Baklava {A flaky, nutty, buttery treat!}

 I brag about my husband… a LOT. He is the most amazing person ever. I love him so! Seriously, He is my best friend, and I don’t know how I ever got so lucky to have him. 🙂

How does that tie in with my baklava recipe? He is the one who first introduced me to this scrumptious dessert! I hadn’t ever heard of it, and I was asking him one day when we were newlyweds, if he had any ideas of desserts I could make. He said “Baklava??

If you don’t know what Baklava is, it is basically phyllo sheets, with melted butter layered with nuts and spices, and a sweet and sticky honey cinnamon sauce baked on top, sounds like a good idea huh?

We tried a new recipe and liked it a lot, but needed to tweak it a bit. So, We found another recipe and kind of blended the two 🙂 {Hint, hint, we used extra butter, teehee} So here is a dessert that my husband and I have changed just to our liking {and hopefully yours, too!} I do have to warn you, this takes a bit of time to assemble. It’s not hard, it just takes a bit of time, maybe enlist your husband and or kids, and make it a fun thing you can do together while listening to music and talking 🙂 Making treats is one of my favorite things to do with my husband and kiddos.

Note: Phyllo if you don’t know what it is, is basically really thin sheets of pastry dough. You will find it in the frozen section of your grocery store. {ask an employee if youre still not sure! Make sure for this recipe to get the full sheets, and not the squares 🙂 Let me know if you still need some guidance!}

Here is a little breakdown of what you need ta do…

You start out by layering a sheet of phyllo with butter {I know off to a good start already! I love butter…} You do this seven times {so phyllo, butter, phyllo, butter, phyllo, butter…. seven times, haha you get the idea 🙂 And after every seven layers, you add a nut, cinnamon, salt mixture. And you do this until you are out of your salt mixture, and out of your phyllo! {Takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it, I swear!}

Then you cut diagonally first all from the left side, and then across coming from the right side.  Then bake for 40 minutes.

After the 40 minutes you pour on the syrup you prepare earlier, and let it soak in for a good while… And after waiting patiently, your precious baklava is ready for consumption!

So without further ado, our favorite Baklava recipe.

Baklava

2013-07-23 02:36:44

A decadent and flakey dessert layered with butter, nuts and spices and topped off with a rich honey cinnamon syrup.

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Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr 20 min

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr 20 min

For the Syrup

1. 1 Cup Sugar
2. 1 Cup Honey
3. 3/4 Cup Water
4. 1 TBSP Fresh lemon juice
5. 2 Cinnamon Sticks
6. 1 TBSP Whole Allspice

For the Filling & the Dough

1. 1 Pound Walnuts {or a combination of your favorite nuts! We love, pistachios, walnuts & almonds}
2. 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3. 1/4 tsp Salt
4. 1 1/2 Cups {3 sticks} salted Butter
5. 1 pound Phyllo Sheets {Thawed according to package directions}

Instructions

1. For the syrup: Combine the Sugar, Honey, Water, lemon juice, cinnamon sticks, and allspice in a medium saucepan {stirring occasionally} and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to medium-low until the mixture turns into a syrup {around 10 minutes}. Remove the cinnamon sticks and remaining allspice and discard. Set aside and let the syrup cool.
2. Chop the nuts {or put them in a food processor for an even finer chop!} 🙂 Add Salt, and cinnamon and stir well.
3. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan.
4. Next, coat a 9x13 pan with some of your melted butter {using a pastry brush}
5. Open your box of phyllo sheets and make sure they fit your 9x13 pan, if not cut them to the correct size and throw away the extra. {Note: I like to put a damp towel on top of the phyllo sheets waiting to be used, if they get to dry, they break really easily! You want them a bit moistened so that they don't fall apart so easily while you use them!}
6. Next, you are going to layer! This is the time consuming part, but I PROMISE it is worth it! Start by layering a sheet of phyllo dough, and brushing on a layer of butter on top. Do this seven times {you will have seven sheets} and then add 3/4 cup of your nut mixture spread evenly across. Repeat until you have used up all of your nuts, and top with remained phyllo sheets. {and don't forget to butter every single layer!}
7. Next, using a non-serrated knife, cut diagonally across the baklava {carefully} and again diagonally the opposite direction.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove the Baklava from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, then drizzle the syrup mixture as evenly as possible over the cooked baklava. Let sit overnight or 6-8 hours before serving. And be amazed with the dessert you have just created!

Notes

1. {You can definitely try this as soon as the syrup is poured on, however, letting the baklava soak in all of the syrup-ey goodness, is definitely a good idea, it just makes it so that the syrup gets more evenly distributed even down to the very bottom of the dish! Just sayin'! :)}

By Traci Fuller

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

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