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HOW TO MAKE BAKLAVA I'm Suzy. Wife, mama of
two, big-time cook. I am
POSTED ON DECEMBER 11, 2014 — 16 COMMENTS
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 W AT C H M E O N T V

This is a post I have been eager to write for a while. Today is all about how to make baklava! Only the
best Greek baklava, however.

When you grow up eating baklava at every gathering or special occasion, you develop a discerning
M Y L AT E S T R E C I P E S
palate and become a bit of a baklava snob. At least I did. And because of that, I decided I must make
my very own baklava. MEDITERRANEAN GRILLED CHICKEN +
DILL GREEK YOGURT SAUCE

I am just back from a visit to the doctor’s ofWce, where I have been informed that I lost four pounds
since they last saw me a couple weeks ago. What?! I’m not upset that I lost weight, but I just could not
believe it! For the past Wve months, I have been on a mission to make the best baklava at home. I have
tested a few baklava recipes along way, until I came up with the one ! And in the past month alone, I
have tested my winning recipe four times! So you can see why losing weight made no sense to me.
Not to mention the recent Thanksgiving extravaganza!

ROASTED PEACHES AND ORANGE

 WHIPPED GREEK YOGURT CROSTINI

10 EASY BREAKFAST RECIPES TO

CELEBRATE MOM

EASY NO BAKE DESSERT BARS WITH

DATES, HONEY AND NUTS

STUFFED BELL PEPPER RECIPE WITH RICE,

SPICED GROUND BEEF AND CHICKPEAS

Anywho, today’s Greek baklava recipe is my adaptation of one that appears in the “all things sweet”
chapter of Mediterranean Cookbook Read my review of Mediterranean Cookbook here.

You might be thinking, what qualiWes for the “best” baklava? To me, its the perfectly crisp, yet
appropriately honeyed layers of phyllo . And of course, the right amount of nuts and spices nestled in
between the phyllo layers. You want to hear the crunch as you bite down a piece of baklava, even
though it is drenched in honey! And you want to experience a balance of sweetness and a hint of
cinnamony spice that almost takes you by surprise. If you can achieve all that, congratulations! You
have achieved baklava perfection, my friend. And you want to know a secret? It is not that hard to
achieve.

I recently gave you a few tips here to help you work with phyllo dough. I learned one new tip: place
your phyllo dough/sheets in between two clean and very slightly damp kitchen towels. It worked! My
phyllo sheets stayed lenient and did not break as I worked to layer them in my baking dish. And before
I assembled my baklava, I measured my phyllo dough against my baking dish and trimmed the phyllo
slightly so that I didn’t end up with too much excess to fold in.
Most baklava recipes including the one from Mediterranean Cookbook call for unsalted pistachios and
walnuts. I actually like using salted pistachios; I like the very subtle saltiness which balances the
sweetness of the sugar in the nut mixture and the honey syrup. I also like to add chopped hazelnuts; I
believe they add a little more crunch and earthiness. And in my honey syrup, I like to use orange
extract and whole cloves. YUM!

Sure you can buy ready-made baklava, but trust me, this recipe beats anything out there. If I didn’t
think so, I wouldn’t have taken a tray of my homemade baklava to my in-laws (11 hours away) for
Thanksgiving.

As usual, I have lots of photos to go with the step-by-step instructions. But, if you’re not into photos,
feel free to skip to the print-friendly recipe.

Ple ase pin t his re cipe an d share it wit h your frie n ds. Re ady?

In a small food processor, chop each of the pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts. Set aside 3-4 tbsp of
chopped pistachios for garnish. Combine the nuts together in a bowl.

Add ¼ cup of the sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Stir to mix.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Lay a damp dish towel on your work surface.

Unroll the phyllo. Measure ever so briegy against a deep 12 X 16 baking pan. If you need to, trim a little
of the phyllo dough/sheet to better Wt your baking dish.

Place phyllo on top of a damp towel, and cover with a second damp towel. This will help keep the
phyllo dough from breaking while you work to assemble the baklava.
Lightly brush the baking dish with a bit of the melted butter. Take one sheet of phyllo and line the
baking pan with it, fold in any excess phyllo. Brush the phyllo with butter and gently press in the
corners and sides of the baking pan.

Lay another phyllo sheet on top, brush with butter, and press into the pan as you have done with the
Wrst sheet. Continue layering and buttering each phyllo sheet until you have used up 1/3 of the phyllo
package. Distribute half of the nut mixture evenly over the top sheet.

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Continue with layering the next 1/3 of the phyllo sheets following the same process as before. Now
distribute the remaining half of the nut mixture over the top layer. Layer the remainder of the phyllo
following the same process as before.

If needed, trim off excess phyllo. Brush the very top layer of phyllo with butter. With a knife, cut
diagonal lines, ½ inch deep, in the phyllo to make diamond pieces. Do not press the knife all the way
down.
Bake on a low rack for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours, or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center for 30
seconds comes out clean. Ovens do vary, be sure to watch your baklava even at the 1 hour mark.

