At a restaurant, expect to pay three to five dollars for a credit card-sized slice of baklava. But for $10, you can make an entire cookie sheet of this crunchy yet juicy Greek dessert. It takes about 30 minutes to prepare and an hour to bake. Gillian Armstrong, Manhattan junior, was kind enough to share her recipe for baklava and make a batch.
Greek goodness: Make your own crunchy, gooey baklava.
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups white sugar
¼ cup honey
15 oz. finely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons group cinnamon
6 ½ oz. melted butter
12 oz. ready-made filo dough
¼ cup lemon juice
1 ½ cups water
Directions:
Start by making the syrup that you will pour over the layers of filo dough. Pour sugar and 1 ½ cups of water into a saucepan and stir over high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Then boil for five minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the syrup thickens slightly. It usually takes about five minutes. Stir in ¼ cup honey and ¼ cup lemon juice and cook on high for two minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool.
Brush the base and sides of the baking tin with melted butter. Next, cover the base with a single layer of filo dough, lightly brush again with butter and repeat until 10 sheets have been used.
Combine the ground walnuts and cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle half the nut and cinnamon mixture evenly over the pastry. Repeat the buttering and layering of five more filo sheets, sprinkle with the remaining nut mixture, then continue layering 10 more sheets of filo dough.
Using a large, sharp knife, cut the pastry into diamond shapes, making sure to cut through the bottom layer. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Then lower the temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 30 more minutes.
Immediately after baking, re-cut your diamond markings, then strain syrup evenly over the top.
To achieve the right texture and crunch, Armstrong says it’s important for the syrup to be cold and the baklava to be piping hot.
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