<a rel="attachment wp-att-6883" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2011/03/middle-eastern-bakery-in-a-south-tulsa-strip-mall-muhanna-sweets/dsc_1961/"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-6883" title="Middle Eastern Bakery Muhanna Sweets Tulsa Oklahoma" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/DSC_1961-500x332.jpg" alt="Middle Eastern Bakery Muhanna Sweets Tulsa Oklahoma" width="500" height="332" /></a>

A few times each week my son and I find ourselves in the car, him fresh from a day at preschool and me not quite ready to head back to the house. So, we do what any of you would do: Go in search of snacks. While we're regulars at Merritt's Bakery and Sonic Drive-In's happy hour, last week we opted for <a href="http://www.muhannasweets.com/">Muhanna Sweets</a>, a Middle Eastern bakery tucked into a strip center in south Tulsa on the southwest corner of 71st and Sheridan.

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<h3>Damascan Sweets in South Tulsa</h3>
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If you're just driving by, Muhanna Sweets is easy to miss. Behind that unassuming storefront is more than 75 years of history of a family-owned, international franchise with a good name in the Mediterranean for three generations. Available there is a variety of cookies, cakes and pastries, from pistachio baklava to sesame cookies.

<h3>Tulsa's Heritage in Middle Eastern Food</h3>

Even if you've never been to Muhanna Sweets, you've probably enjoyed their desserts at one of Tulsa's many Middle Eastern and Lebanese restaurants. Yes, it's true - Tulsa has a fantastic Lebanese food scene. Just ask any regular at Cedar's Deli, Jamil's Steakhouse, Dena's, Silver Flame Steakhouse or LaRoma Pizza, or anyone who remembers Halim &amp; Mimi's on 11th Street or who has been to Tulsa's annual Greek Holiday, our city's largest annual ethnic festival hosted by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

So, not just any ol' baklava will fly in this town.

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Good thing is isn't just any ol' baklava. Ask local lovers of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine and they'll tell you that this is the best baklava on this side of the old country.

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Though we're life-long Tulsans, I couldn't qualify us as experts in Middle Eastern eats. Even so, we couldn't help but agree.

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To the point of not being able to wait until we got home to try some. And camping out in the front seat of our car, lifting slices from the pan with the emergency silverware I keep in the glove box.

And scarfing and shoving and finger-licking.

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Sometimes I wonder if my son gets tired of always having a camera in his face when he tries to eat.

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"Mom. Baklava happening. No cameras, please."
<h3>The Menu at Muhanna</h3>

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Baklava is one of my favorite desserts. I love the crunch of the dozens of layers of filo dough, the sweet, nutty flavor of the filling, the dense, honey-drenched layers of pastry that sits on the bottom of the pan. It's the kind of thing a person can put away in embarrassing quantities.

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Or, leave it all over the front seat.

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While we tried the traditional walnut baklava with which most of us are familiar when we visited Muhanna, next time I think we'll grab a tray of the pistachio baklava.  Because I love pistachios.

Actually, love isn't a strong enough word. I could eat pistachios on pizza if you wanted me to (and actually, <a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2011/03/andolinis-pizzeria-owasso-to-cherry-street/">at a Tulsa-area pizzeria, I could do exactly that</a>). 

Here's some of the other offerings at Muhanna Sweets we have on our to-do list:
<ul>
	<li>Cashew baklava fingers</li>
	<li>Burma pistachio rills</li>
	<li>Cashew filo birds nest</li>
	<li>Sesame cookies</li>
	<li>Pistachio mini roses</li>
</ul>
Mmm...offerings. Nutty, honey-soaked ones. Me likie.

Even if you can't make it to south Tulsa for Damascan sweets from Muhanna - perhaps you're one of the TDT readers who follows along from afar because you like to keep in touch with what's going on in your favorite city - you can <a href="http://www.muhannasweets.com/forms/order.htm">order cookies, cakes and, yes, baklava online at MuhannaSweets.com</a>.

It's nice to know that such deliciousness is only a short drive, or even as little as a click, away, even though it tastes like it's from the other side of the world.

<strong>Muhanna Sweets</strong>
6104 E. 71st Street
(918) 523-1800
<a href="http://www.muhannasweets.com">MuhannaSweets.com</a>

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/58/630983/restaurant/Woodland-Hills-71st-Street-Corridor/Muhanna-Sweets-Tulsa"><img style="border: none; width: 130px; height: 36px;" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/630983/minilink.gif" alt="Muhanna Sweets on Urbanspoon" /></a>