While the baklava is baking, make the honey syrup. Place sugar and water in a sauce pan and heat
stove-top, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Add honey, orange extract and whole cloves; stir
to mix. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove syrup from heat
and let cool to lukewarm. Add lemon juice. (Sorry, spaced out and did not take a picture of the syrup
)

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When ready, remove baklava from oven and immediately pour the honey syrup to cover the entire
baklava top.
Let the baklava cool, and then with a sharp knife, cut carefully through the earlier marked pieces.
Serve with a garnish of chopped pistachios.
G R E E K BA K L AVA
5.0 from 2 reviews

PREP TIME COOK TIME T O TA L T I M E

PRINT
30 mins 1 hour 15 mins 1 hour 45 mins

Author: The Mediterranean Dish

Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Serves: 24-36

INGREDIENTS

6 oz shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

6 oz walnuts, coarsely chopped
6 oz hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
¼ cup sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
large pinch of ground cloves
16-oz package phyllo dough
18 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Honey Syrup
¾ cup sugar
1 cup cold water
1 cup honey
1 tbsp orange extract
 5 whole cloves
1 lemon, juice of

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a small food processor, chop each of the pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts.
2. Set aside 3-4 tbsp of chopped pistachios for garnish.
3. Place nuts together in a bowl with ¼ cup of the sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Stir to mix.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Unroll phyllo. Measure phyllo sheets ever so briefly briefly against a deep 12 X 16 baking pan.
If you need to, trim a little of the phyllo dough/sheet to better fit your baking dish.
6. Unroll the phyllo on top of a damp towel, and cover with a second damp towel. This will help
keep the phyllo dough from breaking while you work to assemble the baklava.
7. Lightly brush the baking dish with a bit of the melted butter. Take one sheet of phyllo and line
the baking pan with it, fold in any excess phyllo. Brush the phyllo with butter and gently press
in the corners and sides of the baking pan.
8. Lay another phyllo sheet on top, brush with butter, and press into the pan as you have done
with the first sheet. Continue layering and buttering each phyllo sheet until you have used up
⅓ of the phyllo package.
9. Distribute half of the nut mixture evenly over the top sheet.
10. Continue with layering the next ⅓ of the phyllo sheets following the same process as before.
Now distribute the remaining half of the nut mixture over the top layer.
11. Layer the remainder of the phyllo following the same process as before.
12. If needed, trim off excess phyllo. Brush the very top layer of phyllo with butter.
13. With a knife, cut diagonal lines, ½ inch deep, in the phyllo to maker out 1½ inch diamond
pieces. Do not press the knife all the way down.
14. Bake on a low rack for 1¼ to 1½ hours, or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center for
30 seconds comes out clean.
15. While the baklava is baking, make the honey syrup. Place sugar and water in a sauce pan and
heat stove-top, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Add honey and orange extract; stir
to mix. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove syrup
from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Add lemon juice.
16. When ready, remove baklava from oven and immediately pour the honey syrup to cover the
entire baklava top.
17. Let the baklava cool, and then with a sharp knife, cut carefully through the earlier marked
pieces. Serve with a garnish of chopped pistachios.

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Recipe adapted from Mediterranean Cookbook. Mediterranean Cookbook is available at bookstores or

through Amazon. If you connect to Amazon and make a purchase through this link , I earn a small
commission to help me keep this blog going. Thank you!

Let’s stay in touch! I hang out on Pinterest and Facebook, hope you follow me there.

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FILED UNDER: DESSERTS

TAGGED WITH: DESSERT, GREEK, HOLIDAYS, PHYLLO, SWEETS

COMMENTS

Kenton @ Lemon & Olives Greek Food Blog says

December 11, 2014 at 5:11 pm

Yes, this post is amazing! One of my all-time favor desserts. Can never go wrong making it. I love
the pictures to. And the hazelnuts?! fantastic! I’m going to add them next time I make this.
REPLY

Suzy Karadsheh says

December 11, 2014 at 7:01 pm

Thank you, Kenton! Glad you stopped by.

REPLY

Thalia @ butter and brioche says

December 11, 2014 at 10:15 pm

Baklava is my ultimate sweet weakness.. I have so memory delicious childhood memories of it!
Thanks for reminding me how delicious it is Suzy, I deWnitely am inspired to make a batch!

REPLY

Suzy Karadsheh says

December 12, 2014 at 8:58 am

Food is so powerful in bringing happy memories to mind. Thanks for the sweet comment,
Thalia. Glad to see you here, friend. Hugs.

REPLY

Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says

December 12, 2014 at 6:47 am

I haven’t made baklava in ages. There’s just two of us and that’s a big pan of goodness. I think I’ll
make some and freeze what we don’t eat during the holidays.

REPLY

Suzy Karadsheh says

December 12, 2014 at 8:55 am

Brilliant, Maureen! Freezing baklava works just Wne. Thanks for staying in touch, friend.

REPLY
 Trang says
December 15, 2014 at 9:04 pm

These look wonderful! I’ve never made Baklava before, phyllo dough just looks way too
intimidating to me… but one day I will conquer my fear! :o)

REPLY

Suzy Karadsheh says

December 16, 2014 at 12:42 pm

Trang, you crack me up! You’ve made things that are tougher than baklava. Give it a try, I
know you can do it! Hugs.

REPLY

renee lalane says

December 21, 2014 at 3:57 am

this looks so yummy I think I will try this diet food soon

REPLY

Suzy Karadsheh says

December 21, 2014 at 9:32 am

Let me know how you like it, Renee

REPLY

huma says
February 10, 2015 at 12:48 am

How to make phyllo dough?

REPLY

Suzy Karadsheh says

February 10, 2015 at 7:16 am

Hi Huma. Thanks for your comment. I have not attempted to make the phyllo dough itself as
it is available cheaply at most grocery stores. But perhaps some day!

REPLY
 Vicki L. Kammerer says
May 27, 2015 at 11:48 am

One of my favorites with a cup of very strong Arabic coffee.

REPLY

The Mediterranean Dish says

May 27, 2015 at 2:42 pm

The perfect pairing, Vicki!

REPLY

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