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Honey Baklava

Baklava is sweet, crunchy, buttery and filled with walnuts. The flavors of sweet honey syrup mixed with savory walnuts all sandwiched between phyllo dough is one of the best and most satisfying desserts on the planet. 

Course Dessert
Keyword baklava, honey, phyllo dough, walnuts
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings 26 people

Ingredients

  • 16 oz package phyllo dough, thawed Set phyllo dough package on counter to thaw about 1 hour before you're ready to use it.
  • 4 cups walnuts, chopped finely
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 cup white, granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, melted + more for buttering the pan
  • 1/4 cup pistachios, crushed if desired for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Butter the inside of a 9x13 baking pan. 

  2. Using a food processor or by hand, finely chop walnuts. Add in the cinnamon and pulse or mix to incorporate. 

  3. Melt 1 1/4 cups butter. 

  4. Unfold and lay the thawed phyllo dough between two damp kitchen towels in order to keep it from drying out. You will be working with one sheet of phyllo dough at a time. Most 16 oz. packages of phyllo dough are divided into two sleeves inside of the box. Use all of the dough from both sleeves.  

  5. If your phyllo dough is too long, trim the stack so that the pieces will fit into the pan. 

For Assembly

  1. Assembly Step #1  Lay one sheet of phyllo dough in the bottom of the buttered pan. Brush with melted butter using a pastry brush. One at a time, add 9 more sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each sheet as it's added to the pan, until you have a stack of 10 buttered sheets. 

  2. Assembly Step #2  Top with 3/4 cup of the walnut cinnamon mixture and evenly distribute. 

  3. Assembly Step #3 Top the walnut layer with 5 more sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each one as they are added. 

  4. Assembly Step #4 Top with another 3/4 cup of the walnut cinnamon mixture and evenly distribute. 

  5. Assembly Step #5  Repeat assembly steps 3 & 4, three more times. 

  6. Assembly Step #6 (Final)   By now, you should have used all of the walnut mixture and almost all of the phyllo dough, and have a pan with the walnut cinnamon mixture on top. Finish by covering the nut mixture with 10 more sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each one as you go. Drizzle any remaining butter on top of the last sheet of phyllo dough. 

  7. Cut the baklava into strips the length of the pan and approximately 1 1/2 inches wide. 

  8. Then cut diagonally to create diamond shaped pieces. This will yield approximately 26 pieces. 

  9. Bake in a 325 F degree oven for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. When finished, the top will be golden brown. 

For The Syrup

  1. While the baklava is baking in the oven, make the syrup. 

  2. Combine the sugar, honey and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Check to see that the sugar is no longer grainy and has completely melted. Be careful not to let this burn. Then reduce heat and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, still stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool completely. 

To Finish

  1. Once baklava has finished cooking in the oven, remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack. Immediately pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava. You will hear it sizzle. Allow the baklava to cool completely before serving. Sprinkle with crushed pistachios for color and garnish if desired.