Easy Baklava
- Total Time
- About 1¼ hours, plus chilling and thawing
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2cups/405 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/60 milliliters honey
- 1(3-inch) strip orange zest, cut with a vegetable peeler
- 1cardamom pod
- ¼teaspoon rose water (optional)
- 6tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter, melted
- ¼cup plus 2 tablespoons/90 milliliters neutral oil (such as grapeseed)
- 8ounces/225 grams raw or roasted peanuts
- 8ounces/225 grams raw pistachios
- 8ounces/225 grams raw walnuts
- ½cup/60 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 1teaspoon rose water (optional)
- ⅛teaspoon ground cardamom (preferably freshly ground from the seeds of about 2 pods)
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1(1-pound/454-gram) package frozen phyllo dough, thawed completely
For the Syrup
For the Baklava
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
387 calories; 25 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 94 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the syrup: Combine sugar, 1 cup water, honey, orange zest and cardamom in a saucepan. Simmer over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes.
- Step 2
Remove from the heat and stir in the rose water, if using. Let cool, then pour the syrup into an airtight container and refrigerate until chilled, or up to 1 day in advance.
- Step 3
Make the baklava: Heat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir together melted butter and oil in a bowl, and set near where you’ll be rolling the baklava.
- Step 4
In a food processor, pulse the peanuts, pistachios, walnuts, confectioners’ sugar, rose water, cardamom and cinnamon until the nuts are very finely chopped and the mixture is almost pasty.
- Step 5
Lay 3 sheets of phyllo dough stacked on top of one another on the counter or cutting board with one of the short sides closest to you. Cover the unused sheets of phyllo with a damp kitchen towel as you work, or they’ll dry out.
- Step 6
Very generously brush the top layer of phyllo dough with about 2½ tablespoons of the butter mixture. Spread a fifth (about 1¼ cups/145 grams) of the nut mixture on the bottom third of the phyllo dough and pack it down. Roll the 3 phyllo sheets together away from you to form a compact log. Keep the seam side down as you work on more rolls. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and nut mixture to form 4 more rolls. Place the rolls on the baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes to make them easier to slice.
- Step 7
Remove from the freezer and, using a serrated knife, cut the rolls evenly into about 1-inch slices. Arrange the slices, cut sides up and well spaced apart, on the same baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.
- Step 8
Remove from the oven. While still warm, carefully transfer the baklava and arrange snugly, cut side up, in a large serving dish (a 9-by-13-will fit most, but not all the rolls). Discard the orange zest and cardamom pod from the chilled rose syrup and pour the syrup all over the baklava. Let baklava cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 1 month.
Private Notes
Comments
Do not make this recipe. As a person who makes baklava all the time, I did not find this simpler. While rolling up the logs, the ground nuts came out the ends. This does not happen when you make real baklava. Also, peanuts in baklava? I think not. I used only walnuts. Pistachios and walnuts together would also be acceptable to me. Also, oil? Not. Only butter. I use a 4 inch nylon pastry brush to spread the melted butter on every single sheet of Philo dough.
There is a flaw here, as you roll the phyllo you should brush it with butter as you go. The baklava came out too dry and not buttery enough in my opinion. Also, as you roll, it has to be very tight, otherwise the nuts start to fall out after cutting.
With the ubiquitousness of peanut allergies, probably better to just increase the pistachios and walnuts each by 50%. And frankly you wouldn't lose much - those are the two nut flavors I really want in my baklava
This sounds more difficult to me. Laying out 1 sheet of phyllo at a time and buttering each sheet as you go isn't difficult. Just cover sheets with a damp cloth is ready. Rose water is essential for me. NO PEANUTS! I've made baklava (or buttlava as we refer to it) is a favorite!
This doesn't look simple to me. I make baklawa (arabic -no V) many times a year and only use walnuts but I might try pistachios. And, I stick with sugar syrup. Mid-eastern baklawa uses mazaher, orange blossom water, which makes it seem a bit more exotic according to the Anglo tasters I have given it to. The hardest part of traditional baklawa is cutting the diamond pattern before baking it but a really sharp pointed knife works well. I also use clarified butter as recommended by Maureen Abood.
I made this today as written (peanuts and all!). There aren't any peanut allergies in my family or friend group, and we had them on hand along with the other nuts called for. It turned out well. My peanuts were roasted, so the peanuty scent is a bit dominating in the end result, but I like it. After reading comments here, I drizzled melted butter over the whole lot, and that helped. I didn't find this recipe "easy" overall, though I've never made traditional baklava
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