Baklava, Turkish in origin and absolutely delicious! I usually make this in the winter but when cleaning out my freezer I found 2 essential ingredients for a batch. Since when did I buy a pound of phyllo (it must have been last winter…)? And since when do we have a spare pound of walnuts that are just waiting to be used?? Plus, I noticed I got a little over-zealous when buying honey last shopping trip. I had quite a stash of the golden goodness just yelling, “USE ME”! 😉 Seeing that everything was falling into alignment, I decided it was “meant to be” for me to make Baklava! 🙂
I made my first batch of baklava 8ish years ago after a local store that sold it closed. I still use the original recipe found here but the only thing is I am not afraid of butter and live by the motto, “everything better with butter!” 😉 So, I do use an addition stick of butter in my baklava. But I will post the original recipe. Just remember, you might need additional butter!
The hardest part of this recipe is waiting 24 hours for the Baklava to set without having some-one sneak a piece. But once it is finished, fix yourself a cup of Turkish Coffee, grab a piece of Baklava, and perhaps a scoop of ice cream on the side :), then enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Walnuts – Finely Chopped
- 1/2 C. Sugar
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1.5 C. Butter (3 sticks), Melted
- 1 Package Frozen Phyllo Dough (16 oz) Thawed
- 1 C. Sugar
- 1 C. Water
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 C. Honey (Net weight 12 oz.)
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Combine and set aside walnuts, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon
- Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the bottom and sides of a 10×14″ (about 1-2″ deep) pan with melted butter.
- Open the phyllo dough and layer 6 whole leafs (or 12 half leafs) in the pan, buttering each layer as you go. (The edges will extend over the side.)
- Spread 1 cup of the walnut mixture.
- If your phyllo dough comes in full sheets, cut the remaining phyllo dough in half.
- Layer 8 half sheets — butter each layer. Each sheet will be an inch or so short, so stagger the sheets from corner to corner to cover the whole pan. I use a pattern so I don’t forget how many layers I’ve put down, but it’s even easier if you have a friend help!
- Spread 1 cup of the walnut mixture.
- Repeat 8 sheets and walnut mixture twice. You will end up with 4 layers of nuts.
- Layer the remaining half sheets on top — butter each layer.
- Brush the top with the remaining butter.
- Trim the edges off.
- Cut halfway through the layers using the (new and improved right-hand or left-handers) diagram to the right. See my baklava FAQ page for more tips on cutting. (Note: Do NOT cut from corner to corner.) This is done now since it will be very fragile after it’s been baked.
- Bake 1 hour or until golden brown.
- 15 minutes before the baklava should be done, mix 1 cup sugar, water, and lemon juice in a sauce pan.
- Cook sauce over a medium heat, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat, add the honey and vanilla, and stir until well blended.
- Remove the baklava from the oven and finish cutting through the layers.
- Pour the sauce over the hot baklava.
- Cool. Let it sit for at least 24 hours (lightly covered — but not in the refrigerator) — longer if you can stand it!
- ENJOY!!
