Mediterranean Dessert Recipes

Ingredients

• •Phyllo Dough
• •1 cup Honey
• •1 cup Water
• •3/4 cup Sugar
• 🥜2 1/2 cups Nuts (pistachios and walnuts) chopped
• 🧈1 stick Butter
• •1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 🍋1 tsp Lemon juice
• •2 tbsp Cinnamon

Instructions

1. 1Preheat oven to 350. With a knife or blender, chop nuts until fine. Combine with cinnamon and set off to the side.
2. 2Prepare the syrup by bringing water, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract to a boil. Once boiling reduce to low and let it simmer for another 20 minutes and then remove from heat and stir in honey. Set off to the side to cool.
3. 3Prepare the phyllo dough according to package. Be sure to give it enough time to thaw or phyllo dough will fall apart.
4. 4Melt 1 stick of butter and in a large baking dish, brush some melted butter on the bottom and along the sides. Place two layer of phyllo dough, brush with butter and then add two more layers of phyllo dough. This will be the bottom crust of the baklava.
5. 5Now begin layering. Phyllo dough, handful of nut mixture, 2 sheets of phyllo dough, spread with melted butter and then repeat this process. Depending on the size of the dish, you may need to cut the dough to adjust the size of each sheet. It’s easier to cut when the phyllo dough is still rolled up. So repeat the process of 2 sheets of Phyllo, nuts, butter..phyllo nuts butter..ect. Ensuring to butter each layer of phyllo dough. You want at least 6-8 layers to ensure a full and crisp baklava.
6. 6Now that you have all of your layers, pre cut the baklava all the way through. You can go diagonal, or straight across.
7. 7Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes or until top is golden and crisp, and each layer of phyllo is cooked through. You can check this by poking the middle and toothpick and it should come out clean.
8. 8Remove from oven and pour now cooled syrup over the entire dish. (You may have some extra) do small spoonfuls at a time just until each piece and layer is full of the syrup through the bottom. Let it cool for at least 1 hour to allow the syrup to soak through and firm. And then Enjoy!!! Tastes amazing with ice cream!