3 in 1 Baklava
Baklava is buttery, sweet, and nutty with layers of crispy sticky phyllo sheets. There are different ways to make it and you can use different types of nuts. I wanted to try 3 different types of nuts but without making 3 separate recipes. As a result, I got this 3 in 1 Baklava.
Baklava is originally from Turkey but it is also popular in Greece, Lebanon, Egypt and other countries. There are variations in how it is made depending on what country it is from. This recipe is kind of a combination of the variations using pistachios, walnuts and almonds. But of course you can use nuts of your choice.
Back when I was in Middle School, my Dad had a colleague who I believe is Moroccan. When he traveled back home, he would bring back an assortment of Baklava for us. This was the good authentic stuff. But for some reason my younger sister and I’s palettes could not handle them. We would try a couple of the different types and after a few bites we had had enough and concluded that we didn’t like Baklava.
My mom, on the other hand, loved them and would end up eating them all by herself. When my Dad’s friend asked what we thought, to be polite, he said we loved them. This kind of backfired because from that point on, every time my Dad’s friend traveled back home, he would bring us a box of assorted Baklava. My mom wasn’t complaining though; she got to have all that Baklava to herself.
Fast forward years later, I try Baklava again and decide that I like it. And over the years I realize I actually love it. Now when I look back on that memory of all the boxes of Baklava I stuck my nose up to, I feel sorry for myself lol. I missed out on so much Baklava 😩. Well in a way I feel like I made up for a lot of it through this 3 in 1 Baklava.
3 in 1 Baklava
Ingredients
The Syrup
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup honey
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2-3 lemon slices sliced in rounds
- 2 cardamom pods lightly crushed
Other Ingredients
- 1 cup pistachios
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup melted butter 1 stick
- 8 oz phylllo dough
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- In a sauce pan over low to medium heat, add sugar, honey and water. Simmer uncovered until thickens, about 10 minutes then turn the heat off.
- Add cinnamon sticks, lemon rounds and cardamom to the pan. Set aside for it to absorb the flavors and come to room temperature as you do the next steps.
- Separately and coarsely grind your pistachios, walnuts and almonds in food processor. Put them in different bowls and set aside.
- Brush a 9 by 13 inch pan with some of your melted butter. Lay down 2 sheets of phyllo dough in the pan then gently brush butter all over the top sheet.
- Add another 2 sheets then brush with butter, followed by another 2 sheets then brush with butter. In total you should have 6 sheets in the pan with butter in between every 2 sheets.
- Next you are going to put down a third of your nuts using a third of the space for each nut. You want to have a little over 4 inches long of each nut placed down. You can eyeball this or use a ruler and make markings on you phyllo dough. (Refer to the images above.)
- Repeat the layers of 6 buttered phyllo sheets followed by a layer of nuts 2 more times. You should have 3 layers of nuts and 3 layers of phyllo sheets.
- Finish off with a 4th layer of buttered phyllo sheets. There might be more or less than 6 in your package, that’s ok, you can use them all.
- Cover and place in the fridge for an hour or the freezer for about 20 minutes for the butter to solidify before cutting.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- When ready, cut in shapes of choice. (You can refer to photo above). Cut them in different shapes by the type of nut in order to distinguish them.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove cardamom pieces, cinnamon sticks and lemon rounds from syrup. Pour the syrup all over hot baklava evenly and especially between the cracks.
- Let it cool completely at room temperature before serving.
2 Comments
Rebecca Amin
November 8, 2021 at 8:09 pm
This looks yummy. I will try to make it.
fuajia
November 13, 2021 at 4:05 pm
Thank you, let me know how it comes out! 🙂