Baklava: How Hard Could it be to Make?

Normally for me, the quickest way to ruin a lovely dessert is by adding nuts. That was until I first tried Baklava. I don't remember my first time, but that gooey, sticky, sweet, only slightly nutty flavour had me hooked from the beginning.  While living in London, I may have indulged a couple times (or many times), as a roommate with a sweet tooth had just discovered it for himself and was kind enough to share. Every. Time. 

It's been 5 months since my last indulgence, so I thought why not try making it myself?  How hard could it be? Turns out, not hard at all! Just look at this lovely syrupy delight.

If you have an hour to kill and a ridiculous amount of honey to use, you can make some too. I really suggest you do!

I followed The Pioneer Woman recipe for the most part. She called for 2 cups of honey (!) which I would have done but I only had 1cup and damn honey is expensive! So after a quick search of other recipes, I figured cutting this in half would be fine.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Phyllo Dough
• 4 cups Chopped Walnuts Or Pecans (I used a blend of walnuts and pistachios. I would even be tempted to use almonds)
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1-1/2 stick Butter, Melted
• 2 cups Honey (I used 1cup)
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

If the phyllo is frozen thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before using, then remove 1 hour prior to use, to bring to room temp. 

(TPW tip--but I didn't follow it--When working with the phyllo dough, only remove the sheets you immediately need, keeping the other sheets covered in plastic wrap, then a damp cloth.) 

In a bowl mix together the chopped nuts with cinnamon and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly butter a rectangular baking pan. Cut the phyllo to fit the pan you are using, a little bigger is okay.

Butter the top sheet of phyllo, then place the buttered sheet and the unbuttered sheet just below into the pan, buttered sheet face down. Press lightly into the pan. Repeat this so that you have six sheets of phyllo in the pan, three of the sheets buttered.

Sprinkle on a single layer of nuts. Place 2 sheets of phyllo on top and butter the top layer. Add more nuts, and repeat this a couple more times, or until you're out of nuts. Finish with 6 more phyllo sheets, ending with a buttered top. Cut a diagonal diamond pattern in the baklava using a very sharp knife.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the baklava is very golden brown. 

While the baklava is baking, combine 1 stick of the butter, honey, water, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. 

When you remove the baklava from the oven, drizzle half the saucepan evenly all over the top. Allow it to sit and absorb for a minute, then drizzle on a little more until you think it's thoroughly moistened. I used it all, but as I said I didn't used the full 2 cups of honey.

Allow the baklava to cool, uncovered, for several hours. It will be sticky, and gooey, and sweet and gorgeous! 

If you do try making baklava yourself  do leave me a comment below and tell me how it went! I'd love to hear.