Baklava
Layered phyllo pastry with chopped nuts, baked until crisp and soaked in a lemon-scented sugar syrup — one of the most fiercely contested dishes in food history, claimed with real historical grounding by Ottoman/Turkish palace kitchens, Greece, Armenia, and the wider Levant alike, not any single nation's alone.
VegetarianDessert
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Dairy, Tree Nut. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 1 package (about 450g) phyllo dough, thawed overnight in the refrigerator
- 2 cups walnuts or pistachios (or a mix), finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Crushed pistachios, to garnish
Steps
- Let the thawed phyllo come to room temperature, still wrapped, for at least 1 hour before using.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.
- Toss the chopped nuts with the cinnamon in a bowl.
- Lay 8-10 sheets of phyllo in the pan one at a time, brushing each sheet with melted butter before adding the next (keep the unused phyllo covered with a damp towel to prevent it drying out).
- Spread about a third of the nut mixture evenly over the buttered phyllo stack. Repeat with more buttered phyllo layers and nut mixture two more times, ending with 8-10 final buttered phyllo sheets on top.
- Using a sharp knife, score the top layers into diamond or square shapes before baking (cutting after baking shatters the crisp layers).
- Bake for 45-60 minutes, until deep golden brown and crisp throughout.
- While the baklava bakes, combine sugar, honey, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer 4-5 minutes and let cool completely.
- Pour the cooled syrup evenly over the hot baklava right out of the oven (hot pastry with cold syrup, or cold pastry with hot syrup — never both hot, or it turns soggy). Let it soak in for at least 4 hours before serving.