 12 ounces block of cream cheese about 1½ cups
- ⅓ cup honey or more, to taste
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons Nigella seeds
Instructions
How to Prepare the Dough?
- Mix 1 cup of flour with the yeast, sugar, salt, baking powder, and powdered milk (if using).
- Once mixed, add the warm water or warm milk and whisk together well until no longer clumpy. Cover it and set it aside in a warm place for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, you should see the mixture look bubbly and frothy.
- Add the remaining 1⅔ cups of flour and the oil. Mix in your stand mixer (or by hand) until smooth and soft dough forms, about 5-7 minutes. Now it’s ready to use.
How to Form and Bake the Honeycomb Bread?
- Divide the dough into 35 mini pieces (this mimics the small honeycomb bread balls) or you could make them larger.
- Cut each brick of cheese into equal pieces, a full block of cheese makes 24 pieces.
- Spray your round or rectangle pan lightly.
- Spread a dough ball into a round flat circle and add the cream cheese to it.
- Close the ends and ball it up and place it into your tray. Repeat until finished.
- Whisk the egg with a tablespoon of milk with a fork and brush it on top of the dough balls.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and nigella seeds and bake at 400℉ for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- Once out of the oven, immediately drizzle with honey.
Notes
- You can shape the dough larger than the shape I made. For the presentation and mini meze or appetizers, I recommend mini ones like these.
- Instead of normal honey, you could use hot honey for a kick.
- You could use cream cheese in the tub, it might get a little messy.
- Make sure that the cream cheese you add is cold so it can be cut into cubes without spreading.
Made her recipe for breakfast yesterday- sooo good!
Made this recipe today and let me tell you it was so easy to make! The dough comes together so fast and you don’t even need to wait a full hour for the dough to rise. The dough is super fluffy and just the perfect balance! Love this recipe and will be making it again!
Hi, what kind of milk do u used? Can I use full cream milk?
Hi! Full fat milk works best 🙂
This recipe is elite! I made it when I had some guests come over, and we all could not get over how great it was. I was so excited for leftovers the next day. I love how the dough only took ten mins, so easy and seriously so good.
Wonderful recipe! Lovedddd how it turned out
I married an Iranian so slightly different cuisine, but this is basically what he eats for breakfast everyday so I decided to try it. For THREE YEARS I have tried cooking Persian/Middle Eastern food for him and something goes horribly wrong every time even though I am a decent cook when it comes to more Western foods. Not this time! It came out perfectly and he said it was the best he’d ever eaten. VICTORY! Haha! Now I can’t wait to try more recipes on this site!
What size pan did you use and what type of yeast?
active dry yeast, and my round pan was 14 inches (: