I was so amazed by Turkish dissert Baklava when I visitedTurkeyin the early summer 2010. Water-melting sensational Baklava leaves an unforgettable memory about Turkish trip. To be able to taste this incredible dissert back home, I searched the receipt and tried several times at home myself. Finally I made it. My husband, originally fromTurkey, loves it very much. Phyllo dough used for Baklava is found in the freezer section of most grocery stores. Add a little lemon zest to the sugar sauce, if desired.”

 Ingredients

  • 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
  • 1 pound chopped walknuts
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup honey

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the bottom and sides of a 11×11 inch glass pan with butter and vegetable oil mixture.
  2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Before unroll phyllo dough, follow the thaw instruction on the phyllo dough package. Cut whole stack to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place three to four sheets of dough in the bottom of pan first, butter all of them thoroughly. Repeat until you have 12 sheets layered. Sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of nut mixture on top depending on how much you like walnuts, you can also reduce to 2 table spoon nuts. Add two to three sheets of dough, butter the dough, and add nuts. Repeat until you have layered 3-4 layers of nuts. The top layer should be about six to eight sheets high.
  3. Using a sharp knife cut into square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. Cut into 6 long rows and 6 long columns. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
  4. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
  5. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sugar and honey mixture over it. Let cool. You can also store them in fridge.