Baklava

Baklava is a rich, layered pastry of paper-thin phyllo sheets, chopped nuts, and butter, soaked in a fragrant honey-lemon syrup. It traces its roots across the Ottoman Empire and is beloved throughout Greece, Turkey, and the Levant, with each region favoring slightly different nuts and spicing.

By YumYum Editorial · Mediterranean

Prep: 40 min · Cook: 45 min · Total: 85 min · Serves 20

Ingredients

• 1 lb phyllo dough, thawed
• 3 cups walnuts or pistachios, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 strip lemon zest

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and brush a 9x13-inch baking pan with melted butter.
2. Mix the chopped nuts with cinnamon and cloves in a bowl.
3. Lay one sheet of phyllo in the pan and brush with butter; repeat to build a stack of 8 sheets, brushing each layer.
4. Sprinkle a thin layer of the nut mixture over the phyllo stack.
5. Add 4-5 more buttered phyllo sheets, then another layer of nuts; repeat until nuts are used, ending with a top stack of 8 buttered sheets.
6. Using a sharp knife, cut the unbaked baklava into diamond or square pieces all the way through to the bottom.
7. Bake for 45 minutes until golden and crisp.
8. While baking, simmer sugar, water, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon stick, and lemon zest for 10 minutes to make the syrup.
9. Pour the hot syrup evenly over the baklava the moment it comes out of the oven.
10. Cool completely, uncovered, for at least 4 hours before serving so the layers stay crisp.