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Baklava

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Makes 4 dozen pieces 1x

Time about 2 1/2 hours, largely unattended, plus time to cool

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, melted (and clarified if you’d like)
  • 1 pound shelled walnut halves, chopped (about 4 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • At least 18 sheets store-bought phyllo dough, 14 × 9 inches (half a 1-pound package), thawed overnight in the fridge if frozen
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Brush the bottom and sides of a 13 × 9-inch baking dish with butter. Finely chop the nuts, by hand or in a food processor, and combine them with the cinnamon.
  2. Unfold the phyllo and cover the sheets with a damp kitchen towel while you work so they don’t dry out.
  3. Drape a phyllo sheet inside the prepared baking dish, brush it lightly with butter, then gently scrunch it with your fingers to create ripples and folds; repeat with another sheet. Tuck in the corners so the edges of the dough creep up the sides; this will keep the nuts from burning as the baklava bakes. Repeat with two more sheets to form the base layer.
  4. Sprinkle 1 cup of the nuts in an even layer over the phyllo. Layer, brush, and scrunch another 2 sheets of phyllo on top the same way as in Step 1, then spread with another cup of the nuts. Repeat that pattern (2 sheets, butter, scrunch, nuts) two more times, until you’ve used all the nuts. Finally, top the baklava with 4 more layers of slightly scrunched phyllo, brushing with butter between each addition. (You will probably have some left over.) Brush generously with the remaining butter. At this point you can cover the pan and refrigerate for up to a day.
  5. To bake, heat the oven to 300°F. Score the top of the baklava with a sharp knife, first lengthwise into 4 strips, then widthwise into 6 sections, and finally diagonally across the scored rectangles, to make 48 triangles. Bake until golden brown all over; start checking after 90 minutes but this will likely take almost 2 hours.
  6. To make the syrup, combine the sugar, honey, and lemon juice in a saucepan with 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool completely. (You can make this hours or a few days in advance and keep it refrigerated in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it.)
  7. When the baklava is still hot, cut all the way through the score marks in the top layer with a sharp, thin- bladed knife. Pour the syrup all over, tilting the pan so it really spreads. Cool to room temperature, then serve. Baklava keeps well in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.

– Recipe from How to Cook Everything: Completely Revised Twentieth Anniversary Edition