Traditional Baklava By Kouzounas Kitchen

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There are many many different variations of baklava, and it depends on what part of Greece you are from. In my case, I learned how to make baklava from my yiayia. Enjoy~

Traditional Baklava Recipe

baklava

Ingredients:

  • 1 package phyllo dough, make sure to thaw before using

  • 1 pound of toasted walnuts “finely chopped”

  • 1/4 cup of demerara sugar

  • 1 1/2 cups of clarified butter

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 2 cup of water

  • 1 cup demerara sugar or granulated sugar (For thicker syrup use demerara)

  • 2 Orange peels or lemon peels
  • 1 Cinnamon stick

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

  • 1 cup honey

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C).
  2. Butter the pan bottom, and sides.
  3. In a food processor, chop the nuts, until medium-coarse grind. Set aside.
  4. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut the phyllo in half, and place a lightly damp towel over the top of the phyllo. Make sure to trim phyllo according to pan size.
  5. Place 7 sheets of phyllo on the bottom of the pan, making sure to butter each sheet.
  6. Then sprinkle 1 1/4 cup of nut mixture in an even layer, then place 3 sheets of phyllo over the top. Repeat this process two more times. You should have “3” layers of nut mixture. You should have 8 sheets of phyllo left, and place them over the top. Butter each sheet.
  7. Using a sharp knife cut into square shape pieces.
  8. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. (Make sure the bottom phyllo is golden brown as well.) You can place a piece of foil over the top of the bottom that isn’t fully cooked.
    While the baklava is baking, prepare the sauce. I say the sauce makes the baklava.
  9. Boil sugar, water, and honey. Add 1 stick of cinnamon, orange peel, and vanilla.
  10. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the syrup is thick.
  11. Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately serve the warm sauce over the baklava.
  12. Serve with powdered cinnamon over the top & toasted nuts.
  13. Do not refrigerate baklava, as it will get soggy. ( You can keep the baklava on a plate, wrapped with foil.)

Notes:

  • Make sure when you make the syrup it becomes thick like honey. This is the key to a good baklava!!
  • When you take the baklava out of the oven, pour the syrup over right away and let the syrup soak on the counter.
  • I used the largest size pan I had in my kitchen. So I recommend using 9”x 13”x 2” but you can use a bit bigger or smaller.
  • Do not place baklava in the fridge, because this will cause the phyllo to become soggy.

Kali Orexi!

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35 Comments »

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  3. What size pan do you recommend? Didn’t see the pan dimensions in your recipe description. Planning to make this recipe for a Mediterranean Tour fellowship lunch event in a few weeks. I’m using Andreas Saviolakas’ Cretan honey. Thank you!

    • Hello,
      Thank you for reaching out!

      The best size pans would be  9”x 13”x 2”. You can a bit bigger or a bit smaller depending if you are using the entire package of phyllo. :).

      Ah yes, Saviolakis honey is gold! It’s so good! I wish you happy baking and enjoy the Mediterranean Your Fellowship lunch. 🙂

  4. My hubby and I love Baklava. We first discovered this on Honeymoon to Crete in 2011 and since then have often bought it when we have seen it in the shops. However,store bought just isn’t the same as the ones we had in Crete. I will need to try this recipe out.

    • Hello! Thank you for following me and liking my posts. 🙂

      Nice to meet you. Yes I agree, nothing beats home made Baklava!!! Please do try out my recipe, and I also just came out with my first Greek cookbook called Back To My Roots.

      I haven’t been to Crete yet, but it’s on my next trip. 🙂

      • Those are usually the best recipes! There is a cake recipe like that on my mothers side.. She’d kill me and you, if I passed the recipe on this blog!

      • Lol, no worries. I am actually in the middle of my cookbook now, and I can’t wait to share a preview of it. (The majority of the recipes in the book are my yiayias.) I am sure your mothers recipe is amazing. 🙂

      • Oh yeah.. I read that you’re writing a book. Your daughter inspired you! Are you UK based or somewhere else?

        And a lot of the best recipes are from Yiayias/Nonnas/Abuelas…

        Thanks for following

      • My grandmother inspired me. 🙂 I have no kids yet. California based currently although I miss living in Greece. I agree with you on that. (Best recipes from family.) Are you Greek? Thank you for following.

    • Hi Anugya,
      Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate the kind words, and I hope you can try this. I even posted a recipe on how to make Phyllo Dough.
      Cheers,
      Krystina (Kouzounas Kitchen)

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