A week or so was Eid, which is a Muslim holiday that celebrates the end of Ramadan. Ramadan is a month in which Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset.
So for Eid I decided to make baklava for my family.
This was the first time I made this recipe and was kind of scared, but it turned out to pretty good!
- 1 package phyllo dough
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 lb. ground walnuts
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup butter, melt as needed
- syrup
So I used a 9X13 glass pan. The width of the phyllo dough fit into the length of the pan. So what happened was you had to fold over some of the dough into the pan. This makes it a bit thicker. If you don't want it puffy like mine, use a bigger pan.
Directions
- Thaw phyllo dough. It takes a couple of hours to really thaw.
- Mix ground walnuts, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
- Melt 1/4 cup butter.
- Butter the pan before you start using it. Add a layer of dough. See how it hangs over the side? And add butter. I used this brush I have.
5. Fold over the other side of the dough.
6. Keep brushing with butter. Add 6 or so layers. Also, you will want to alternate which side you put the dough on. You want to put it all the way to the left onetime, then all the way to the right onetime. This way you cover all of the nut mixture. You also want to alternate between which side has the double of the dough. If you see above how I flipped over the extra piece onto the pan. You want to do it such that the extra piece is not always hanging off the same side (like in the above picture).
7. Next, add the nut mixture. You want about a 1/2 cm layer of the recipe. You will have some mixture leftover.
8. Add rest of phyllo dough, as described above. Try to push it down as you keep adding layers. This helps it puff out a bit.
9. Cut in whatever you would like (squares, diamonds).
10. Bake at 350F for 50 minutes or until golden. Pour desired amount of syrup on top of it.
Yummm
