I love making baklava. It's easy because you just buy the pastry in the frozen aisle of the grocery store. It's difficult to make phyllo dough in your own house unless you've had a LOT of experience because the pastry is so thin. I highly recommend buying the phyllo to simplify things. This recipe still takes a lot of time despite the ease of buying the pastry, because you have to butter and stack each layer without breaking them. It's 40 layers total. That isn't bad, it's just time-consuming.

This baklava recipe from Natasha's Kitchen is delicious! It uses walnuts, which kind of have a more neutral nutty flavor compared to pistachios, but feel free to substitute in a different filling!

​

​

Ingredients

​

• 1 (16 oz) package phyllo (or fillo) dough; thawed by package instructions

• 2 1/2 sticks (10 oz or 1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, melted

• 1 pound (about 4 cups) walnuts, finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (juice of 1/2 lemon)

• 3/4 cup water

• 1/2 cup honey

• Melted chocolate chips & chopped walnuts for garnish, optional

​

Instructions

​

1. Thaw phyllo dough by package instructions (this is best done overnight in the fridge, then place it on the counter for 1 hr before starting your recipe to bring it to room temp).

2. Trim phyllo dough to fit your baking dish. The standard phyllo package has 2 rolls with a total of 40 sheets that measured 9x14 inches so you have to trim them slightly. You can trim one stack at a time then cover with a damp towel to keep from drying out.

3. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan.

4. Start the honey sauce (which needs time to cool as baklava bakes): In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup honey, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, and 3/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over med/high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat to med/low and boil additional 4 min without stirring. Remove from heat and let syrup cool while preparing baklava.

5. To assemble the baklava: Preheat oven to 325°F.

6. Pulse walnuts 10 times in a food processor or until coarsely ground/finely chopped. In a medium bowl, stir together: 4 cups finely chopped walnuts and 1 tsp cinnamon.

7. Place 10 phyllo sheets into baking pan one at a time, brushing each sheet with butter once it's in the pan before adding the next. Keep remaining phyllo covered with a damp towel at all times. Spread 1/5 of nut mixture (about 3/4 cup) over phyllo dough.

8. Add 5 buttered sheets of phyllo, then another layer of nuts. Repeat 4 times. Finish off with 10 layers of buttered phyllo sheets. Brush the very top with butter. (See bottom for listed layers.)

9. Cut pastry into 1 1/2" wide strips, then cut diagonally to form diamond shapes. Bake in preheated oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

10. Remove from oven and immediately spoon cooled syrup evenly over the hot baklava (you'll hear it sizzle). This will ensure that it stays crisp rather than soggy. Let baklava cool completely, uncovered at room temperature. For best results, let baklava sit 4-6 hours or overnight at room temperature for the syrup to penetrate and soften the layers. 

11. Garnish baklava with finely chopped nuts or drizzle with melted chocolate. 

12. Store at room temp, covered with a tea towel for 1 to 2 weeks.

 

Notes: Here's the listed order of the baklava layers:

​

• 10 buttered phyllo sheets, ¾ cup nut mixture

• 5 buttered phyllo sheets, ¾ cup nut mixture

• 5 buttered phyllo sheets, ¾ cup nut mixture

• 5 buttered phyllo sheets, ¾ cup nut mixture

• 5 buttered phyllo sheets, ¾ cup nut mixture

• 10 buttered phyllo sheets and butter the top

• Bake and pour cooled syrup over the top