Homemade Baklava

 

Ingredients

🧈 Pastry Layers

▢ 1000 grams filo pastry (20–22 sheets total; two 500g packs with 10–11 sheets each)
▢ ½ cup butter (melted)
▢ ½ cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)

🌰 Nut Filling

▢ 1 kg walnuts
▢ 3 tbsp ground green cardamom

🍯 Simple Syrup

▢ 2½ cups sugar
▢ 1¼ cups water

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Instructions

1️⃣ Add sugar and water to a pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2️⃣ Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

3️⃣ Place walnuts in a food processor and pulse until coarse (small chunky pieces, not fine powder).
4️⃣ Mix crushed walnuts with ground cardamom.
5️⃣ Add ¾ cup of the cooled syrup to the walnut mixture and mix until evenly combined and slightly moist. Set aside the remaining syrup.

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6️⃣ Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

7️⃣ Melt butter and mix it with olive oil.

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8️⃣ Brush the bottom of a baking pan generously with the butter-oil mixture.
9️⃣ Layer 3 sheets of filo pastry on the bottom, brushing every layer lightly and pressing out air bubbles.

🔟 Continue layering filo sheets, brushing every 3 layers with butter-oil mixture. Repeat until you use about half the pastry sheets.

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1️⃣1️⃣ Spread the walnut filling evenly over the filo layers and press it down firmly.

1️⃣2️⃣ Continue layering the remaining filo sheets on top, again brushing every 3 layers with butter-oil mixture. Finish with a generous brush of butter-oil on the top layer.

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1️⃣3️⃣ Using a sharp knife, cut the baklava into long straight strips (about 1 inch wide).
1️⃣4️⃣ Then cut diagonally across the pan to form diamond shapes. Go over all cuts twice to ensure they go through all layers.

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1️⃣5️⃣ Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until golden brown.

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1️⃣6️⃣ Remove from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup evenly over the hot baklava.

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1️⃣7️⃣ Optional: garnish with crushed pistachios or rose petals.
1️⃣8️⃣ Allow to cool completely before serving.