Baklava with Honey Syrup
What is Baklava?
Baklava is typically made of phyllo dough, finely crushed nuts, butter, and simple syrup. There are a lot of variations of this dessert. This baklava is a Greek style with walnuts and a generous amount of cinnamon. Some variations have a mixture of pistachio, walnuts, and even hazelnuts.
Thaw your phyllo dough properly. Too much moisture will make the phyllo sticky and hard to manage. Do not remove the phyllo (fillo) from the package, place it in the fridge for 12-14 hours until ready to use.
Baklava with Honey Syrup Ingredients
- phyllo dough
- unsalted butter
- walnuts
- cinnamon
- sugar
- lemon juice
- water
- honey
Baklava with Honey Syrup tips:
-
Thaw your phyllo dough properly. Too much moisture will make the phyllo sticky and hard to manage. Do not remove the phyllo from the package, place it in the fridge for 12-14 hours until ready to use.
-
Trim phyllo dough to fit your baking dish. My phyllo package had 2 rolls with a total of 40 sheets that measured 9×14 so I had to trim them slightly. You can trim one stack at a time and then cover it with a damp towel to keep it from drying out.
-
It will keep well for up to 2 weeks stored in an air-tight glass container at room temperature or in the fridge.
- Make sure your honey sauce is cooled to room temp before you pour it on the baklava. The hot baklava layers will absorb as much of the syrup as possible and you’ll have perfectly crisp phyllo layers. If the syrup was hot, or if the syrup and baklava were both cool, it collects in a bit of a pool, causing the beautiful pastry you worked so hard on to get soggy.
Start by making your honey syrup. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, honey, lemon juice, and water. Bring to a boil over med/high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat to med/low and boil an additional 4 min without stirring. Remove from heat and let the syrup cool.
How to make Baklava:
Preheat Oven to 325˚F. Pulse the nuts in a food processor and add to a bowl with the cinnamon.
Your Baklava Layers should end up like this:
-
- 10 buttered phyllo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture
- 5 buttered phyllo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture
- 5 buttered phyllo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture
- 5 buttered phyllo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture
- 5 buttered phyllo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture
- 10 buttered phyllo sheets and butter the top
Cut pastry into 1 1/2″ wide strips, then cut diagonally to form diamond shapes. Bake at 325˚F for 1 hour and 15 min or until tops are golden brown.
Remove from the 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 the baklava cool completely, uncovered, and at room temp.
Baklava with Honey Syrup Recipe:
Baklava with Honey Syrup
Ingredients
- 16 oz phyllo dough, thawed by package instructions
- 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, melted
- 1 lb walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, about the juice of 1/2 lemon
- 3/4 cups water
- 1/2 cup honey
- Melted chocolate chips & chopped walnuts for garnish, optional
Instructions
Prep
- 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)
- Trim phyllo dough to fit your baking dish. You can trim one stack at a time and then cover it with a damp towel to keep it from drying out
- Butter the bottom and sides of a 13x9 non-stick baking pan.
Honey Sauce
- n 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 an additional 4 min without stirring. Remove from heat and let syrup cool while preparing baklava.
Baklava
- Pulse walnuts 10 times in a food processor or until coarsely ground/chopped.
- In a medium bowl, stir together: 4 cups finely chopped walnuts and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
- Place 10 phyllo sheets into the baking pan one at a time, brushing each sheet with butter once it's in the pan before adding the next until you have all 10 sheets in the pan. Keep remaining phyllo covered with a damp towel at all times.
- Spread about 1/5 of the nut mixture (about 3/4 cup) over phyllo dough.
- Add 5 buttered sheets of phyllo, then another layer of nuts. Repeat x 4. Finish off with 10 layers of buttered phyllo sheets.
- Cut pastry into 1 1/2" wide strips, then cut diagonally to form diamond shapes. Bake at 325˚F for 1 hour and 15 min or until tops are golden brown.
- Remove from the 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 the baklava cool completely, uncovered, and at room temp.
Notes
Can you Make Gluten Free Baklava?
The phyllo dough is not gluten-free but I did find some gluten-free recipes for phyllo dough online if you wanted to attempt it.
Can you Freeze Baklava?
You can freeze already baked baklava for up to 4 months. I like to store it in small batches so I don’t have to thaw out the entire pan. Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.
Why Do You Cut Baklava Before Baking?
Once phyllo pastry is baked, it’s super crunchy and if you try to cut through it then, it’ll break into a mess, ruining all your hard work.
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Have you ever made baklava before?
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We always make Baklava for the holidays. Your recipe sounds delicious and I can’t wait to give it a try. Visiting from the Creative Muster party and shared on Facebook.
Maria @ kraftyplanner.com
Thank you for the share!!
I’m going to feel so fancy when I make this! Thanks for sharing it on Farmhouse Friday. I’m featuring it this week. pinned
Thank you for the feature! It’s so yummy
I love this Turkish dessert!
This recipe is alright but you are incorrect in letting the syrup cool. You want it piping hot and the pastry just out of the oven to get the correct consistency in the end. Otherwise your baklava will be too wet and soggy