Got a sweet tooth for Eid? The holiday’s favorite dessert picks

The holiday of the feast, or Eid Al Fitr, marks the end of Ramadan and to the more than one billion Muslims who observed the holy month, the holiday is a time of prayers, family gatherings and a whole lot of sweets.

Here are five dessert picks from those who satisfy their sweet tooth during Eid.

1. Kahk

Kahk in Eid is so important in Egypt that the holiday is sometimes referred to as Eid el-Kahk. Piles and piles of these small discs are either prepared at home the night before or are bought from the countless bakeries across Egypt that roll out thousands of these decadent cookies.

The star ingredient here is the ghee used in the cookie-dough. Kahk is usually stuffed with walnuts, pistachios, or agameya, a paste made out of honey, sesame seeds, ghee and walnuts. Some prefer to enjoy plain Kahk.

Fun fact: Kahk also makes an appearance on dinner tables during Christmas, Easter Day, and in the days leading up to a wedding.

2. Maamoul

Popular in Lebanon, the Levant and the GCC, Maamoul is a distant cousin of the Kahk. Instead of flour, Lebanese bakers and Maamoul enthusiasts use semolina flour, giving it a flakier texture than Kahk.

One will rarely find plain Maamoul as the Levantine use it as a pocket to carry subtle and sweet stuffing made our of either pistachios, walnuts, or dates.

The cookies can be decorated by hand but wooden spatulas with intricate patterns are usually spotted in the kitchen.

Fun fact: Maamoul features butter instead of ghee and bakers usually use rosewater in the stuffing, contributing to a light and subtle sweetness.

3. Gosh-e-Feel, Elephant Ear Pastries

There’s very little that can go wrong with frying dough. These fried ‘Elephant ears’ are very popular in Afghanistan and they’re also enjoyed in Pakistan and Iran.

Thin, fluffy and sweet, these sheets of pastry are deep fried and then sprinkled with confectionary sugar, cardamom powder and sliced pistachios.

Fun fact: Elephant ears are also consumed during Nowrouz, the Persian new year.

4. Sheer Khurma

Milk, saffron, nuts, raisins and vermicelli: this comfort dish is a true celebration of completing thirty days of fasting.

The warm concoction is popular in Pakistan and India and also heavily features ghee, making this delicacy rich, sweet, and full of character.

Fun fact: Some cook the vermicelli pasta in Ghee, which adds an extra layer of richness to the dish.

5. Mann al-Sama

This Iraqi delicacy literally translates to: from the sky, or from the heavens. The dessert is said to have originated in the city of Sulaymaniya.

This puffy, marshmallow-like sweet graces tables during Eid al-Fitr. It is made out of a white substance found on trees in Iraq which is then distilled, cooked and mixed with cardamom and sugar to give it its aromatic smell and rich and pillow-y texture.

Fun fact: This dessert is hard to find outside of Iraq, but here is a recipe of an easier variation.