baklava

original recipe

ingredients

• 454g (4 cups) finely chopped walnuts
• 70g (¹⁄₃ cup) sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1lb (454g) package of phyllo dough (thawed)
• 200g (1 ³⁄₄ sticks butter), melted
• 340g jar of honey

instructions

1. Stir the nuts, sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Remove the phyllo dough from the package and unroll on the counter. Trim to 9” x 13” (23 cm x 33 cm) and cover with a damp cloth.
3. Brush the bottom of the pan with melted butter and place a sheet of phyllo dough into the pan. Carefully brush melted butter onto the sheet of pastry and top with another sheet. Butter and repeat until you’ve used 5 sheets of phyllo dough.
4. Divide the nuts mixture into 3 equal portions and sprinkle one third over the pastry layers in the pan.
5. Repeat the pastry and buttering process with 5 more sheets of phyllo dough, and top with another third of the nuts.
6. Repeat with butter and pastry sheets again; top with nuts, then one last time with 5 more sheets of pastry and butter.
7. Using a sharp knife, cut halfway through the layers (lengthwise into 3, and crosswise into 4). Next cut each piece in half, diagonally to end up with 24 pieces total.
8. Bake in 300°F (150°C) oven for about 1 ¹⁄₂ hours or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven.
9. Heat honey until hot, then spoon over hot baklava as soon as it comes out of the oven. Allow to cool in tray on cooling rack. Keep at room temperature, covered with aluminum foil.
10. To serve, cut all the way through the layers to remove the pieces from the pan.