The king of all Greek desserts, Baklava! My trick makes delicious baklava super simple and easy.
Greek baklava is a well known traditional Greek dessert. It’s so simple to make, and just has a few ingredients. Surprisingly, most Greek desserts are very basic like this with just a few ingredients.
Let’s go over what you’ll need:
- Honey syrup
- Ground Almonds
- Ground Walnuts
- Cinnamon
- Ground clove powder
- 1 pound thawed phyllo pastry
- Unsalted butter
The Honey Syrup
Before you get started, you’ll need to make a simple honey syrup. I like to use Greek honey because there is nothing like it. If you’re making this dessert and you can’t find it nearby or online, here’s the link where you can get it on Amazon. It’s caramel-like in texture, has hints of thyme in the background because thyme grows wild in Greece, and I just haven’t had anything else that compares in flavor.
Another tip on honey is in the measuring. Honey is kind of tricky because it’ll stick to your measuring cups. What I like to do is grease a cup with a little bit of olive oil. I just take a clean measuring cup and pour some olive oil in there. Swirl it around and just put it back into the bottle. Measure the honey in the measuring cup and it just slides right out without anything sticking.
Combine sugar, water, honey, and lemon juice in a saucepot. Bring to a boil and stir until everything is melted. Take the pot off the heat to cool completely.
Nuts for Baklava filling
Typically, baklava has walnuts, pistachios or hazelnuts, but I really like the combination of walnuts and almonds. I toast the walnuts before using them to really bring out their flavor. Just spread them on a baking sheet and roast them in a 350℉ oven for about 5-7 minutes. Then I put the walnuts and almonds in the food processor and grind them until they are just coarsely ground.
For you’re filling, you can get fancy. Just add some orange zest or lemon zest. But you don’t have to since the nuts and spices already have a punch of flavor.
Best phyllo to use for baklava
Choose a #4 phyllo. What that means is that the phyllo layers are super thin and there’s a lot of it. Try not to use the country phyllo because that doesn’t really work with this recipe.
Make sure that your phyllo has thawed completely in the refrigerator overnight. You can’t work with frozen phyllo. Take it out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before you’re going to use it so it comes to room temperature. It will be much easier to work with this way.
Cut your phyllo to fit the dish that you’re using. This will allow your phyllo to fit your pan without any hanging over. If you’re using a 9X13 dish, you can generally just cut your sheets in half to make this work.
Layering baklava
This is a really simple way to layer your baklava because we aren’t going to butter every layer of phyllo. We made thousands of baklava at the cafe, and this recipe never failed. You just start by setting aside 4 layers of phyllo for the top. Cover it with a kitchen towel to keep it from drying out. If you think this may take a while, you can add a damp towel on top of the dry one.
Butter the bottom of your dish well, and add 4 phyllo sheets in the bottom. At this point, you layer your filling, then 2-3 phyllo sheets continuously until your phyllo runs out. Dump the last of your filling on top and cover it with the reserved 4 phyllo sheets.
Take a super sharp knife and cut your baklava into the shapes you like. That way you don’t have to try to cut it after it bakes, which sometimes makes the phyllo look messy.
The bakers trick
After your baklava is built and cut, use the bakers trick I learned. You just pour the melted butter over your baklava making sure to hit all of the seams and sides. The butter will seep through and get into every single layer. No more buttering each layer! Then, just take a little water and drip it around the edges so the phyllo stays down and doesn’t curl up while baking.
If you’d like to add a little embellishment, you can add a whole clove to the top of each section of baklava right before you put it in the oven. It’s another way to make it fancy.
Finishing your baklava
As soon as your baklava comes out of the oven, pour your honey syrup all over it. It will make a beautiful sizzle sound. Then generously sprinkle over lots of ground cinnamon. Leave it alone for about 3 hours or until all of the syrup is absorbed.
So delicious. The layers are so buttery without all the layering. The nuts are perfectly seasoned with the cinnamon and cloves. It will keep in your refrigerator for over a week… if it lasts that long!
Try my other desserts made with phyllo! Pistachio baklava rolls, Trigona Panoramatos (Greek-style cream-filled phyllo cones), and Greek-style pumpkin baklava triangles.
