This easy to make baklava is a great recipe to make with kids! Crispy flaky layers of phyllo dough are coated with butter and sprinkled with chopped pistachios for a sweet, sticky, crispy treat that everyone will love!
3cupsroasted unsalted pistachiosshelled and chopped
1 ½cupsgheemelted (or clarified butter)
Instructions
Make the sugar syrup:
In a medium sized saucepan, combine the granulated sugar and water. Stir to combine and put over medium heat.
Bring to a boil, and then reduce the temperature to bring the mixture to a simmer.
Simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and is slightly golden in color.
Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice, and cool completely.
Assemble the baklava:
Finely chop the nuts and place in a bowl. Then remove 1/3 cup of them to sprinkle on top. Reserve those for later.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Trim the phyllo dough to fit the bottom of the dish.
Brush the bottom of the baking dish with some clarified butter.
Carefully place one sheet of phyllo dough in the bottom of the baking dish. Brush with clarified butter.
Repeat until you have 10 pieces of phyllo stacked on top of each other, with clarified butter brushed on top of each layer.
Evenly sprinkle half of the chopped nuts on top of the top phyllo layer.
Repeat layering another 10 sheets of phyllo dough into the pan, brushing the tops of each sheet with clarified butter.
Sprinkle the second half of the chopped nuts on top of the dough.
Repeat layering another 8-10 sheets of phyllo dough (or whatever is left of the box you have), brushing the top of each sheet with clarified butter.
Use a sharp knife to carefully slice the baklava into 36 pieces. Make sure you slice all the way though the bottom layer!
Bake for 40 minutes and then sprinkle on the remaining 1/3 pistachios on top, then place a piece of foil over the pan to prevent over browning.
Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup on top of the baklava, making sure to evenly pour it all over the pan.
Cool completely at room temperature. You want to make sure you give the phyllo dough enough time to properly finish cooking and absorb the syrup for the best texture.