This easy and classic Baklava recipe is loaded with layers of cinnamon, nuts, and butter and saturated in a simple honey syrup! Everyone will love this sweet and sticky dessert!
This flaky dessert makes a lovely addition to holiday gatherings and can be added to a treat tin with Snowball Cookies and Gingerbread Pecans for giving!
This Homemade Baklava Recipe is dreamy!
I am SOOOOO excited about today’s post! Because Baklava, people, BAK-LA-VA!!! Right, glad we’re all on the same page!
I can still remember the first time I had Baklava.
It was probably close to 20 years ago and I was maybe 10 or so. My mum and I were picking up dinner at this new pizza place one Friday night.
I remember looking at the counter and seeing this cake stand stacked with a strange treat that looked like a really sticky pastry, you know, the best kind.
When I asked my mom what it was, she said it was baklava, and then she bought me a piece!
This was a HUGE deal, guys! Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of extra money, so when my mom bought me this $3 treat I was ecstatic!
I was reading a book that took me on a tour of the streets of Istanbul where it mentions Baklava.
That’s when it occurred to me that I hadn’t had it in years. Years, people! And I love baklava, so I had to fix that issue, pronto! So into the kitchen, I went.
It’s funny how a book that takes place on the other side of the world can stir up such a dear memory from my childhood in central Maine. And at the same time give me the urge to jump on the next plane to Turkey.
That’s what I love about reading, you can go anywhere in the world without leaving your house.
What is Baklava?
My recipe for Baklava is a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup.
Where Did It Originate?
No one can say for sure, but it is believed to have been derived from a second-century dated recipe in the Ottoman Empire. The Greeks and Turks still argue over who made it first.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Baklava Recipe
What I love most about baklava is the crunchy yet gooey layers packed with flavor and I think that’s what you’ll love most about it too – it’s delicious! But aside from the obvious, this sticky dessert is actually way easier to make than you might think, although a bit time consuming because of all the layers. But it’s totally worth it!
Homemade Baklava Recipe ingredients
- Phyllo Dough
- Honey
- Pecans
- Cinnamon
- Butter
- Water
- Sugar
- Vanilla
What Nuts Are Best For Baklava?
There are several different nuts you can use in baklava filling, the most common are pistachios and walnuts. Almonds are another great option, and my personal favorite are pecans.
Can I Use Puff Pastry Instead Of Phyllo For Baklava?
No. Even though they are both pastry doughs, they are very different. Baklava relies on the many thin layers of phyllo dough to achieve it’s signature look, texture, and flavor.
This was my first ever baklava. I brought it in to work and also gifted it some to family and friends. They raved about it. Couldn’t believe that it was homemade and not from a bakery, one co worker said it was best baklava he has ever had! I still need to master working with phyllo dough but hands down I will now be adding this to my Christmas and Easter baking every year. Thank you!!!
How to make Baklava
For a dessert that looks super complicated with all those flaky layers, it’s actually really easy to make right at home!
Step 1: You’ll begin with a 9×13-inch baking dish and melted butter. Butter pan using a pastry brush, then add two layers of phyllo dough and brush them all over with butter.
Repeat three more times for a total of eight layers of dough.
Step 2: Next, combine the chopped nuts and cinnamon and sprinkle a few tablespoons of the nut mixture over the top of the buttered dough.
Repeat your dough layers and nut filling layer several more times.
Step 3: Once you have completed the layers, use a very large and sharp knife to cut the baklava. Cut it lengthwise and then angled across to create diamond shapes before you bake the baklava. Bake until the top layers are golden brown.
Step 4: While baking, prepare your honey syrup. Add the water and sugar to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Then add the honey and vanilla.
Pour the syrup over the hot baklava in the baking pan and allow it to cool completely.
Once cooled, the baklava is ready to enjoy!
Traditional Baklava Recipe Tips
- Keep your dough covered while working so it doesn’t dry out causing the baklava to become too chewy.
- Use a nut that you like (pistachios, walnuts, almonds, and pecans are all great options).
- Make sure your syrup is ready as soon as the baklava comes out of the oven so you can pour it over the top of the pan immediately!
- Store at room temperature for best results.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the layers of dough for even coverage.
Baklava Recipe Easy Storage
One of my favorite things about baklava is that it’s good for about 2 weeks after making. This makes it a fantastic holiday treat! Just make sure to store it in an airtight container at room temperature to preserve the texture. Storing in the fridge will cause the dough to lose flakiness.
