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My relationship with TikTok’s viral recipes is a fraught one. Some are nothing short of genius, like the baked feta and tomato pasta that’s worked its way into my family’s regular rotation; others (coffee maker salmon?) are so bad that I think the people who invented them should be in the dock at the Hague. Cooking any one of them is an act of culinary Russian roulette, and you never know if there’s going to be a parmesan-crusted potato or a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto ice cream in the chamber when you pull the trigger. That was what was top of mind for me when I decided to try Dubai chocolate s’mores.
Invented by Dubai’s FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2022 under the name Can’t Get Knafeh It, Dubai chocolate is a milk chocolate bar filled with a combination of pistachio cream, tahini, and kadayif, a wheat pastry consisting of gossamer threads of fillo dough. The result is a complex dessert with layers of flavor and texture. After influencer Maria Vehera gave it a rave review on TikTok in 2023, Dubai chocolate exploded in popularity. While the original bar is still only available in the United Arab Emirates, knockoffs from brands like Lindt are now available on grocery store shelves around the United States.
After Dubai chocolate hit the U.S., it was only a matter of time before someone tried putting it on s’mores. Today, recipes for that twist on the campfire treat are legion, ranging from classic swaps to baked Dubai chocolate s’mores bars to confections that pair its ingredients with marshmallow and use it as a filling for sweet buns. From the moment I saw these recipes start to pop up on my feed, there was never a question that I was going to try some: I’m the man who once started a feud with Outside after I put cheddar cheese on s’mores. When it comes to campfire desserts, there are no depths to which I won’t sink.
To best gauge how Dubai chocolate works on a s’more, I opted for a classic recipe. I toasted a marshmallow over my canister stove (sorry, no campfires in the suburbs), layered it between two graham crackers with a chunk of a chocolate bar from my local 7-11, and bit in.
The first thing I noticed was the texture—or lack thereof. Eating a traditional s’more is an exercise in contrast: The crisp graham cracker pairs with the gooey marshmallow and the snap of the chocolate. In contrast, the Dubai chocolate seemed to get lost with the other textures. The crunch of the graham cracker totally overwhelmed the kadayif, while the thick, creamy pistachio cream and tahini got lost somewhere between the chocolate coating and marshmallow. How about the flavor? Similar story: Tahini and pistachio are delicious but both fairly delicate, and neither really distinguished themselves against the other ingredients. All I could taste was sweet.
The verdict? TikTok missed on this one. My Dubai chocolate s’mores weren’t bad, but they didn’t add anything to the classic s’mores recipe. Overall, I think the bar was just too complex to distinguish itself as an ingredient. I could see a stripped-down version of the recipe working—top a Dubai chocolate bar with a toasted marshmallow—but honestly I think this treat might be better enjoyed on its own.