Greek Baklava
The king of all Greek desserts, Baklava! My trick makes delicious baklava super simple and easy.
Ingredients
- 1-pound (#4) phyllo pastry, thawed and at room temperature
- ¾ pound unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
- 2 cups coarsely ground walnuts
- 2 cups coarsely ground toasted almonds
- 2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
For the syrup:
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 and ½ cups Greek honey
- 2 cups water
- Juice of half lemon
Garnish:
- ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F, 180 °C.
- Make the syrup:Combine all of the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan. Mix well and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Set aside.
- Take the phyllo out of its packaging and unroll it. Lay it flat onto a cutting board or clean work surface. Place a baking dish over the phyllo and cut the sheets to fit the inside of the pan.
- Note:I usually cut my phyllo roll into 2 equal stacks to fit a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
- Brush the bottom of the baking pan with butter and lay 4 sheets over it. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the nut mixture over top.
- Take 4 -5 sheets of phyllo and set them aside for the top of the baklava. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel.
- Layer 2 sheets of phyllo in the pan and sprinkle some nut filling over top. Continue this pattern of 2 phyllo sheets and nuts until all of the nuts mixture and phyllo are used. Place the reserved 4 sheets of phyllo on top.
- Cut the baklava into 24 squares or diamond shaped pieces.
- Pour all of the melted butter over top and sprinkle some water (about 3 tablespoons) over the edges of the baklava.
- Bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and pour the cooled syrup over the baklava.
- Set aside and allow the baklava to absorb all of the syrup. About 4 hours.
- Serve alongside some Greek coffee.
- Enjoy!
Hi Dimitra. how big of a cup do u use for this recipe?
Hi Anna! It’s the standard American measuring cup. I have started adding the metric measurements to my recipes 🙂 Hope this helps!
Despite botching a couple steps with my first attempt, this ended up looking and tasting pretty good! I accidentally combined the syrup and nut mixture together, and recovered by straining it. So my syrup was quite cloudy, but I don’t think it hurt anything in the end. I was a little lost on how thin to make the nut layers, too, and probably overdid it because I only had 3 layers of nuts and a lot of phyllo left over. I think maybe the thickness of the nut layers is a personal preference anyway, as well as the coarseness of the grind. Thanks for the wonderful recipe and especially the tips about the butter and cutting!
Tried your Spanakopita with great success, thank you MUCH! for the recipe and the outstanding video on it also. Next on my list is your baklava and I’ve ordered the Greek honey you suggest, using your affiliate link for it, so thanks also for providing that.
Two questions about your baklava:
1. How much nut mixture per layer? You say “about 2 tablespoons” for the first layer but then after that, “some of the nut mixture…” Indicates a different amount for the continued layers but it’s unspecified. Please clarify???
Then also,
2. “Sprinkling water on the edges…” you mean the four edges around the pan, or also all of the edges you create when you cut the recipe into shapes? I’m not very clear about how the water works either.
Thank you Dimitra! I’m so glad I found your website.
thanks in advance for as prompt of answers as you can give. Much much appreciate your website and videos. Thank you!!
Hi Carol,
I’m so glad that you’re enjoying my recipes. I will try to answer your questions as best as I can.
1. As for the nut mixture, some people prefer a thin layer of nuts with many layers of phyllo, and others like a thicker layer of nuts. This is all up to you. You can separate the phyllo into bunches depending on how many layers that you would like and then divide the nut mixture evenly to spread between the phyllo. Think of it like a cake: the phyllo is the cake layer and the nut mixture would be the filling. Hope this makes sense 🙂
2. The water is used to keep the edges of the phyllo (all edges: slices and sides of the pan) flat so that they bake evenly.
I hope that you love the baklava!
xoxo
Dimitra
Hi Dimitra, thanks for reply (sorry, its connected “reply link” didn’t work so am posting a new comment).
So my Attika honey arrived from Amazon (thanks again for that link, it makes supermarket shelf honey pale by comparison).
I tried the baklava Sunday and it’s excellent, but for me a bit too heavy on the ratio of nuts and also, for me, too sweet. (Personal preference only.) But I did run across your Saragli which looks more down my alley. Can’t wait to try it because for sure I want more phyllo in the mix and that seems to have it. Yay!
