Greek Recipes
Baklava Recipe
Prep
30 minutes
Cook
55 minutes
Yield
12 -16
This delicious Greek baklava recipe is filled with a walnut, and raisin filling and drenched in sweet honey syrup.
Baklava is a beautiful layered pastry that is made with layers of phyllo pastry that gives a nice crunch and is filled with chopped nuts. What makes it extra sweet and delicious is the sweet honey syrup. This dessert is seriously so amazing. Not only does it look impressive but it tastes incredible. Baklava is truly a gift to your recipe book.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Baklava
- Easy Prep: Baklava only takes 30 minutes to prep
- Delicious: Seriously, everything about this recipe is to die for. You’ll love the combo of nuts and sweet honey syrup
- Impressive: Baklava will impress everyone at the table. It’s gorgeous and tasty
🍲 Ingredients
Phyllo Pastry – Also known as filo, phyllo is used for making pastries like baklava in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. The pastry is often found in the freezer section with puff pastry and pie pastry. What makes baklava so magical is all the thin, crunchy layers of phyllo.
Walnuts – Walnuts are rich in nutrients, they’re a healthy source of fat, and can help with both your gut and heart health. In this baklava recipe, they add a beautiful crunch to the filling
👩🍳 How to Make Baklava
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
Make the filling
- In a bowl add the shredded apple (drained of any liquid), finely chopped walnuts, raisins and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
Assemble the baklava
- Keep the defrosted phyllo pastry under a slightly damp towel to avoid the pastry drying out while assembling the baklava.
- Melt the butter and then brush the base and the sides of the springform pan with melted butter.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the pan and then brush with butter (the phyllo will go up the sides of the pan a bit as you layer). Make 4 more layers, brushing with butter each time for a total of 5 layers on the bottom of the pan.
- Spread a ⅓ of the apple-raisin-walnut filling over the phyllo dough.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo over the filling and brush with butter. Repeat with two more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter before laying the next for a total of 3 phyllo layers.
- Spread a ⅓ of the apple-raisin-walnut filling over the phyllo dough.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo over the filling and brush with butter. Repeat with two more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter before laying the next for a total of 3 phyllo layers.
- Finally spread the final ⅓ of the apple-raisin-walnut filling over the phyllo dough.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo on the filling and then brush with butter (the phyllo will go up the sides of the pan a bit as you layer). Make 4 more layers, brushing with butter each time for a total of 5 layers as the top layer of your baklava.
- Use a scissor or knife to trim the phyllo pastry that is above the edge of the pan, making it flush with the top edge of the pan. Brush the top layer and around the edge with the remaining butter.
- Use a sharp knife to skor the cake in a diagonal pattern, creating diamond shapes.
- Bake on a baking sheet for 45-55 minutes, until it’s golden brown.
- While the baklava is baking, make the syrup. Bring the honey, cinnamon, sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer until the syrup is slightly reduced, for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while the baklava bakes.
- Once the baklava is done baking, remove from the oven and immediately pour the cooled honey syrup all over the hot baklava. Let stand for at least an hour to cool in the springform pan before removing the springform ring and serving so the syrup can fully absorb. To serve, cut along the diagonal lines. Store at room temperature covered for up to 3 days.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Nuts: If you don’t have or want walnuts, you can use other nuts like pecans, almonds, and/or pistachios
- Honey Syrup: Prepare the honey syrup up to one day ahead and store it at room temperature in a mason jar or container
- Phyllo: Working with phyllo can come with its challenges as it can dry out quickly making it hard to work with. To avoid this, make sure that once out of the package, you place it between two damp kitchen towels to give the dough moisture
🗒 Variations
There are so many variations of baklava that vary depending on the region. For example, in Greece, walnuts are most commonly used over other nuts and often contain cinnamon. In Iran, you’ll find a baklava with cardamom in the filling, in other regions, pistachios are commonly used. All are beautiful options but this baklava recipe is how this Greek gal makes it.
🗒 Best served with
- No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
- Easy Fresh Fruit Salad
- Barista Oat Milk (used in hot coffee or tea)
👝 How to Store Leftovers
You can store baklava in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze cooked (and cooled) baklava for up to four months.
🤔 Common Questions
Typically it is not due to the honey syrup and the pastry being brushed with butter. If you wanted to make a vegan version, you could use a plant-based butter, and substitute the honey syrup for an agave syrup. It’ll produce a different taste, but still delicious.
The biggest error you can make is by using TOO much butter on each layer. Just lightly brush the layers to keep it the right consistency.
Yes, but both are yummy. Turkish baklava is soaked in a sweet syrup made with water, sugar, and lemon juice. Greek baklava is made with a honey syrup that is flavored with spices like cloves and/or cinnamon.
Baklava Recipe
Your Greek mommy that is. 😍 Step into my kitchen to learn how to make yummy Greek food. 🍽️💃
Ingredients
For the filling
For the honey syrup
- 1/3 cup liquid honey
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
Make the filling
- In a bowl add the shredded apple (drained of any liquid), finely chopped walnuts, raisins and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
Assemble the baklava
- Keep the defrosted phyllo pastry under a slightly damp towel to avoid the pastry drying out while assembling the baklava.
- Melt the butter and then brush the base and the sides of the springform pan with melted butter.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the pan and then brush with butter (the phyllo will go up the sides of the pan a bit as you layer). Make 4 more layers, brushing with butter each time for a total of 5 layers on the bottom of the pan.
- Spread a ⅓ of the apple-raisin-walnut filling over the phyllo dough.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo over the filling and brush with butter. Repeat with two more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter before laying the next for a total of 3 phyllo layers.
- Spread a ⅓ of the apple-raisin-walnut filling over the phyllo dough.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo over the filling and brush with butter. Repeat with two more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter before laying the next for a total of 3 phyllo layers.
- Finally spread the final ⅓ of the apple-raisin-walnut filling over the phyllo dough.
- Layer a sheet of phyllo on the filling and then brush with butter (the phyllo will go up the sides of the pan a bit as you layer). Make 4 more layers, brushing with butter each time for a total of 5 layers as the top layer of your baklava.
- Use a scissor or knife to trim the phyllo pastry that is above the edge of the pan, making it flush with the top edge of the pan. Brush the top layer and around the edge with the remaining butter. Use a sharp knife to skor the cake in a diagonal pattern, creating diamond shapes.
- Bake on a baking sheet for 45-55 minutes, until it's golden brown.
- While the baklava is baking, make the syrup. Bring the honey, cinnamon, sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer until the syrup is slightly reduced, for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while the baklava bakes.
- Once the baklava is done baking, remove from the oven and immediately pour the cooled honey syrup all over the hot baklava. Let stand for at least an hour to cool in the springform pan before removing the springform ring and serving so the syrup can fully absorb. To serve, cut along the diagonal lines. Store at room temperature covered for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
- If needed, you can use pecans, almonds or pistachios instead of walnuts.
- Store at room temperature covered for up to 3 days.
- Prep the honey syrup up to one day ahead and store at room temperature in an airtight container until ready to use.
