Coming to my parent’s house for any holiday, event or even a family dinner, it’s going to sound like there are 30 people when there are 10 and there will be enough food to last at least a week. It’s loud, it’s comical and it’s a great time! Some of these characteristics we get from my Mom’s Italian side and others we get from my Dad’s Greek side. In other words, I didn’t even stand at chance at being a shy or quiet person!
I’ve been told stories of how my Dad’s side of the family used to be a lot like that movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” where Windex is the cure to all, everyone’s talking at once and everyone lived around the corner. As the years progressed, we’ve lost some of those traits, but we still crack eggs on Easter, my Dad still loves his Baklava and when he starts talking to the waiter in Greek you know it’ll be a good time!
This is one of those desserts that looks and sounds very difficult to make, but it’s actually quite simple with only 5 ingredients; it just takes patience. The first time I made Baklava, I had a lot to live up to being that my Dad grew up in a Greek household; he knows good Baklava when he tastes it. Lucky for me, he loved it!
What You’ll Need
- 1 package of Phyllo Dough
- 4 Cups of Chopped Walnuts
- 1/2 Cup of Sugar
- 1 Tbs Cinnamon
- 2 Cups of Melted Butter
- 1/2 Cup of Honey
To Prepare
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
- Grease a 13″ x 9″ baking dish
Directions
Chop 4 cups of Walnuts, either with a knife or a food processor, until fine. Mix the nuts together in a large bowl with the sugar and the cinnamon. Once the ingredients are fully combined, set aside.
Unwrap the Phyllo Dough and lay out flat on the counter. To make sure it doesn’t dry out as you’re working, dampen a paper towel and lay it over the sheets whenever you aren’t using them; this is very important! Phyllo Dough can be purchased in the freezer section of your supermarket, but make sure you defrost it before you use it or the pieces will crack and fall apart.
To begin, take one sheet of Phyllo Dough and carefully lay it across the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Let the ends come up the sides. If there are a few cracks that’s ok, jut try not to tear or tug too much. Brush the sheet carefully with the melted butter.
Repeat this step 5 more times so that you have 6 sheets of Phyllo Dough stacked on top of each other. When it comes to buttering the Phyllo sheets, my theory is: You can never have too much butter! Especially with Phyllo Dough, in my experience, I feel theat the dough bakes better and is a little less flakey and easier to handle when you use more butter in the preparation. Don’t let it get soupy, but be generous!
Once the 5 layers are done, scoop a 1 and 1/4 cup of nuts and spread evenly across the top of the sheets.
Repeat the layering of sheets, butter and nuts 2 more times so that you have 3 layers of nuts total. Layer and butter 6 additional sheets of Phyllo Dough on top of the last layer of nuts to finish it off. Butter the top generously and sprinkle with extra sugar and cinnamon.
Before putting it in the oven, with a knife, cut half way down into the Baklava to create 24 square pieces. Be sure to not cut all the way through just yet!
Place in the oven to bake for 1 hour. It won’t be completely done at this point, but you’ll want to take it out and brush more butter across the top to make sure that the sheets stays moist. Place the dish back in the oven for another 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.
While the Baklava is baking for the last 5 minutes, place the honey on a pan on the stove on low until it becomes less thick.
Once the Baklava is finished baking, take it out of the oven and drizzle the heated honey over the top evenly to finish it off. Let cool. Cut all the way through once the Baklava has cooled and you’re ready to serve!
Enjoy!
Tags: Baklava, Greek Dessert, Honey, Walnuts
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