Sweet And Sticky Baklava Recipe
If you go to a Greek restaurant, chances are you'll find baklava on the dessert menu. This wonderful dish contains layers upon layers of crispy, flaky phyllo dough along with butter, nuts, and a sweet syrup that adds plenty of comforting flavors.
After trying it at her neighbor's house, recipe developer Miriam Hahn came up with her own spin on the Greek classic. "My kids loved it, so I decided to try making it, and it was actually fun to make and is such a festive dessert," Hahn raves. She says her favorite part about this dish is the impressive layering. "It is a sweet dessert, but the thin layers of phyllo dough make it light and airy. I love that you can change it up too with any mix of nuts you might have on hand," Hahn shares.
Keep reading to find out how to make this sweet treat.
Gather the ingredients for this sweet and sticky baklava
For every recipe that you make, you will first need to grab all the necessary ingredients. For this one, you will need chopped walnuts and pecans, water, sugar, honey, vanilla extract, phyllo dough (thawed if frozen), butter, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
Once you have those, throw on some taverna tunes and get ready to make this delicious Greek treat.
Toast the nuts
Go ahead and preheat your oven to 325 F. Then, lay the chopped nuts on a baking tray. Once the oven has preheated, throw them in and let them toast for about 10 minutes. Once they begin to turn golden and smell nice and toasty, set them aside.
Make the sticky syrup
Take out a medium-sized pot and place it on your stove. Add the water, sugar, honey, and vanilla. Once you load all the ingredients in, bring the mixture to a boil. Once the liquid starts boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook and reduce for 20 minutes. Then, pour the liquid into a glass jar and let it cool for at least 30 minutes. For those who like to plan ahead, you can go ahead and do this step the day before you actually make the baklava.
Cut the phyllo sheets
Grab your phyllo sheets and cut them so that they'll fit into a 9x13-inch baking dish. As you cut them, place them between some damp dishcloths to prevent them from drying out.
In the meantime, use a pastry brush to coat the bottom of said baking dish with a healthy layer of melted butter. Add 2 sheets of the phyllo dough, brush on some butter, and repeat. Continue this layering process until you have used 8 sheets of phyllo dough.
Add the nut layer
Mix the nuts with the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. "The secret ingredient is the pumpkin pie spice," Hahn shares. "The blend of spices that make up pumpkin pie spice elevates this traditional dish to a new level. When the weather is starting to cool off in the fall, this is a perfect recipe to make to bring on the fall flavors."
Next, brush an even layer of butter on the top layer of dough and spoon out 2 tablespoons of the nut mixture on top. Place 2 additional sheets of dough on top of that. Again, repeat this process, sprinkling the nuts between each 2 sheets, until you have 8 sheets of dough left.
As for the 8 remaining sheets of phyllo, layer 2 of them, brush on some butter, and repeat until there's no more phyllo.
Precut the baklava and bake
You're actually going to want to slice the baklava before baking it. Go ahead and create a grid, leaving you with squares of your desired size. Try not to cut all the way to the bottom as you cut; you'll want to keep about ⅛ inch intact to hold in the syrup mixture when you pour it in later. This will prevent it from seeping out to the bottom of the baking dish.
Now, you can pop the baklava into the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. You'll know it's done with the top turns golden brown.
Soak in syrup and enjoy
Remove the baklava from the oven and pour the reserved syrup mixture on top, making sure it seeps down to all the layers. Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before you finally dig in. "Baklava is perfect for a family gathering, holiday celebration, Sunday brunch, or dinner party. It is a crowd-pleaser for sure and quite impressive," Hahn shares.
If you have anything left, just follow these instructions: "Leftovers last great for about 5 days, although it is best when eaten the same day." She adds that it's equally delicious warmed up or at room temperature.
- 1 ½ cups chopped walnuts
- 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (16-ounce) package phyllo dough, thawed if frozen
- ½ cup (1 stick) melted butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- Lay the nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Combine the water, sugar, honey, and vanilla in a medium pot. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Then pour the syrup into a glass jar and let cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Cut phyllo dough sheets so that they'll fit into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Place the phyllo sheets in between 2 damp dishcloths to stay moist as you assemble the baklava.
- Using a pastry brush, coat the bottom of the pan with melted butter. Add 2 sheets of phyllo dough, brush some more butter on top. Build layers by repeating this process until you have used 8 sheets of phyllo dough.
- Mix the nuts with the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.
- Spread out 2 tablespoons of the nut mixture over the top layer of phyllo and melted butter. Top with 2 sheets of dough and melted butter. Repeat this process with the nuts, phyllo, and butter until you have 8 sheets of dough left.
- For the remaining 8 sheets of phyllo dough, repeat the layering process from Step 5 until all phyllo has been added to the baking dish.
- Precut the assembled (but unbaked) baklava into pieces. Avoid cutting all the way to the bottom of the dish; you want to keep about ⅛ inch intact to hold in the syrup mixture.
- Bake the baklava for 30–40 minutes, or until the top turns golden brown.
- Pull the baklava out of the oven and pour the reserved syrup mixture over the top, allowing it to seeps down to all layers. Let it cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before serving.
| Calories per Serving | 410 |
| Total Fat | 23.4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5.7 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.2 g |
| Cholesterol | 16.3 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 48.6 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2.5 g |
| Total Sugars | 30.1 g |
| Sodium | 148.8 mg |
| Protein | 5.0 g |
