qatayefEtymologyFrom dialectal Arabic قَطَايِف (qaṭāyif), from قَطَائِف (qaṭāʔif).nounSweet dumplings filled with cream or nuts, traditionally served in Arab communities during Ramadan.“AS a young student at the multinational Aramco school in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Fadi Jaber, a son of Palestinian refugees, always preferred his American classmates’ cupcakes, brownies and chocolate chip cookies to his mother’s pastries: knafah, qatayef and baklawah.”