Easy Baklava FAQs
No, they are not. Phyllo (or filo) dough is made with flour, water, vinegar, and a bit of oil. It is a very thin dough that’s usually used in layers and generally yields light, flaky, crispy end results.
Puff pastry is made with butter, flour, water, and salt. It is a thicker dough that has already gone through lamination (folding butter into dough over and over again) during the prep process to create layers of flour and fat that, once baked, the liquid in the dough evaporates and causes the pastry to puff and rise.
The biggest notable difference is that Greek Baklava uses walnuts, spices, and a honey based syrup (like what this recipe uses).
Turkish Baklava uses pistachios instead and omits the spices but sometimes includes citrus in the syrup.
There’s also Lebanese Baklava which uses a simple syrup flavored with with rose or orange water.
Really though, there are so many ways to make this delightful dish and just because a certain way might be more common in a region does not mean that’s the only way it’s made there.
Make sure you are applying coats of butter to every two sheets of dough. You can also use clarified butter or ghee for extra crispiness in the final dish.
Letting your dough dry out can also cause the baklava to become chewy, this is why I recommend keeping the dough covered while you work.
Make sure you don’t underbake the baklava, either!
It’s best eaten at room temperature.
Pistachio Baklava is definitely the most popular world-wide. And you can make this recipe with pistachios instead of pecans or walnuts if you want to!
More Recipes Made With Honey
Let’s Connect!
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!
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Traditional Baklava Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package Phyllo Dough thawed, I use Athens brand
- 1 lb finely chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add the nuts and cinnamon to a medium bowl and mix together, set aside.
- Unroll both tubes of phyllo dough on a clean surface, cover loosely with saran wrap and a damp dishcloth so the dough doesn’t try out.
- Melt the butter in the microwave on 30-second intervals. Use a pastry brush to brush butter onto the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan. Line the dough up with the length of the pan and feel free to cut off any excess at the end, usually, there’s an extra inch or so that can be removed.
- Add two sheets of phyllo dough to the buttered pan, and use the pastry brush to brush melted butter over the entire surface area of the dough, repeat until you have 8 layered sheets total.
- Evenly sprinkle the top of the buttered 8th sheet with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the nut mixture.
- Lay another two sheets on top and brush with butter and then add more nuts. Repeat the dough, butter, nuts layers every 2 sheets until you have just 8 sheets left, adding those two at a time and only brushing with butter.
- Using a really sharp knife, cut 4 rows down the length of the pan and then cut diagonally all the way down and across the pan for a traditional baklava prep. You may also cut into squares.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the baklava is golden and crisp on top.
- With 30 minutes left to bake, begin making the syrup by adding the water and sugar to a small pot and bringing to a boil over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved.
- Add the vanilla and honey and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately pour the sauce over the entire pan, let set and cool.
Video
Notes
- Adapted from All My Recipes.
- I use Athens brand which has 36 sheets of Phyllo dough per box, other brands maybe have more or less, even if they are the same weight, due to the paper being thicker or thinner. If you have less sheets, start adding nuts with the 6th sheet and add 1/4 cup of nuts every 2 sheets.
- Baklava does freeze well.
- Chopped Pistachios can also be used.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
Elizabeth says
Thisi s such a great receipe!! I am making 2 batches this year since feelings get hurt b/c of a lack of enough baklava!!
Salena says
Saying yummmm in advance because my house smells so good! I’ve never baked with Phillo before, let alone made baklava. It’s cooling in the kitchen. Baklava for breakfast maybe? I ended up using just one of the rolls thinking I only needed the one. Baked it 33 minutes vs 45 and it looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I hope you loved the recipe!
Brier says
Just making this and wanted to say, although I only saw it once in a comment, that I, too, had a very large amount of nut mixture leftover, and I even weighed my ingredients…and I know ovens are all different but mine looked done at about 45 minutes. It made me a bit worried that maybe the recipe was meant to say 2x 16 oz phylo pastry (instead of just one)?
It still looks and smells amazing. Just not sure on proportions. Fingers crossed!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Brier, I updated the recipe to clarify a few things. The recipe is correct as written, however, it looks like different brands have different amounts of phyllo dough sheets in the 1lb packs making the sheets thicker and not having enough for the correct amount of layers. I’ve clarified that I use Athens brand which has 36 sheets, so hopefully this will help others in the future 🙂
Cindy says
Can I use puff pastry instead of Phyllo ?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Unfortunately, puff pastry won’t work in this recipe. You need the super then Phyllo sheets to get the proper layers and textures.
