Do you have a favorite dessert? Although any and all sweets are great if you have a sweet tooth, we all have our own preferences and favorite dishes. When it comes to American desserts in the summer time, many of us are probably partial to ice cream, apple pie, homemade chocolate chip cookies and cake of any variety. Still, too much of anything can make it lose some of its appeal. Sometimes, you need to get a little bit more creative when it comes to dessert recipes.
Fortunately, we have a perfect recipe for you today for just that purpose. Today, we’re going to show you how to make the perfect homemade baklava. If you’ve never had it before, baklava is sweet and syrupy Greek dessert that has a flaky flavor and falls apart in your mouth. If you’re used to eating at Greek diners, you may already be familiar with this impressive dish. Still, it’s incredibly easy to make right at home and tastes just as good as anything you’d eat at a restaurant. So let’s get started.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 16-ounce package of phyllo dough, thawed
- 2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted
- 1 pound of finely chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 3/4 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of honey
- melted chocolate chips
- extra chopped walnuts
Here’s what you do:
1. To begin, make sure you’ve thawed out your phyllo dough for the recipe. Ideally, you can do this in the fridge overnight and then leave it on the counter for an hour before you start to bring it to room temperature. When it’s ready, trim your dough so that it fits in a baking dish and set it all under a damp towel so that it doesn’t dry out. Be sure to butter up a 13×9-inch baking dish as well and set it aside.
2. With that ready, get out a saucepan and combine your sugar, honey, lemon juice and water. Stir everything together and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Keep doing this until the sugar has dissolved into the liquid before turning the heat down to medium low and boiling it for another four minutes without stirring it. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
3. Next, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Throw your walnuts in a food processor and pulse them about 10 times until they’re finely chopped. Get out a medium bowl and mis your walnuts with your ground cinnamon.
4. After that, take 10 sheets of your phyllo dough and put them into your baking dish one at a time. Be sure to brush each sheet with butter before adding the next sheet on top of it. After that, throw about a fifth of your nut mix on top of the dough as well. Add another five sheets of dough before adding more nuts.
5. Repeat the process in the step above until you’ve used up all your nuts and dough, finishing the whole thing off with 10 layers of dough on top. Brush it with butter as well. With everything assembled, cut the dish into strips that are about an inch and a half wife. After that, cut it diagonally as well to make diamond shapes. When you’re done, throw the whole thing in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes.
6. When it’s done, make sure the top of the dish looks golden brown and crispy. Next, spoon your syrup mixture evenly on the top of the baklava. Let the dish cool all the way down at room temperature. When it’s done, garnish the top with melted chocolate or extra nuts and you’re ready to eat!
Although this dessert does take a little bit of preparation, the results are so uniquely delicious. When done correctly, this recipe gives you the sweetest, flakiest and most delicious dessert we’ve had in a long time. For best results, let the dish sit for four to six hours overnight so that the syrup can absorb all the way in! As always, have fun and let us know how it all turns out.
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