Learn how to make THE BEST Middle Eastern Baklawa with this easy baklawa recipe! Buttery, flaky, phyllo dough is layered with ground pistachios, almonds, and walnuts and drenched in delicious rosewater-flavored syrup. So pour yourself a cup of karak tea and let's get baking!
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Baklawa is often served during holidays and special gatherings, along with other syrup-drenched desserts such as luqaimat and zlabia. These treats are enjoyed especially after iftar. Be sure to browse my full collection of Ramadan recipes for more traditional dishes.
Middle Eastern baklawa is not too sweet or too sticky. The syrup is made with a combination of sugar and honey and drizzled over the layered phyllo dough, filled with ground nuts. Not too much syrup, however, just enough to hold the baklawa together.
So clear a couple of hours from your schedule, and get ready to learn how to make this popular Middle Eastern dessert. If you're looking for an easier baklawa recipe, give my puff pastry baklava, sari rolled baklava, or my birds nest baklava a try!
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Homemade baklawa is so much better than anything you can buy!
- Although most people are too intimidated to try making baklawa from scratch, it's easy when you break it down into easy steps.
- You can take this dessert to potlucks and other gatherings and watch it disappear!
- This baklawa recipe freezes well, so you can enjoy some now and freeze some for later!
🔖 Ingredient & Substitutions
- Phyllo/Fillo/Filo Sheets: Sometimes Filo pastry comes in various thicknesses. Thickness #4 or #5 can be used for this recipe. Keep the phyllo dough covered with kitchen towels while assembling the baklava. This keeps the dough from drying out.
- Nuts: Baklawa can be prepared with a variety of nut mixtures. Walnuts and pistachios are the most popular. Feel free to use your favorite combination, but I prefer equal portions of walnuts, pistachios, and almonds.
- Rose Water: Rose Water or Orange Blossom Water is used in a lot of Middle Eastern recipes, so they'll come in handy to prepare other desserts on my blog.
🍯 How to Make Middle Eastern Baklawa
Note: Defrost the fillo dough according to package instructions.
Prepare Syrup for Baklawa
Step 1: Mix water, sugar, honey, lemon juice, and rose water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. (Optional Step: Add cardamom pods, whole cloves, and dehydrated orange slices to enhance the syrup flavor.)
Step 2: Bring the syrup to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes. Set aside to cool while you assemble the Baklawa.
Baklawa Assembly (Preheat oven to 350°F)
Step 3: While the syrup is boiling, grind the nut mixture in a food processor, then mix in sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon, and stir to combine. Set the nut mixture aside until needed.
Step 4: Next, clarify the butter by slowly melting and discarding the foamy and milky white substance from the butter. See this tutorial on how to clarify butter.
Pro Tip: Clarifying 1 cup of butter should leave you with approximately ¾ cup of clarified butter. You may not need all of it.
Pro Tip: Keep sheets of phyllo dough covered with the plastic sheet they were rolled in, followed by a damp dishcloth. This will keep the pasty sheets from drying out.
Step 5: Brush the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking dish or pan with melted butter using a pastry brush. Place one
Pro Tip: If the sheets are too long for the pan, alternate folding the extra portion from the top and bottom of the pan.
Step 6: Continue to butter and layer the sheets until you have used up approximately ¼ of the sheets.
Pro Tip: It's ok if the sheets are broken. You can use the butter to patch them together. Save the ones that are not damaged to go on top of the baklawa.
Step 7: Once you've layered approximately ¼ of the sheets, distribute ⅓ of the nut mixture over them. Carefully cover with more buttered sheets.
Note: Here's an example of how to layer your Baklawa.
- ¼ fillo sheets
- ⅓ nut filling
- ¼ fillo sheets
- ⅓ nut filling
- ¼ fillo sheets
- ⅓ nut filling
- ¼ fillo sheets
Step 8: Continue these steps until all the nuts and fillo sheets are used up.
Step 9: When you're done assembling the baklawa, use a sharp knife to cut it into squares. Or cut into rectangles, then cut each rectangle in half to form triangles. Some prefer to cut it into diamond shapes.
Pro Tip: If you have extra butter, you can drizzle it over the baklawa tray. Mist the top layer of filo dough with a few sprays of water to keep the Fillo sheets from curling up as they bake.
Step 10: Place the tray in the oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or up to an hour, until golden in color. You may need to rotate the pan ½ way through to cook evenly.
Step 11: When the Baklawa is done baking, remove the pan from the oven and pour the cooled syrup slowly over the hot Baklawa. Make sure to distribute the syrup evenly to cover all the baklava pieces. The Baklava will sizzle as the syrup is absorbed by the fillo sheets.
Allow the Baklawa to rest for a few hours, uncovered, until set, before serving.
You may also want to try this delicious Middle Eastern sweet vermicelli recipe. It can be served for breakfast or as a dessert!
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Baklawa is made with buttered and layered fillo dough and filled with a nut filling. The filling consists of ground walnuts, pistachios, almonds, or a combination of one or more.
The nut mixture contains cardamom, cinnamon, or other spices, for example, cloves. The Baklawa is baked in a pan until golden brown, then drizzled with a thick, rich syrup or honey.
I have a few recommendations on how to keep baklava from getting soggy. One way is to drizzle baklava that's freshly out of the oven with cooled syrup.
The combination of the cooled syrup and hot baklawa allows the syrup to be absorbed by the fillo dough layers, instead of pooling around the baklawa.
Adding hot syrup to cooled baklawa, like some recipes suggest, results in soggy baklava, so don't do it!
Another way to keep the baklava from getting too soggy is not to use too much syrup. Too much syrup will cause the fillo dough to get soggy and limp.
