Saragli is a traditional version of Baklava that is rolled instead of layered. They’re crisp, perfectly sweet, and irresistible. These baklava rolls are made with pistachios and soaked with a rosewater syrup. Such a flavorful combination! You can make so many different versions by using your favorite nut combinations and by flavoring the syrup with warm spices such as cinnamon and cloves, brighten it up with some citrus, or by making a vanilla-scented syrup. The options are endless.
The hardest part about making these addictive bite-sized baklavas is portion control. Eating just one or two is impossible! They’re beautiful and delicious. The perfect dessert to bring to a potluck or to serve after dinner to your guests. Did I mention how much better they taste with a cup of Greek coffee?
Make them at your next dinner party and your guests will think that you bought them from a fancy bakery. You can drizzle some melted chocolate ganache on some of them to make them extra decadent and fancy. Enjoy!
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Pistachio Baklava Rolls: Saragli
Saragli is a traditional version of Baklava that is rolled instead of layered. They’re crisp, perfectly sweet, and irresistible. These baklava rolls are made with pistachios and soaked with a rosewater syrup. Such a flavorful combination! You can make so many different versions by using your favorite nut combinations and by flavoring the syrup with warm spices such as cinnamon and cloves, brighten it up with some citrus, or by making a vanilla-scented syrup. The options are endless.
Ingredients
- 1-pound (#4) phyllo, thawed and at room temperature
- ¾ pound unsalted butter, melted
For the Syrup:
- • 2 cups granulated sugar
- • 1 and ½ cup of water
- • 1 tablespoon rosewater
- • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Optional syrup flavors:
- • 2 teaspoons vanilla, 1 cinnamon stick, plus 3 cloves
- • 2 teaspoons vanilla, juice of half a lemon
- • 2 teaspoons vanilla, juice of half an orange plus the peel of an orange
- • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Nut filling (choose any of the following options):
- • 2 cups (250 grams) ground pistachios
- • 2 cups (250 grams) ground walnuts, pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts
- • 2 cups (250 grams) combination of walnuts and almonds with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Garnish:
- • Ground pistachios
- • Chocolate ganache: ¼ cup heavy whipping cream plus 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 °F, 160 °C.
- Make the syrup first. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan. Stir together and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract and the rosewater. Stir together and set aside to cool completely.
- Note: Thaw the phyllo pastry overnight in the refrigerator. Set it at room temperature, in its packaging, for 1-2 hours. This will ensure that the phyllo will be easy to handle.
- While making the baklava rolls, if you come across 2 phyllo sheets that are stuck together, treat them as one sheet. It’s ok if a few of the baklava rolls contain 3 sheets. Attempting to separate the sheets might result in throwing both sheets in the trash.
- Place one sheet of phyllo on a clean work surface and drizzle some melted butter on top. Brush it gently to spread the melted butter.
- Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the ground pistachios on top of the phyllo sheet.
- Place the second sheet of phyllo on top. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle another tablespoon of nuts on top.
- Fold the sheets upward in half.
- Place a wooden skewer at the bottom of the pastry and roll it up.
- Scrunch the sides of the phyllo towards the center, remove the skewer and place the baklava roll on a 9 by 13-inch baking tray that has been lightly greased with butter.
- Continue to form the baklava rolls until all of the phyllo sheets run out.
- Cut the rows into thirds and brush with the remaining butter.
- Bake in the center rack of the oven for 55-65 minutes or until golden brown.
- When the baklava is ready, remove from the oven and pour the cooled syrup over it.
- Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
- Garnish with the ground pistachios and serve with vanilla ice cream and coffee.
- To make the ganache, heat the cream until scalding hot and pour over the chocolate. Whisk together until the chocolate melts and a shiny ganache is formed.
- Drizzle the ganache over the baklava if desired. Enjoy!
Hi, I made this dish yesterday, using vegan ‘butter’ so nice! Thanks for sharing the recipe 😊 I absolutely love Greek food!
I love baklava, and I think I will attend to make this, I just want to let you know when you convert 1 cup either liquid or grams will be equal with 237.58 ml, or the same for grams.
I would love to give these as Christmas gifts. Can you share a technique to keep them from getting soggy. You do a great job on your videos and I love all of your recipes. Thank you for all your hard work.
These would make the best gifts!! So, you can bake these at a lower temperature (300 °F) until they’re golden and crisp. It will take much longer than the recipe suggests but they will be crispier and will keep from getting soggy. Let me know how they turn out 🙂 Happy Holidays!!
Hi! Wondering if you can make this ahead ? Like maybe roll it up and bake the next day… or bake the night before ? What do you suggest ?
Thank you !
Yes, you can do that. You can even assemble the rolls and freeze the tray (unbaked) for up to a month or two. Enjoy!!