Blanca says
Looks delicious!
Ladybrinx says
This IS the absolute best baklava I’ve ever had! My daughter made it just for fun one night and Oh.My.God. I didn’t even like baklava until that moment. And the smells in the house while it’s baking and the honey syrup is simmering…heaven. She has made it several times since, my best pays her to make it for holidays. I just made it for the first time myself…it’s so easy and zen…thank you so much for sharing!!!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you all love it, thanks for coming back to leave such a nice review!
Brandy S says
My daughter and I just made this. It was our first attempt at Baklava and it is so delicious!!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Christy says
This was my first ever baklava. I brought it in to work and also gifted it some to family and friends. They raved about it. Couldn’t believe that it was homemade and not from a bakery, one co worker said it was best baklava he has ever had! I still need to master working with phyllo dough but hands down I will now be adding this to my Christmas and Easter baking every year. Thank you!!!
Lora Nelson says
Great recipe! I’ve made it several times!
Thank you !
Maytte says
Excellent recipe!!!
A+++
Karen Burkett says
This is so easy and soon good!! I used a mix of pecans and walnuts because thats what I had . This is definitely a keeper
Rebecca Hubbell says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Joananne Baker says
The baklava taste delicious. My only problem is now that it’s all cooked getting it out of the pans a little tricky. It doesn’t really want to stay together. Does anybody have any idea of what I can do to make it stay together better next time?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Baklava is a more fragile dessert. Unfortunately lining with parchment paper wouldn’t work because it would likely get cut up and lose its strength when you cut up the baklava making it hard to lift out of the pan. I usually just use a small spatula to get the pieces out and know that the first couple are likely to fall apart until I make enough room in the pan to get a good angle.
Caitlin Spilker says
Absolutely adored this recipe. Soo, so easy and a definite crowd pleaser! The only thing I would caution is to be patient and gentle with the phyllo dough. It’s a little tricky, but if you take you’re time and use plenty of butter you’ll be fine!
Liza says
After it’s done can it be refrigerated overnight?
Thank you.
Rebecca Hubbell says
No need to refrigerate, just store covered at room temp.
Angie says
I added 2 Tbsp of lemon juice to the syrup. Was delicious and way easier to make than I ever imagined.
Claus says
Sorry didn’t know how to leave a comment. I had a lot, and I mean a lot of the nut mixture left over did you?
Shanna says
Do you have any tips for freezing it? I know you said it freezes well, just wondering details about packaging it, how long it could freeze and be good still, any special thawing instructions, etc. Thank you! I’m excited to make this!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap then a double layer of aluminum foil and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or a few hours at room temperature.
Shani says
Baklava came out so yummy!!
Served it on Eid, everyone loved it.
Nearly as good as my favourite artisans.
Next time I’m gna tweak it a bit and build up more layers of pastry and then the nuts layers.
Karen says
I absolutely love this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Karen!
Judi says
So far so good!!! I added a little lemon to the syrup.
Jelena says
Dear Rebecca
Hello.
You are a wonderful lady with a lot of great recipes but I do need to react to this post. Please don’t hold it against me. Im just trying to save the tradition.
I come from the country where Baklava is on the table every Christmas or Easter or any other bigger occasion, and Greeks are the next door neighbors.
This is not the traditional Baklava that you posted.
Traditional Baklava has no cinnamon, peacons( they are added instead of walnuts, probably because of les heart burn), vanilla or honey.
That is probably what people changed to fit their taste. It sounds great but it is not the traditional way of making it.
I have a very old recipe that traditionaly got to me, and im making it for years. I am a professional cook my self.
I love American traditional cooking but I will try to preserve the beauty of the Mediterranean or any other traditional cooking. That is the beauty of enjoying the history trough food.
Thank you for doing a wonderful job, many admire your work, and please, once again, I hope you wont mind me reacting to your post. Im just one of those people who found treasure on the most unusual places and very much enjoj its shine.
Stay well,
God bless!
Jelena
Anna says
Hi Jelena! I agree with you. In Greece we make baklava wth walnuts or/and almonds. We also add cinamon and cloves. Others add olive oil instead of butter, or even vegetalbe oil. Turkish baklava on the other hand is made of pistachios and butter. And no spices! Anyway cooking is all about varietion, fantasy and expermenting. But we also have to respect the tradition and get inspired of it! Stay safe! Anna