Say what you wish
It’s yours, true dish
How about a little more Baklava?
In anticipation of Disney’s newest Live Action Remake, Aladdin, we made some of Genie’s Baklava. I’ve always loved it and wanted to make it myself, but had this irrational fear that it would be too hard. Well, let me tell you, there’s only a few ingredients and they can easily be found in your pantry. The “hard” part is the time it takes to butter each sheet of phyllo dough; then waiting to taste what smells exactly like Christmas for 6 HOURS while it cools! I had to leave the house my stomach was growling so bad. Haha!
This recipe is perfect for little ones to participate in. My daughter “painted” each sheet of phyllo dough for me and spread the nuts when needed. I was there to peal the sheets apart and take it in and out of the oven. We had the best time!
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! It’s a tedious recipe, but well worth the wait, we devoured it in less than 24 hours.
Genie's Baklava
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1 pound walnuts , finely chopped
2 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup honey
Directions
- Thaw phyllo dough by package instructions, it will take up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 325°. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×13 inch pan.
- In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, lemon juice, honey, and water. Bring to a boil over med/high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat to med/low and boil additional 4 min without stirring. Remove from heat and let syrup cool while preparing baklava.
- Pulse walnuts in a food processor 8 to 10 times, until finely chopped. Toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough and trim to fit your baking dish, I had to cut about an inch off the bottom. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work.
- Place 10 phyllo sheets into baking pan one at a time, brushing each sheet with butter once it’s in the pan before adding the next (i.e. place phyllo sheet into baking pan, brush with butter, place next phyllo sheet in pan, butter the top, etc. etc.). Keep damp towel on remaining phyllo sheets at all times. Spread about 3/4 cups of nut mixture over phyllo dough.
- Add 5 buttered sheets of phyllo, then another layer of nuts. Repeat x 4. Finish off with 10 layers of buttered phyllo sheets. Brush the very top with butter.
- Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for 1 hr 15 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
- Remove from oven and immediately spoon honey syrup evenly over the hot baklava. This will ensure that it stays crisp rather than soggy. Let baklava cool completely, uncovered and at room temp. Let sit for 6-8 hrs or overnight to let the syrup penetrate and soften layers. Store Baklava at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Enjoy!
If you make this recipe, I would love to hear about it! Tag me or use #amagicalkingdomcalledhome in your Facebook or Instagram posts.
A Magical Kingdom called Home 