Combine the flour, fine semolina, sugar, salt, baking powder and yeast in a stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment. Add the milk and water and thoroughly whisk until all the ingredients are combined.
Place the bowl in a warm area, cover it with a kitchen cloth and allow the batter to rest for 20 minutes.
Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and pour two largetablespoons of batter on the pan to make circles.
Once the Atayef bubbles, you know the batter has the right consistency. You need to add more water if it doesn’t, because the batter may be too thick. Remove the Atayef once the bubbles have fully formed and the surface has dried.
Transfer to a tea towel, but make sure that you fold down the towel to cover the Atayef, otherwise, they will dry out quickly, which can lead to Atayef that is difficult to fold and seal.
Prepare the sugar syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add water and sugar; bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolved. Lower heat and leave to simmer for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat, stir in orange blossom or vanilla essence; leave to cool.
Walnut Filling: In a small bowl, combine the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon powder, orange blossom and orange zest. To stuff the Atayef, hold each pancake with your hand, add 1-2 tbsp of the filling (but do not over stuff them), then fold the atayef so it looks like half a moon and press the edges together to seal. Atayef can be either fried or less commonly baked.To fry: heat vegetable oil (about 1cm) on a pan, then drop the stuffed Atayef and fry until the edges are slightly golden brown and crunchy; remove from pan and soak them in the sugary syrup for a few seconds (or drizzle them with it).
Ricotta Filling: In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese, icing sugar and orange blossom. To stuff the Atayef, hold each pancake, fold it in half and pinch halfway. Add 1 teaspoon of the filling and dip in ground pistachios.
Nutella Filling: To stuff the Atayef, hold each pancake, fold it in half and pinch halfway. Add 1 teaspoon of the filling and dip in ground hazelnuts.