Baklava
Layered phyllo and walnuts soaked in honey syrup.
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Join HomecookedIngredients
- 400 g Phyllo pastry
- 400 g Walnuts
- 200 g Butter
- 200 g Honey
- 150 g Sugar
- 1 Cinnamon stick (optional)
- ½ Lemon (optional)
Method
- Turn the oven on and let it come up to 170°C (340°F). Walk away while it heats.
- Chop the walnuts and toss them with a little cinnamon (grate it from the stick or use a pinch of pre-ground). Do this while the oven preheats.
- Brush each sheet of phyllo with melted butter and layer them up, scattering the walnut mixture between the layers, until you have built up the whole tray.
- Score into diamonds and bake until deep golden, about 45 minutes.
- While the baklava bakes, simmer the honey, sugar, lemon, and water into a syrup. Let it cool so it is ready to pour over the hot baklava.
- Pour the cooled syrup evenly over the hot baklava and leave it to soak and set, ideally 4 hours or overnight, before serving.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Baklava
Baklava is a layered pastry beloved across Greece, Turkey, and the wider Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, built from paper-thin phyllo, chopped nuts, and a sweet syrup. Its defining feature is the labor of layering: each sheet of phyllo is brushed with melted butter and stacked, with a cinnamon-scented walnut mixture scattered between the layers, until a whole tray is assembled and scored into diamonds before baking. The butter is what crisps the pastry into shatteringly delicate leaves as it bakes to deep gold.
The magic moment is the soak — a warm honey syrup simmered with sugar, lemon, and water is poured over the pastry so it seeps into every layer, setting up the signature contrast of crackly top and sticky, saturated interior. The result is intensely sweet, nutty, and fragrant, cut just slightly by the lemon in the syrup. Baklava is a celebration food, cut into small diamonds and served with strong coffee or tea for holidays and gatherings, and it keeps well for days. It takes time and a careful hand with the fragile phyllo, but making twelve servings from one tray is exactly how it's meant to be shared.
Baklava: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Baklava?
One serving of Baklava has about 539 calories, with 8g of protein, 49g of carbs, 37g of fat and 3g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Baklava gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Phyllo pastry. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Baklava dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter. Swapping it for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Baklava take to make?
About 90 minutes start to finish, but only around 33 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Baklava?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out cinnamon stick, lemon — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Baklava make?
This recipe makes 12 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.