This Easy Turkish Baklava Recipe or known as Turkish Baklava, is a decadently rich, buttery, sweet treat made with phyllo dough, butter, finely ground pistachios, and a syrup of sugar, water, and lemon juice.
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The greatest Turkish Baklava is made with layers of incredibly thin, flaky, buttered phyllo sheets that are filled with nuts and sweetened with baklava syrup. With this simple baklava recipe, you can make it at home and share a full pan with your loved ones.
What is baklava?
Baklava is One of the most well-liked desserts, dating back to the Ottomans. Layers of thin, flaky filo pastries soaked in simple syrup and packed with nuts are used to make it.
The Ottoman Empire placed a great deal of importance on the famous baklava dessert, which we always have room for. This was true notably in the fifteenth century. According to legend, baklava has undergone numerous changes throughout the years and first took on its present form in the kitchen of Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace during the Ottoman Empire. Every major event, including weddings, festivals, and religious gatherings, featured baklava. It served as any celebration’s dessert.
Although baklava is made differently in numerous Mediterranean and Middle Eastern nations, the four main components are filo pastry, butter, almonds, and syrup. It is simple to modify and make your own version to make your own special baklava tasty.
Greek Baklava vs. Turkish Baklava
Nobody seems to actually know who or where it was invented, or even who really owns it. But I am aware that baklava is a deeply ingrained tradition in both nations, with regional variations even within the same nation.
I realize that I’m generalizing a bit here when I say that Turkish baklava employs sugar syrup, pistachios, and lemon juice without the addition of spices or other flavors, but Greek baklava uses honey, walnuts, and cinnamon.
No matter where it comes from, good baklava is moist but not mushy and sweet but not overbearing (although I do think that Turkish baklava is typically wetter than Greek baklava in my experience).
There are variations in the baklava’s presentation and cutting, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s stick with the distinctions I’ve already outlined. Can I do that?”
why does this recipe work?
- Making pistachio baklava, also known as Fıstıklı baklava in Turkish, is incredibly simple and only requires a few ingredients, including filo pastry, butter, nuts, and sugar.
- This recipe yields 60 delicious diamond-shaped baklavas, which are the ideal party dish and are sure to please everyone!
- Baklava is the ideal treat to prepare ahead of time; in fact, it tastes even better the next day or two.
- Baklava made with Turkish pistachios freezes well. If you find that this is too many baklavas for you, split them out and freeze them for up to three months.
what you’ll need
- all-purpose flour
- unsalted butter
- vanilla extract
- water
- flower water (Eau de fleur)
- toasted almonds
- sugar
- honey
how to make Turkish baklava?
This is just an overview of the steps required to make this Turkish baklava, detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card down below.
It’s common to prepare Turkish baklava at home to honor religious occasions like Eid. Other than this, making it at home is not very frequent. People prefer to purchase it from tiny baklava shops or pastry shops.
Making baklava refers to creating a traditional recipe from scratch. However, not everyone is skilled enough to produce baklava leaves at home. As you may expect, older women don’t delegate the task to someone else. Every community has at least one skilled baker, and around major religious holidays, there are undoubtedly more people there.
- The dough. add the dough ingredients and mix them all together. Add the flour gradually as you create a soft dough. Depending on where you are or the relative humidity of the room, the amount of flour may change. Transfer the dough to a work area that has been lightly dusted with flour, and knead it there for a few minutes, or until it is elastic and doesn’t adhere to your hands. To keep the dough pliable, use as little flour as you can. The dough should be rolled into a ball and placed back in the basin. For 8hours, cover it and let it rest. While the dough is resting, make the syrup.
- The sheets. roll the dough pieces into small balls, and use a pasta machine to roll the balls and make fine nearly transparent sheets. Put them on top of one another after rolling them into the size of a small plate and liberally dousing them in corn starch. They should be rolled out collectively as thinly as possible to a 36 cm size. When necessary, add more starch to prevent them from sticking. Put them on a baking sheet measuring 36 cm. If necessary, cut the sides, and then top the filo pastries with the trimmings. Continue until you’ve finished the first batch of dough balls (12 balls will make 6 filo sheets in total).
you should be making around 6 sheets at the bottom, then a layer of your preferred nuts, and then 5 more sheets on the top.
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Easy Turkish Baklava Recipe
Equipment
- pasta machine to roll the dough sheets evenly.
Ingredients
The Dough
- 8 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup flour water (eau de fleur)
The Filling
- 30 ounces almonds
- 7 ounces white sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
The Syrup
- 2 pounds honey
Instructions
- Mix all the dough ingredients in a KitchenAid mixing bowl and let it kneed for about 5 minutes.
- Wrap the dough in plastic film and let it rest for about 8 hours.
- In the meantime, you can start preparing the filling.
- Toast the almonds until slightly brown, let cool for few minutes.
- chop the almonds with a chopper
- add the white sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract to the chopped almonds.
- melt the 2 tbsps of butter and add the egg alongside the butter to the mix.
- butter the baking dish, and start shaping the dough balls.
- use a pasta machine to make thin layers of dough.
- start by making 6 layers of dough, and don't forget to butter each layer with some melted butter.
- layer your filling on top.
- then start by layering the 5 layers on top of the almonds.
- Butter the last surface with melted butter and start by doing the diamond shape.
- For decoration, you can use almonds on top of each piece of baklava.
- Cook in the oven at 350F for about 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours.
- When you take it away from the oven, immediately pour the honey over the baklava (while hot).
Recipe Notes
- it is so important to let the dough rest for at least 6 hours prior to shaping.
- pour the honey immediately after taking the baking dish out of the oven.
- use a sharp knife to shape the diamonds.
maybe one of the best baklava recipes i’ve ever seen so far!!!
it looks so yummy!
This baklava recipe is gorgeous!! I cannot wait to try it. Is there a way to use frozen filo if we don’t have a pasta machine at home?
Beautiful! I can’t wait to try this one this weekend! Thank you so much!
I love baklava but would have never had the confidence to make it myself. This recipe is super easy to follow and I can’t wait to share this dessert with my family!
this baklava looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
I love how buttery and flavorful the turkish baklava is! can’t wait to make this recipe again!