Finally, don't store baklava in an airtight container, especially when warm. Store the cooled baklava at room temperature, covered with a washcloth.
If prepared correctly, baklawa tastes sweet (but not overly sweet), flaky, and nutty, with the flavor of cinnamon and cardamom. It's also sticky, gooey, and perfect with a cup of tea.
In the Middle East, "baklava" is pronounced "baklawa." Besides the name variation, there are also variations in the ingredients.
While Greeks drench their Baklava in honey, simple syrup is used in the Middle Eastern Baklawa.
Another difference between the two is that Greek Baklava is flavored with cinnamon and cloves, while Middle Eastern Baklawa is flavored with cardamom and rose water. Sometimes, Orange Blossom water is used instead.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Defrost phyllo dough in the fridge overnight, if frozen.
- You can also defrost frozen phyllo dough on the counter for an hour or so, prior to using it, but the preferred method is defrosting it in the fridge.
- Some phyllo packages contain 2 rolls of phyllo dough, while others come with one big roll. The size of the phyllo dough varies as well. You might need to trim the dough to make it fit into the pan. With some brands, like Kontos, the sheets are twice the size of the pan. In that case, cut the large sheets into 2 9"x13" stacks.
- Keep the phyllo dough covered with kitchen towels while assembling the baklawa. This keeps the phyllo dough from drying out.
- Baklawa can also be cut into diamonds, instead of squares. To do this, place the pan vertically in front of you. Slice lines diagonally in one direction, then again in the opposite direction.
- To keep the phyllo sheets from curling up, mist the top layer of phyllo with water before baking.
- Sometimes, fillo pastry comes in various thicknesses. Thickness #4 or #5 can be used for this recipe.
- To keep the baklawa from getting soggy, store it on the counter, either uncovered or covered with a thin kitchen towel.
🍮 More Middle Eastern Desserts
If you enjoy this baklawa recipe, check out these other great desserts!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Mix water, sugar, honey, lemon juice, and rose water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. (Optional Step: Add cardamom pods, whole cloves, and dehydrated orange slices to enhance the syrup flavor.)
- Bring the syrup to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes. Set aside to cool while you assemble the Baklawa.
- While the syrup is boiling, grind the nut mixture in a food processor, then mix in sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon. Set the nut mixture aside until needed.
- Next, clarify the butter by slowly melting and discarding the foamy and milky white substance from the butter. See this tutorial on how to clarify butter.
- Brush the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking dish or pan with the clarified butter. Place one fillo sheet carefully into the buttered dish. Gently brush the sheet with butter.
- Continue to butter and layer the sheets until you have used up approximately ¼ of the sheets.
- Once you've layered approximately ¼ of the sheets, distribute ⅓ of the nut mixture over them. Carefully cover with more buttered sheets. Continue these steps until all the nuts and Fillo sheets are used up.
- When you're done assembling the baklawa, use a sharp (non-serrated knife) to cut into squares. Or cut into rectangles, then cut each rectangle in half to form triangles.
- Place the tray in the oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or up to an hour, until golden in color. You may need to rotate the pan ½ way through to cook evenly.
- When the Baklawa is done baking, remove the pan from the oven and pour the cooled syrup slowly over the hot Baklawa. Make sure to distribute the syrup evenly to cover all the baklava pieces. The Baklava will sizzle as the syrup is absorbed by the fillo sheets.
- Allow the Baklawa to rest for a few hours, uncovered, until set, before serving.
Nutrition
Notes
-
- Defrost phyllo dough in the fridge overnight, if frozen.
- You can also defrost frozen phyllo dough on the counter for an hour or so, prior to using it, but the preferred method is defrosting it in the fridge.
- Some phyllo packages contain 2 rolls of phyllo dough, while others come with one big roll. The size of the phyllo dough varies as well. You might need to trim the dough to make it fit into the pan. With some brands, like Kontos, the sheets are twice the size of the pan. In that case, cut the large sheets into 2 9"x13" stacks.
- Keep phyllo dough covered with kitchen towels while assembling the baklawa. This keeps the phyllo dough from drying out.
- Baklawa can also be cut into diamonds, instead of squares. To do this, place the pan vertically in front of you. Slice lines diagonally in one direction, then again in the opposite direction.
- To keep the phyllo sheets from curling up, mist the top layer of phyllo with water before baking.
- Sometimes, fillo pastry comes in various thicknesses. Thickness #4 or #5 can be used for this recipe.
- To keep the baklawa from getting soggy, store it on the counter, either uncovered or covered with a thin kitchen towel.
Miguel Presnall says
You have my gratitude! 💕
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, Miguel!
Phillip says
Can I use salted butter?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Phillip, Yes, you can use salted butter. Enjoy!
Shawna says
I was so nervous to make this for some reason- I’m thinking the pastry dough:) The instructions were so easy to follow and it turned out perfectly!
Hilda Sterner says
Hey Shawna, thank you so much for the review and I'm glad the baklava-making went well! Good job, girl!
Jeffrey Butler says
Delicious Hilda. I haven't had any baklava since leaving So Cal. This did not disappoint. Thank you for sharing.
Yum Factor: 2 thumbs up!
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you jeff, I'm glad you guys enjoyed the baklava and appreciate the review!
Alyssa Nelson says
I love baklava and this did not disappoint! My diet went out the window as I devoured almost half the tray! The perfect nut mixture and just the right amount of sweet! This recipe will be my go-to!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Alyssa, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It was so fun meeting you and your adorable little family!
Lori Ross says
This was my first time trying Baklava; it was amazing! It had just the right amount of crunch. It was flaky and all around perfect!
Hilda Sterner says
I'm so glad you were brave enough to try it! ❤️