This heavenly top-rated Baklava recipe combines honey-soaked layers of flaky phyllo pastry with spiced walnuts. It’s a great make-ahead dessert perfect for the holidays or special occasions. If this is your first time making this sweet treat, prepare to be blown away. This delicious dessert is easily in my top 10 favorites of all time.

Baklava Served in Diamonds On blue Plate

If I had to name some of the best desserts of all time, Baklava would be on the list for sure, along with Peanut Butter Pie, Millionaire’s Shortbread, and Creme Brulee.

Anyone who’s tasted this Middle Eastern dessert knows why. The flavors and textures are so unique and so delicious!

If you haven’t had it before, baklava is a dessert made with layers upon layers of butter brushed phyllo dough with cinnamon scented walnuts in the middle. After you bake it, you pour a citrus honey syrup all over it for each layered sheet of phyllo to soak up.

This dessert is quite sweet, but provided you use a good quality honey, you can really taste those nuances, and the texture has the most pleasing crunch and bite.

Why This Recipe Is The Best

Perfected proportions – I’ve done many rounds of recipe testing and I truly think the proportions here are absolute perfection. Not too many nuts, enough pastry to hold it together well, and while this dessert is sweet, it’s not over the top.

Make-ahead friendly – This is one of the best options for make ahead desserts, since it actually does need to sit for a while after it’s made.

Stores well and freezer friendly – Baklava keeps exceptionally well. It’s fine at room temperature for up to a week, or you can freeze it. If you want to ship some to a loved one, baklava handles travel wonderfully.

Minimal ingredients required – If you take a look at the shopping list in the recipe card, it’s not too long. This dessert is mostly about honey, walnuts and layers of phyllo dough, with some citrus and spices to enhance the flavor.

Baklava Recipe Presented on Blue Plate in Diamond Cut Shape

How to Make It Step by Step:

Baklava is mostly all about layering and assembly. It’s not really a difficult dessert, but just takes some time to put together. For best results, scroll through the following visual guide and read the recipe in its entirety to understand how it’s assembled.

Prepare the Spiced Nut Filling

Place walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a food processor:

Walnuts, Spices, and Salt In A Food Processor Bowl

Pulse about 10 times, until the walnuts are well chopped:

Baklava Ingredients Ground Up in Food Processor Bowl with Spiced walnuts

That’s the filling. It’s so easy! 

Begin building the layers 

Place layers of thawed phyllo dough down into a 9×13 metal pan or baking dish, brushing each one with melted butter:

Brushing Phyllo Dough with butter

You don’t need to brush each layer thoroughly. Just a quick swish across several times, to cover most of it.

Assembling the baklava, you want to move relatively quickly, to prevent the sheets of phyllo dough from drying out, so no need to be meticulous with the butter. If the phyllo starts to seem dry while you’re working, cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel.

Once you have 8 layers of phyllo in the bottom of the pan, add about 1/5 of the nut mixture to the pan, spreading it evenly:

Adding Cinnamon walnut Mixture to Phyllo Layer

You’ll need about 2/3 cup of the ground nuts for each layer.

How to Make It Perfectly Even:

If you’re keen on making your homemade baklava really even, here’s how I did mine.

I bought a 1-lb box of phyllo sheets, which stated on the box that there were 18 13×18″ sheets.

Using a 9×13 pan, you should cut the sheets in half, which gives you 36 total sheets.

So for the phyllo dough, I did the layers like this: 8, 5, 5, 5, 5, 8, with nut layers in between each of those sets. Note that the top layer and the bottom layer have 3 more sheets of phyllo than the middle layers.

Once the baklava is layered, cut it into pieces using a very sharp knife:

How to Cut Baklava Into Diamond Shape while Unbaked

You can do squares, diamond shapes, triangles, or whatever shape you want.

Bake!

Bake the baklava in the oven for 50 minutes, until it looks golden brown on the tops and edges:

Baklava Dessert Partially Baked and Cut Into Diamond shape

Then let the baklava cool for at least 15 minutes. In my experience, pouring the hot sweet syrup over hot baklava can make the bottom layers soggy. It’s best to let the baklava cool a bit before adding the syrup.

