Chocolate Almond Walnut Baklava

BAKLAVA!!!! 

Bite size piece!

Last week, I went to a Greek restaurant around town called Gyros House with Stacey and MoLo. There were lots to choose from, gyros, pita and hummus, baklava, combination plates like Souvlaki, Kafta, fish and chips, and lots more!!!    MoLo and I ordered the Lamb gyro which was amazingly delicious. A gyro usually consists of meat of your choice (chicken, lamb, etc) or you can have it vegetarian, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, tzitziki sauce on pita bread. The price was average about $6.99 with a side dish of french fries or rice. I recommend the rice because the taste is so flavorful. T

The atmosphere at the restaurant was very welcoming. I assume the guy who took our order was the owner because he was friendly and very enthusiastic! At first, we decided to have our food to-go because we were initially in the area for a Meet & Greet sponsored by Verizon to see WongFu Productions, Cathy Nguyen, KevJumba, Ryan Higa, and Far East Movement. Then, we realized that we had enough time to actually dine in and relax before going back to get autographs! LOL. Anyways, we decided to dine-in and the restaurant owner served us our food. I forgot to mention that Stacey didn't order anything because she wasn't hungry. The owner asked if Stacey ordered anything when he delivered our food and she said, "No, I'm not hungry". The owner turned around and brought her a free dessert called baklava. It was soooooo sweet, nutty, and cinnamony (if that's a word). The baklava melted our hearts. 

The other thing about me is that I am very finicky with nuts. I'm not allergic to them, but I absolutely don't like them unless they are already in my cereal like Almond Bunches of Oats. I think that they give me headaches and acne so I limit myself to them. Nuts are not my favorite but I can say that they are delicious in baklava. 

This trip to Gyros House made me want to make my very own baklava. The only baklava I've had was my boyfriend's mom's baklava which was also delicious!!!! There are a variety of ways to make baklava. I've seen it made in rectangles and rolls. The place where we got baklava for free was rolled and I thought it was soooo cute!! So I rolled this version. So here is the recipe for my version of Greek baklava. I pulled the recipe from a variety of websites so it is a combination of everything.

**If you want to make Baklava... you should purchase the phyllo pastry sheets a day in advance to thaw it out!!! I failed on this part. I bought it 3-4 hours before I wanted to make it........ And phyllo pastry sheets are very tricky. It dries really quick. There are some tips on how to work with phyllo pastry sheets in the package that I did not see until after I made them!! HAHA

**I rolled the first one.. and it was a majorly epic fail on my part........ hahaha!! The rest were rolled by Stacey!! She is really good at it!!! She's my little helper!!! 

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 65 minutes

Yields: Approximately 24 pieces if cutting the rolls in thirds. 

Ingredients:

1 pkg of phyllo pastry sheets in your local grocery store in the freezer aisle. 

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

½ cup of walnuts, coarsely ground

1 cup of almonds, coarsely ground

¼ of sugar

½ tsp of cinnamon ( next time, I will want to have 1 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp). 

Syrup

1 cup of water                                   

¾ sugar

½ tbsp of lime juice

4 packets of honey ( I didn't any honey around but found KFC honey packets! LOL)

What to roll with:

1/2 inch dowel from JoAnn's or Michaels. I bought mine for a dollar. 

I wrapped the dowel with plastic wrap and tapped or rubber band the ends to avoid getting splinters from the dowel into our baklava/ and hands. 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Mix walnuts, almonds, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside. 

Unwrap the Phyllo:

  Carefully unwrap the phyllo roll from the plastic sleeve. Most packages come in 12 x 18 inch sheets when opened fully. Using scissors, cut the sheets in half. To prevent drying, cover one stack with wax paper and a damp paper towel while working with the other. 

Assembling the Baklava:

  Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom and sides of a 9 x 12 glass pan with melted butter. Begin by brushing the first sheet of phyllo and adding some filling (nuts) to the sheet. Next, roll with the dowel and set aside. Brush the second sheet and roll the first roll inside the second sheet. Squish the sides together to create a scrunched look and place it in the pan. Repeat this process until all the phyllo pastry sheets are used. 

  

  Once your pan is full, brush the tops of the baklava which will create a golden brown top. 

Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes. It should be evenly brown and crispy on both the top and bottom. 

Preparing the Syrup:

  While the baklava is baking, prepare the syrup. Bring the syrup to a boil for about 10 minutes over medium heat and then remove. Let it cool. 

  Once the baklava is done baking and cooled to a warm temperature, cut it into bite sized pieces, and spoon the syrup over top. The syrup will be absorbed by the baklava to create a sweet treat. 

*Side note: Microwave unsweetened chocolate to drizzle over the baklava and top with crushed almonds. 

Wait for 1-3 hours before consuming so that the syrup is absorbed.