Baklava
"Dallas' specialty"
Serves 20 | Prep Time 30 minutes | Cook Time 1 hourWhy I Love This Recipe
This recipe reminds me so much of wonderful times with friends and family in Turkey. Uncle Dallas makes a wonderful baklava. A clean paintbrush can substitute for a pastry brush for spreading the butter.
Ingredients You'll Need
30 sheets Filo dough (16-oz package)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pistachios
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
(optional) 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp honey
Directions
Preheat oven to 350, butter an 8-inch square pan.
Mix nuts with sugar and spices in a small bowl. Remove Filo roll from package. Unroll and place pan on top to measure and cut Filo dough with kitchen scissors or a sharp knife to the size of the pan.
Lay 10 sheets of Filo in pan, brushing each sheet with melted butter. Make sure other sheets are covered with a damp paper towel, as Filo dries quickly.
Sprinkle half of nut mixture over Filo. Drizzle with melted butter. Lay on another 10 sheets of Filo, brushing each with melted butter.
Sprinkle on remaining nut mixture. Lay on last 10 sheets of Filo, brushing each sheet with melted butter
Cut the layers without cutting all the way through, into diamond-shaped pieces. (About 4 diagonal cuts, then turn and 4 more cuts)
Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. While baking, make the Syrup.
For Syrup: Softly boil water, sugar and lemon 15 minutes. Remove from heat; remove lemon and stir in honey.
Remove cooked baklava and immediately finish cutting through. Pour warm syrup over baklava and cool.
Pairs Well With
In Turkey we paired with hot tea.
