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Turkish Baklava

Baklava is a layered dessert made from phyllo dough, chopped nuts, and a homemade syrup.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Turkish
Servings: 24

Ingredients

  • 1 pound phyllo dough defrosted overnight in the refrigerator
  • 3 + 1/3 cups shelled pistachios finely chopped, divided
  • 1 unsalted butter melted
  • SYRUP
  • 1 cups of sugar
  • 1 cups of water
  • Juice of ½ large lemon

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Finely chop the pistachios and dry roast them in a pan over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat.
  • Unroll phyllo dough and cut it to fit your baking sheet.
  • Brush the baking sheet with melted butter, then place one sheet of phyllo dough on the pan and brush with butter.
  • Repeat with 5 more sheets of phyllo dough and butter. Layer about one cup of pistachios on top of the phyllo dough and spread out so it’s nice and even. Layer 5 more sheets of phlyllo and brush with melted butter. Repeat this two more times.
  • Using a sharp knife, cut the baklava by cutting the long way into four even sections. Rotate the pan. Starting from the corner, begin to cut the baklava diagonally until you reach the other side. Continue to cut diagonally, using this line as a guide. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 50 minutes until golden brown.
  • In a saucepan, add sugar and water over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Whisk in lemon juice and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat then let cool.
  • When the baklava is done baking, remove from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over the baklava.