Prepare the Syrup

In the meantime, start the syrup. Combine honey, water, sugar, cinnamon, orange peel, and lemon peel in a small saucepan:

Baklava Syrup In Saucepan with Cinnamon Sticks and Citrus Peel

I prefer to use the citrus peels and not any actual orange or lemon juice in the syrup, because the juices can get bitter during boiling. You may also wish to try adding 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water for flavoring, if you enjoy it.

Bring the sweet honey syrup to a boil, then cook for 5 minutes, until the sugar dissolves, and also to allow the cinnamon and citrus to flavor the syrup.

While the sugar syrup is still hot, pour it all over the baklava, which should soak it right up.

Turkish Baklava in Diamond Pieces in 9x13 Metal Pan

It is SO important that the syrup is hot when you pour it over, otherwise it won’t soak properly. Yes, I have tested this.

Let it rest

Now here’s the hard part….leave the baklava at room temperature for 8 hours, uncovered, to let the syrup properly absorb, and allow the flavors and layers to meld together.

Baklava Pieces on Blue Plate

You want to leave it without a cover, to prevent sogginess. Then your homemade baklava is ready to enjoy!

Next try my Rice Pudding or butter swirl Shortbread Cookies. Happy baking!

Recipe FAQ:

Can baklava be frozen?

Yes, it freezes beautifully. Store for up to 3 months in an airtight container, to prevent absorption of off odors.

Can baklava be left out at room temperature?

Yes, baklava can be stored for one week at room temp. If you want to store it longer, refrigerate for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for 3 months.

Can you make baklava ahead of time?

Yes, and since it needs 8 hours of standing time before serving, it’s the perfect make ahead dessert.

Can you use other nuts for baklava besides walnuts?

Absolutely. Pistachios are also very popular, and you can do a blend of any nut you wish. However, I really think walnuts have the best taste and texture.

Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page.

Baklava Served in Diamonds On blue Plate

Baklava

Servings: 32
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Rest Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
This heavenly baklava combines honey-soaked layers of flaky phyllo pastry with spiced walnuts. It’s a great make-ahead dessert!
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Ingredients

For the Baklava:

  • 16 oz walnuts
  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom (or ground cloves)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 16 oz phyllo dough* thawed
  • 1 cup butter melted

For the Syrup:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup good quality honey**
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 strip orange peel
  • 1 strip lemon peel

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Pulse the walnuts in a food processor with the cinnamon, cardamom, and salt until well chopped.
  • To assemble the baklava, place 8 layers of phyllo dough one-by-one on the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan, brushing each lightly with butter.
  • Spread 1/5 of the walnut mixture evenly on top (about 2/3 cup).
  • Add another 5 layers of phyllo one-by-one, brushing each with butter, then add another layer of nuts. The total sequence should be phyllo layers of 8,5,5,5,5,8, with nuts in between those layers.
  • Using a sharp knife, cut the baklava into whatever shape you desire (diamonds, squares, triangles, etc). See blog post for picture.
  • Bake the baklava for 50 minutes, until golden on the edges and tops. Then let cool for at least 15 minutes.
  • In the meantime, bring all the syrup ingredients to a boil in a saucepan, then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the citrus peels and cinnamon stick, and pour the hot syrup evenly over the baklava. 
  • Let the baklava cool completely at room temperature for 8 hours (uncovered, to prevent sogginess). Then it’s ready to enjoy!

Notes

*My 1-lb box of phyllo said it had 18 13×18″ layers, so I cut them in half, and had 36 sheets total for my 9×13 pan.
**I cannot overstate how important it is to use a good honey here. If it comes in a bear shape bottle, probably steer clear. Ideally look for raw honey.
Storage: You can leave the baklava at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or you can refrigerate for 3 weeks, or freeze up to 3 months. Always wrap the baklava well in an airtight container, so it doesn’t absorb off flavors.

Nutrition

Calories: 215kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 123mg, Potassium: 71mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 160IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 18mg, Iron: 0.8mg

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Turkish
Author: Joanne Ozug

Post updated in December 2020. Originally published March 2012.