However, I now have a question is regarding the syrup. Do we really need the white sugar at all? If it serves a purpose (penetration or whatever may not be obvious otherwise), then is there at least an alternative honey syrup that uses much lower ratio of sugar-to-honey?
Thanks. LOVE your videos, big fan. 😉
Hi again Dimitra– I posted a second comment after making the baklava where I asked if it really needed sugar on top of the honey, and that I personally found it just a tad too sweet? Please scratch that critique. After a couple of days of letting it rest, I tried it again and that honey syrup must have had a chance to mellow. At least I think that’s what I think happened (I had tried it not long after it came out of the oven). But the second time it was pure ambrosia just as your recipe was written. Definitely going to make this again in the form of seragli. So thank you AGAIN very much!
Hi Dimitra
I’m new to your site and so far enjoying your videos. I haven’t tried any recipes yet, but am looking forward to doing so soon!
One question I have regarding the baklava, why do you pour all the butter over the whole thing instead of buttering each layer? Also other times I have made it, it turns out dry after a few days. Is your recipe for the syrup enough for a 9×13 pan and if I only use 1 cup of honey, will that make a difference? I’m looking forward to trying your recipe in the near future!
Thank you
Athena
Hi and thank you so much for being here! The syrup is enough for a 9 by 13 inch tray but feel free to make a little bit more if you like it (like I do) extra syrupy 🙂 As for the butter trick, we learned this while running our very busy Greek bakery. It saves so much time and produces the same result as if it was buttered layer by layer. Hope this helps!
I’m going to try this process. i always butter every sheet. I’m Anxious to see how it turns out. Any recipe hints that can save time are definitely worth a try. 75% of our family meals are Greek foods. I will let you now how it turns out.
Kallo Pascha!
Hello! How can I make this 3 or 4 days before serving? What would be the best method in your opinion?
I tried this today (short cut) and previously always buttered every sheet etc. Always made a beautiful baklava. Today is not that day! I did exactly as you said and when it came time to score the baklava, the filo moved and it was a real chore trying to make it look as I’ve always done! Help Dimitri! What did I do wrong?? Hope I cam salvage enough nice pieces for Greek Nite on Tuesday!!!
Would love to have and see your recipes they are fantastic I’m Greek Australian from Western Australia 🙏
Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Dear Dimitra,
I tried your recipe this morning! I got some good tips from your website and I thank you. Cutting the baklava in diamond shape was not the easiest and what to do with the filo when it’s a bit longer than necessary was also a concern. So I folded the extra length on each side and I cut them in squares and then in half to look like diamonds. I also placed a metal pan under the Pyrex dish to help it from burning underneath and took the baklava out earlier since it was already browning. I very much enjoy your recipes and the way you explain them! Happy Holidays!
Hi Dimitra –
Καλά Χριστούγεννα!
When I have made the baklava and gianniotiko I’ve reduced the amount of syrup by 1/3 as the dough doesn’t not seem to be able to absorb enough to not leave a lot at the bottom of the pan. It does taste great!
I thoroughly enjoy your recipes and the videos which greatly help in their preparation. I have made many of your delicious dishes.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Someday I’d really like to come to your restaurant to sample your dishes first hand.
Best –
Kurt
Do you have any recommendations for high altitude adjustments? If we cook it at 350 degrees it’s still white after an hour. Not sure if we should increase the temperature or just cook longer.
I do not but, here’s an informative article on that topic:https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
This is so delicious!
Hi, do i skin the almonds or not
I made this but my package of phyllo had two rolls and I only used one. I didn’t cut it because it looked like it was 9×13 … my Pyrex dish was not exact … ugh go figure.. so the ends were a little curled up on the side. It’s for my sons Christmas party at work. I wish I knew how to send a picture of it. So I had some left over filling and syrup. They will tell me it was good. All your recipes are good.
Can the baklava be assembled And frozen to bake later?
Yes, it will keep fresh in the freezer up to 2 months. Make sure to wrap it in several layers of plastic so that it doesn’t absorb freezer odors 🙂