Easy Baklava Recipe for the Holidays

Hello, Mona here!

Are you looking for a new way to spice up your dessert table for the holidays? You can't go wrong with Baklava (or as the Lebanese call it: Ba'lewa). It's a sweet treat that is sure to be a hit. Baklava is one of the most famous sweets in the Middle-East and can be made in many variations. 

Read on for my easy recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Phyllo pastry sheets (photo below)
• 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter
• 3 cups of cashews
• 2 cups of walnuts
• 1/2 cup of pistachio for garnish (optional)

*Tip: You may use whatever nut you want for this recipe!

For syrup:

• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 and 1/4 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water

Syrup Directions:

1. Make the syrup for the Baklava first.
2. In pot, add the sugar, water, and lemon juice.
3. Stir well on high heat.
4. Once the mixture boils, put it on a medium heat.
5. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add the orange blossom water and stir.
7. Let it cool to room temperature.

Baklava Directions:

1. Brush a large baking tray with butter.
2. Place a single sheet of Phyllo pastry on the baking tray.
3. Brush the pastry sheet with butter.
4. Place another pastry sheet on top and brush it with butter.
5. Repeat these steps until you have piled 10 pastry sheets.
6. In a food processor, crush the cashews and walnuts until they are ground but not powdered.
7. Spread the whole amount of nuts on top of your piled pastry sheets.
8. Cover the nuts with a layer of Phyllo pastry, brush the sheet with butter.
9. Repeat until there are five layers of pastry sheets on top of the nuts.
10. Now, add another five layers of pastry sheets without buttering.
11. Using a sharp knife, slice the tray of pastry into diamond shapes, like so: 
• 
12. Bake the pastry at 350°F in the middle shelf of your oven for 20 minutes until the surface of the pastry is a nice golden color.
13. Remove the pastry from the oven and immediately spread the cooled syrup on top of the pastry.
14. Do not drown the pastry in syrup! Add the syrup using a spoon and only add enough so that each Baklava diamond has a bit of syrup on it:
• 
15. Let the pastry cool.
16. This step is optional! You may add powdered pistachios on top of the pastries as a garnish.

*Tip: You should have syrup left over with this recipe. You may save the syrup in a container in your refrigerator.

Enjoy!

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