Authentic Greek Baklava Recipe – Greek Special
This Greek Baklava recipe makes a crispy and impressive sweet dessert! With walnuts and cinnamon layered between flaky phyllo dough brushed with melted butter, it’s baked and then drizzled with sugar and sweet syrup!
- Prep Time1 hr
- Cook Time1 hr 15 min
- Total Time2 hr 15 min
Authentic Greek Baklava Ingredients:
Baklava Pastry & Filling
- 16 ounces phyllo dough thawed according to package instructions
- 1 ¼ cups salted butter melted
- 1 lb finely chopped walnuts about 4 cups
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Syrup
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
How to Make Authentic Greek Baklava Recipe:
Pastry
Thaw phyllo dough completely by placing it in the fridge overnight. Let the package of phyllo sit the next day, nopened, on the counter for 1 hour prior to making your baklava so it can come all the way to room temperature.
Butter the sides and bottom of the baking dish (9×13-inch). Trim phyllo to fit in the bottom of the pan, if necessary. Keep the trimmed dough covered in a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out.
Chop walnuts in a food processor by pulsing 10-12 times until coarsely ground or chop with a sharp knife until very finely chopped. Stir together the walnuts and cinnamon until combined.
Syrup
Prepare the sauce before assembling the baklava so it has plenty of time to cool completely before pouring over the baked phyllo dough.
Combine the sugar, water, honey, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to boil for 4 minutes more without stirring. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Baklava Assembly
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Sprinkle approximately ⅕ of the chopped walnuts and cinnamon (roughly ¾ cup) in a thin, even layer over the first 10 pastry sheets.
Repeat 4 more times but with 5 sheets of phyllo dough instead of 10, brushing each with between before adding the next sheet and sprinkling with ¾ cup of the chopped walnut mixture between each layer of 5 sheets of buttered phyllo dough.
Finish the baklava with a final, top layer of phyllo dough brushed with butter between the layers using the remaining 6-10 sheets of dough. Brush the top sheet of phyllo dough with butter as well.
Carefully slice the baklava into 1 ½-inch wide strips lengthwise, then slice diagonally to create diamond-shaped baklava. Or just slice squares if you prefer.
Bake in the 325 degree F oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the baklava is golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle all of the cooled syrup over the baklava.
Let the baklava cool completely at room temperature for 4-6 hours without being covered so the baked pastry can soak up all of the syrup.
Recipe Notes:
Order of assembly
10 phyllo sheets, brushed with butter between each sheet, then ¾ cup walnut mixture;
5 phyllo sheets, brushed with butter between each sheet, then ¾ cup walnut mixture;
5 phyllo sheets, brushed with butter between each sheet, then ¾ cup walnut mixture;
5 phyllo sheets, brushed with butter between each sheet, then ¾ cup walnut mixture;
5 phyllo sheets, brushed with butter between each sheet, then ¾ cup walnut mixture;
10 phyllo sheets, brushed with butter between each sheet and on top of the final sheet.
Storage
Store: Baklava can be stored on a plate just covered with a clean tea towel for 1–2 weeks at room temperature.
Freeze: Baklava can be frozen for up to 4 months. Wrap small batches of cooked baklava with plastic wrap. Then put them
in an airtight container or a freezer bag, and store in the freezer. I usually do 10-12 pieces per frozen batch so we can
have a couple of pieces each as dessert whenever we like. Thaw at room temperature before eating.
