Walnut & Honey Baklava

This Baklava recipe is very dear to me. It came from one of my sister’s neighbors years ago and I’ve made it nearly a hundred times since then.

We aren’t Greek. Far from it! Our {My husband & myself} heritage is somewhere between German and English, leaning closer to the German side. I’m okay with that most of the time but every-once-in-a-while we set that aside and venture closer to the Mediterranean. We love Baklava!

Recently, my husband found a stand at the farmers’ market we go to. He began buying a few pieces of baklava each week to take to work for snacks. Eventually, he was buying six or seven pieces every Saturday morning. At $2.50 per piece! We added that up and he was spending $60/month on baklava. The man really loves it.

So, I resurrected this recipe. It costs far less than that to make so I make a pan and freeze the majority of them for him to bring out each day.

When you decide to make it, please know that I make it as a two-day recipe. It doesn’t actually take very long to put together but it does have to chill in the fridge and I’ve found that overnight is easiest.

I don’t often do “how to” pics to go along with the final pic but this recipe is different. There are layers and a couple different mixtures that I felt it might be helpful to see.

So, let’s get to it.

This is the pan I usually use. As you can tell, I’ve made a few batches of baklava in it considering the design of the cut marks!

Let’s start with the butter because as you know – everything’s better with butter. Don’t use margarine! There is no reason to ever eat margarine. It’s fake. It’s a liar. No liars. Melt your pound of butter. I use my stove, you may use a microwave if you must. You will need to keep the butter warm until needed.

Get out your thawed phyllo dough. Cut open the package and unroll the layers keeping them together. Lay the plastic around the layers overtop and cover with a damp dish towel. This is a very important step. The phyllo dries out in seconds.

Brush some warm butter over the bottom of the pan, thoroughly coating it. Lay two sheets of phyllo carefully on the bottom of the pan. It might be a little bit longer than the pan. Just turn that small section under and move on. Butter those two layers completely with a pastry brush. It will be very tender and flaky. Add two more layers at a time, always brushing with more butter. Do this for a total of 12-14 layers.

Now you’re going to carefully spread the prepared nut mixture on top of the layers of phyllo dough, spreading evenly to the edge.

You will continue in this fashion until all the dough and nut mixture is used up, ending with at least 8 layers of phyllo on top. Please note that it is not crucial to have the exact same number of layers in each phyllo layer. You will end up with a total of five layers of dough and four layers of nuts.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly.

The next day, or at least six hours later, remove from refrigerator. Cut dough into squares first, then across the diagonal in one direction only. Place in the oven and bake for one hour or until top is crispy golden brown.

While you are baking the baklava, prepare the syrup. When baklava is finished baking remove from oven and carefully pour the syrup over the squares making sure to cover all crevices. It will soak into the middle so you may have to do this in two batches.

If you’re a baklava lover I think you will find this one of the very best recipes you’ve ever had. It’s both crispy on top and sweet and chewy inside. While my husband really likes the baklava that he gets at the farmers’ market, he says it pales in comparison to mine. And, folks, that’s why I love him.

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