Phyllo Dough Baklava: A Step-by-Step Recipe with Photos for Homemade Use

Continuing the theme of making Eastern sweets at home, we offer a simple step-by-step recipe for a luxurious baklava made with filo dough. Both Turkish baklava and Greek baklava are made with the thinnest sheets of dough. The dish can be prepared with various types of nuts, but the most delicious is made with walnuts or pistachios.

Phyllo Dough Baklava: A Step-by-Step Recipe for Homemade Baklava

Nutritional value per serving

351 kcal

Proteins: 3.6 g
Fats: 21.7 g
Carbohydrates: 35.4 g

*Nutritional value is calculated per 100g of ingredients

Total time: 1 hour
Time in the kitchen: 59 min
Complexity:

It's easy and straightforward to prepare, but it does require some experience. Not everyone can do it right the first time.
Number of servings: 15

Filo dough is made without eggs and with minimal water (this thin, paper-like dough is sometimes called phyllo). Each sheet is no more than 1 mm thick, making filo baklava especially delicious and tender.

Please note! Filo pastry is not puff pastry or "rice paper." Despite some superficial similarities, these three products differ significantly in both preparation technology and applications.

Filo, traditionally used to make Eastern sweets in Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans, is made from individual, extremely thin sheets that are typically greased with a generous amount of fat during cooking, resulting in a multi-layered texture.

Making filo at home is quite a labor-intensive task, so the easiest way is to use store-bought dough. Unfortunately, this type of dough isn't available in all supermarkets, so you'll have to search for it. But the result is worth the effort, as both children and adults are sure to love the dish, and it's slightly lower in calories than classic baklava made with yeast dough.

Phyllo dough baklava with honey and nuts

Baklava – A Simple Homemade Filo Dough Recipe

Ingredients

Servings

Filo dough

400 G
Nuts

400 G
Butter

200 G
Honey

300 G
Sugar

150 G
Water

100 G

Preparation

Step 1

Traditional baklava made from filo dough is made with natural honey and nuts (we'll be using walnuts, so we start by chopping them). You can lightly toast the nuts first in a pan or oven and peel off the outer skin. This will give the baklava a richer, more intense flavor.

Grind 300 grams of nuts in a blender until medium-sized, and leave 100 grams whole – we will need them later to decorate the baklava.

Step 2

Step-by-step recipe for baklava with phyllo dough - 2

Cut the butter into pieces and heat it in the microwave, on the stove or in any other way.

Step 3

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Defrost the filo dough naturally and cut into pieces according to the size of the roasting pan.

If, when cutting store-bought dough, you have pieces left over that don't cover the entire baking pan, don't worry; the inner layers of baklava can be folded from the pieces.

Step 4

Step-by-step recipe for baklava with filo dough -4

Place 3-4 layers of filo dough in a roasting pan, generously brushing each layer with melted butter.

If desired, you can make more layers of dough between the nut layers.

Step 5

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Place a layer of chopped nuts as shown in the photo.

Step 6

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Again we begin to lay out layers of dough, greasing them with butter.

Alternate 3-4 layers of dough and a layer of nuts.

Step 7

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Finally, lay out the final layers of dough, folding the edge inward with a knife, and cut the baklava into diamonds.

Step 8

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Decorate each diamond with half a nut, as shown in the photo.

Step 9

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Bake the phyllo dough baklava in the oven at 180°C for approximately 35-40 minutes using the top and bottom setting (no convection).

Step 10

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In a saucepan, combine 300 grams of honey, 150 grams of sugar, and 100 grams of water. Stir and heat over low heat.

Step 11

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Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Step 12

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Pour hot syrup and honey generously over the baklava.

Step 13

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Let the dish cool for 10-12 hours, and then cut into portions.

We are sure that this simple but delicious version of baklava will become your favorite, because the dish is prepared quite quickly.

Turkish baklava (rolled baklava) made from filo dough is equally popular today, and you've likely seen photos of it online. We suggest learning more about how to make this unique filo baklava with pistachios and making it at home by following the step-by-step instructions in this video: