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–+ servings
Newly baked Turkish baklava dessert filled with walnuts and topped with pistachio in a baking sheet
5 from 8 votes

Turkish Baklava Recipe

By Zerrin & Yusuf
Super thin baklava leaves filled with walnuts and sweetened with baklava syrup to make the best Turkish baklava recipe.
Yields: 40 slices
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PREP 1 hour
COOK 30 minutes
Resting 4 hours
TOTAL 5 hours 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS
  

Baklava:

  • 25 sheets phyllo dough the one we used has 25 sheets, thawed
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter melted (at room temperature not hot)
  • 2 cups walnuts chopped
  • 2 tablespoons pistachio for garnish

Syrup:

  • 2½ cups sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 slice lemon

INSTRUCTIONS
 

  • Thaw the phyllo dough overnight in the fridge and then let it sit on the counter for about half an hour. Put it aside.
  • Prepare the syrup. Put the syrup ingredients in a pot. Heat until it boils. Let it simmer over medium low heat for 15 minutes and cool completely.
  • Trim the phyllo sheets to fit your baking pan. We used 25 sheets in this recipe and trim them all together. Cover them with a damp cloth so that the sheets won’t dry out when you are working. Each time you place a phyllo sheet into the pan, make sure you cover the rest. They can easily dry out otherwise.
  • Preheat the oven to 350F.
  • Butter the bottom and the sides of a 9x13 baking pan.
  • Place one phyllo sheet in the pan and brush it with melted butter. Place the second phyllo over it and butter it too. Repeat this until you have 5 sheets in total.
  • Spread ½ cup walnuts over the 5th sheet evenly.
  • Place 5 phyllo sheets on the walnuts, brushing each with melted butter. Sprinkle walnuts on the 5th.
  • Repeat with another 5 phyllo sheets and walnuts on the 5th.
  • Repeat with another 5 phyllo sheets and walnuts on the 5th.
  • In total, you will have 25 phyllo sheets and 4 layers of walnuts (between each 5 phyllo sheets).
  • Make sure you butter the top as well.
  • Using a sharp knife, cut the raw baklava into vertical strips and then cut diagonally. Make sure you cut it all the way to the bottom of the pan. Bake it at 350F for 30 minutes or until tops are golden.
  • Remove it from oven and using a ladle, pour cooled syrup over hot baklava. Let it sit uncovered for 4-5 hours so that the syrup spreads well into the layers.
  • Garnish with ground pistachio and serve.

Video

NOTES

  1. Don’t forget to cover the phyllo sheets with damp cloth when buttering one phyllo sheet in the pan. Otherwise, they dry out and tear.
  2. The butter should be melted and at room temperature, not hot. And don’t try to cover the surface of each phyllo sheet with butter. Just gently brushing it with butter will be enough.
  3. You should cut your baklava into pieces before you put it in the oven. It's much easier to cut when it's raw, and the edges will get nice and crispy when you bake it.
  4. When you pour the sugar syrup over the baklava, make sure the syrup is cool and the baklava is still warm. This way, the syrup will soak into the layers better.
  5. You can adjust the amount of the syrup you pour over baklava. You don’t have to use all the syrup for a less sweet baklava.

NUTRITION

Calories: 155kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 59mgPotassium: 40mgFiber: 1gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 109IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

ADDITIONAL INFO

Course Dessert
Cuisine Turkish
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