Meet Knipschildt Chocolatier’s 1.2-Pound Dubai Chocolate Bar

It’s tough to scroll through social media these days without coming across the decadent Dubai chocolate bar — and once, this Middle Eastern treat could only be snagged from Fix Dessert Chocolatier in the City of Gold. Now, chocolate makers in the United States have been rapidly developing this filled chocolate for folks stateside. 

A new Dubai chocolate bar has just landed on Goldbelly, featuring a hefty 1.2 pounds of pistachio paste and rich chocolate. Knipschildt Chocolatier, an East Coast brand known for its extravagant takes on chocolate treats, crafted this shareable chocolate bar, which is available in both dark and milk chocolate — offered for $50 on the platform. 

This larger-than-life chocolate bar is the brainchild of Denmark-born chocolatier Fritz Knipschildt, who leads operations of his namesake Connecticut-based company. (The brand is available online and in a handful of national outlets, including Anthropologie.) 

Knipschildt tells Food & Wine that this particular bar was developed with a “wow factor” in mind. 

“In our Dubai bar, we make our own pistachio cream from scratch, which gets mixed with our white chocolate ganache — made with fresh cream, fresh butter, and premium white chocolate,” Knipschildt said. “I also blend my own 40% milk chocolate for the shell. It gives it a richer and creamier taste versus an overly sweet milk chocolate.”

The beginnings of a viral dessert

The original Dubai Chocolate Bar was created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, a local brand founded by entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda in 2021, according to CNN. Her now-viral “Can’t Get Knafeh Of It” bar — a crunchy delight filled with pistachio cream and kataifi that kicked off the trend — has garnered worldwide demand. 

It’s not difficult to see why it’s so irresistible: The dessert’s trademark filling is enveloped in a thick, crunchy layer of milk chocolate, which food influencers have dramatically broken open on camera. That crunch serves as the ideal visual hook and craveable soundbite for a viral TikTok — it’s practically in the handbook for a successful social media run. (Consider the gooey texture of 2019’s “feta pasta” trend or the vibrancy of TikTokers’ beloved pesto eggs.) In the case of Fix Dessert Chocolatier, a handful of viral taste tests led to a fairly sudden increase in business. 

“We were going from three orders a week to getting hundreds and hundreds of orders per second,” Hamouda says in a March video. “We were getting messages from all over the world — from Argentina, South Korea, Poland, to Saudi Arabia. We started seeing people recreate the bars at home in different countries. It was an amazing feeling.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a global sensation without some imitators eager to join the bandwagon and capitalize on the trend to make a tremendous amount of cash.

As the decadent treat gained momentum among foodies worldwide, online scams and dubious websites emerged. As Fix Chocolatier warns on its Instagram account, you can only order its original “Can’t Get Knafeh Of It” bar locally in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. (So, as the treat first gained popularity in late 2023, you might have seen higher-than-average prices on resale sites.) 

Gradually, shoppers began to secure versions of the chocolate bar in outlets across the States. Specialty shops, like New York City’s Nut Factory, started offering its own take on Dubai bars as the hype spread on social media. 

National retailers have joined the trend

Craving this chocolate without an international trip planned? Pistachio-flavored chocolate treats have gradually trickled into the mainstream this year, highlighted by several high-profile launches from U.S. brands. 

Warehouse retailer Costco recently debuted frozen ice cream bars covered in a crunchy topping, while Shake Shack released its own custard-filled spinoff at several coastal locations earlier this spring.

You might also spot this flavor combo in Aldi’s freezer aisle if you’re shopping in the UK. (Meanwhile, we’re crossing our fingers that the budget retailer will receive shipments across the pond.) Other supermarkets, like Hy-Vee, have listed packaged chocolate bars for as much as $20 a pop. Considering Knipschildt’s heavyweight version retails for nearly $50, buying in bulk might save you cash.

Will the Dubai Chocolate Bar be a passing fad — à la the Millennial-coded cronut craze of the 2010s — or will it become a mainstay of little treat culture? Only time will tell.