Description
A delicious and flaky dessert made with layers of phyllo dough, walnuts, and sweet syrup.
Ingredients
Scale
- 16 ounces phyllo dough (thawed according to package instructions)
- 1 ¼ cups salted butter (melted)
- 1 lb finely chopped walnuts (about 4 cups)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Thaw phyllo dough completely by placing it in the fridge overnight. Let the package of phyllo sit the next day, unopened, on the counter for 1 hour prior to making your baklava so it can come all the way to room temperature.
- Butter the sides and bottom of the baking dish (9×13-inch). Trim phyllo to fit in the bottom of the pan, if necessary. Keep the trimmed dough covered in a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out.
- Chop walnuts in a food processor by pulsing 10-12 times until coarsely ground or chop with a sharp knife until very finely chopped. Stir together the walnuts and cinnamon until combined.
- Prepare the sauce before assembling the baklava so it has plenty of time to cool completely before pouring over the baked phyllo dough.
- Combine the sugar, water, honey, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to boil for 4 minutes more without stirring. Remove from heat and cool completely.
- Heat oven to 325°F.
- Layer 10 sheets of phyllo pastry into the bottom of the pan, brushing a thin layer of melted butter between each layer and keeping the unused phyllo dough covered with a damp cloth to prevent it drying out.
- Sprinkle approximately ⅕ of the chopped walnuts and cinnamon (roughly ¾ cup) in a thin, even layer over the first 10 pastry sheets.
- Repeat 4 more times but with 5 sheets of phyllo dough instead of 10, brushing each with melted butter before adding the next sheet. Sprinkle ¾ cup of the chopped walnut mixture after every 5 layers of buttered phyllo dough.
- Finish the baklava with a final, top layer of phyllo dough brushed with butter between the layers using the remaining 6-10 sheets of dough. Brush the top sheet of phyllo dough with butter as well.
- Carefully slice the baklava into 1 ½-inch wide strips lengthwise, then slice diagonally to create diamond-shaped baklava. Or just slice squares if you prefer.
- Bake in the 325°F oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the baklava is golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle all of the cooled syrup over the baklava.
- Let the baklava cool completely at room temperature for 4-6 hours without being covered so the baked pastry can soak up all of the syrup.
Notes
- This baklava can be made ahead of time and stored at room temperature.
- Make sure to keep the phyllo covered while working to prevent it from drying out.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 75 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 12g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 50mg