recipe: baklava

i've been wanting to make this again for a while, and a lil holiday gathering today was the perfect excuse. it seems like a complicated dessert, but it's actually super-simple, just made out of a ton of tiny steps. it always comes out great... definitely on par with any restaurant/bakery-purchased version. i adapted the Baklava recipe from allrecipes.com, with a few tweaks to make it easier and with a touch less butter.

ingredients list:
- 1 (16 oz) package phyllo dough, thawed
- 1 lb mixed nuts, chopped & lightly toasted (plus more for garnish)
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup honey


to make: prep sauce first by boiling sugar and water until the sugar has completely dissolved, stirring in the vanilla and honey and simmering for about 10 minutes. remove from heat, and once cool place in refrigerator to chill.

preheat oven to 325 degrees. grease the bottoms & sides of a 9x13 inch pan. toss nuts with cinnamon, and set aside. 


unroll phyllo dough, and cover with cling wrap so it doesn't dry out as you're working. place 2 sheets of the dough into the pan (the dough will be slightly longer than the length of the pan - just squish it so it fits - the wrinkles will make nice nooks & crannies that will help make a flaky crust). brush a thin coat of butter all over the dough, then repeat until you have 8 total sheets layered. sprinkle 2-3 tbsp of nut mixture on top. top with two sheets of dough, butter, and nuts, layering as you go until you run out of nuts and/or almost all of the phyllo. the top layer should be 6-8 dough sheets deep (WITHOUT butter on top layer, for now - it will be too hard to cut neatly if the butter is sticking).


using a sharp knife, cut into triangle or square shapes, cutting about 1/4 inch above the bottom of the pan (if you go all the way through, the sauce will seep to the bottom and make the bottom soggy). after cutting is complete, apply thin layer of butter to top. bake for 35-50 minutes until the baklava is golden and crisp.


once removed from the oven, spoon the cold sauce over the hot baklava- it will crisp up nicely. sprinkle a dash of chopped nuts over top for garnish, and let cool before serving (leave it uncovered as it will get soggy covered).
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once again, i love this. not much else to say... it's a perfect recipe. tastes just as good as bakery bought, which means a 9*********.