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Baklava Recipe from Scratch – How to Make Baklava

Posted BySomdattaOn In Baked Goodies,Classic | 2 Comments

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Baklava Recipe
Baklava Recipe

Baklava from scratch- YES! I did it. I think for the last 2 months at least, everyday, I would sneak in a few minutes (or more) of random surfing through the web looking for that perfect phyllo dough recipe. I would go to the library and pick up 10 books at a time on Turkish cuisine. Honestly, except for flipping through a page or two, I did not do much with them. Rather, missed the due date and paid some fine.

So, getting back to the baklava, the real challenge is the phyllo pastry dough. Once you nail that, rest is a breeze. Wikipedia describes phyllo or filo as “a dough [2] of paper-thin sheets of unleavened [3] flour dough separated by a thin film of butter” The point to be noted is it is unleavened. The dough by itself  is not hard to make. But rolling out paper-thin sheets is the real deal here. Having a pasta machine is highly recommendable. I did not have one and so started testing out small batches of dough with my trusty, handy-dandy rolling pin. It worked and honestly with all the goodness of the nuts, honey, cinnamon and orange the end result was outright delicious. But if I were to compare with store bought phyllo dough, home made phyllo was a tad non-flaky.

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Oh yes, let me warn you, rolling out almost 15 super-thin sheets of dough, assembling the darn thing and simply being with it till it goes into the oven and comes out of it ready to be doused in the orange flavored, spiced honey syrup, is nothing less of an ordeal. Make sure to have a plan in mind for some much required R&R thereafter. Life is not always fair my friend, but this baklava is. The sheer euphoria of making your own baklava from scratch and then biting into the most heavenly dessert ever makes everything fair and square.

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P.S: The step-by-step pics can be found on the blog’s FB page [4].

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Baklava Recipe

  • Author: Somdatta [6]
  • Prep Time: 60
  • Cook Time: 60
  • Total Time: 120

Description

Try making this classic from scratch. Try this Baklava Recipe from Scratch at Home.

Ingredients

Phyllo Dough

  • Unbleached All Purpose Flour – 3 cups
  • Salt – 1/2 tsp
  • Lukewarm water – 3/4 cup
  • Vegetable oil – 1/4 cup
  • Cider Vinegar – 1 tsp

Pistachio, Walnuts & Almond Filling

  • Toasted Pistachios – 3/4 cup
  • Toasted Walnuts – 3/4 cup
  • Toasted Almonds – 3/4 cup
  • Ground Cinnamon – 2 tsp
  • Allspice – 1/4 tsp
  • Melted Butter – 2 sticks

Honey syrup

  • Honey – 1 cup
  • Sugar- 1 cup
  • Water – 11/2 cup
  • Cinnamon stick- 1
  • Cloves – 4 (or 1/4 tsp ground clove)
  • Ground Cinnamon – 1 tsp
  • Ground Nutmeg – 1 tsp
  • Orange Zest – 2 tsp

Instructions

For the phyllo dough

  1. In the bowl of your stand mixed, add all the dry ingredients.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients.
  3. Using the paddle attachments, slowly add the liquid to the flour mixture.
  4. Let everything come together of sorts.
  5. Transfer on to an oiled counter space and knead with hand for about 15-20 mins so that the gluten is well formed. It will be a relatively softer dough but as you knead it will turn into a smoother dough.
  6. Put a thin film of oil on the dough.
  7. Let it stand on the counter for 90 mins to couple of hours.

Assembling the Baklava

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Once the dough is well rested, knead a bit and make small balls about the size of a golf ball.
  3. Dust the rolling pin and rolling surface with flour. Keep on adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
  4. Roll the dough inward out trying to stretch the edges as much as possible. The dough should look transparent.
  5. Try picking up the rolled out dough and stretch using the knuckles of your hands as you would do to a pizza dough.
  6. In the mean time, butter a casserole dish or a rectangular baking tin.
  7. Add your first rolled out piece of dough. Brush with butter generously and get ready for the next sheet of dough.
  8. I used 5 sheets in each layer with two layers of nuts.
  9. For the nuts mixture, put the nuts in the food processor and pulse until they are coarsely grounded.
  10. Add sugar and the spices and mix together.
  11. After you have placed 5 sheets of dough with each layer being brushed with butter, sprinkle the nuts mixture generously.
  12. Go ahead with the next 5 sheets of dough and pour in the remaining nuts mixture.
  13. Cover with the next set of phyllo sheets.
  14. Sprinkle grounded pistachios on top. This step is optional.
  15. Using a knife score through the baklava before you put it in a pre-heated 350 degrees oven.
  16. Let it bake for 30 minutes.
  17. Take it out, and using a knife further cut through the scored baklava before putting it back in the oven for another 30 minutes until the topmost layer is a golden brown.

For the Honey Syrup

  1. In the mean time, prepare the honey syrup.
  2. In a sauce pan, combine all the ingredients of the syrup and let it come to a boil.
  3. Turn down the flame a bit and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Once you take out the baklava from the oven, pour in the syrup generously. You’d be amazed to see how much syrup it absorbs.
  5. Let it rest for 4-5 hours.
  6. The baklava is now ready to be served and enjoyed.

Notes

  • It is a tedious recipe and rolling out the dough takes time. Remember, this phyllo dough is never going to be as thin as the store bought dough and if there are few tears here and there it does not really matter. Cover the dough all the time when you are working with small amounts of it.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 15
  • Calories: 412
  • Sugar: 20
  • Sodium: 86
  • Fat: 26
  • Saturated Fat: 9
  • Unsaturated Fat: 15
  • Trans Fat: 1
  • Carbohydrates: 42
  • Protein: 6
  • Cholesterol: 32

Keywords: Baklava Recipe

Find it online: https://www.myfridayfoodswings.com/baklava-from-scratch/ [8]