Baklava is a traditional Eastern Mediterranean dessert made with many layers of phyllo dough, honey and nuts. Super easy and oh, so delicious. Difficulty: Medium
Cuisine Mediterranean
Keyword cookies, desserts
Method Oven
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 50 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Servings 36pieces
Calories 390kcal
Equipment
1 9x13 inch Baking Pan
2 Medium Sauce Pans - 1 for Butter & 1 for Syrup
INGREDIENTS
1pkg.Phyllo Dough - 16 oz.
1lbNuts - Chopped Walnuts and/or Pecans
1cupButter
1tsp.Ground Cinnamon
1cupWater
1cupGranulated Sugar
1tsp.Vanilla Extract
½cupHoney
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.
Melt Butter
Unroll phyllo dough and cut sheets to fit pan. Cover unused dough with a dampened cloth to prevent drying as you work.
Place two sheets of dough in the pan and butter the top one thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered in the pan. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Then continue building layers with two sheets of dough, buttering them and adding nuts until you use all the nuts. The top layer should end with 6 - 8 sheets of dough.
Wet your fingers and cut into 4 rows lengthwise. Make diamond or square-shaped cross cuts for individual servings using a sharp knife all the way to the bottom of the pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
Make the syrup while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Use only enough water to melt the sugar. The syrup should not be too thin. Add vanilla, lemon zest, and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Remove baklava from the oven. Spoon syrup over it, coating the top and letting it drain into knife cuts.
Allow to cool and transfer into mini muffin papers.
Notes
Adding warm syrup over cool pieces prevents too much syrup from getting the bottoms soggy.Do not seal in moisture when you refrigerate or freeze. That allows the dough to go limp.May be frozen for up to 3 months.