Passed down from her mother, Lamees Attar-Bashi’s Middle Eastern baklawa is made with layers of filo pastry and crushed walnuts, then finished with cardamom-infused simple syrup poured over the pastry while it’s still hot.
Attar-Bashi included the family recipe in her first cookbook, Middle Eastern Delights, alongside her own baklawa-inspired desserts, including Baklawa Cheesecake.
What’s the Difference Between Lebanese Baklawa and Greek Baklava?
Lebanese baklawa and Greek baklava share the same basic idea: layers of crisp filo pastry, nuts and sweet syrup. One of the differences is in the flavouring. Lebanese baklawa is often scented with cardamom and orange blossom or rose water, while Greek versions commonly use honey and warming spices. This recipe from Lamees Attar-Bashi is made with walnuts and a cardamom-infused simple syrup.
You’ll also see the dessert spelled both baklava and baklawa. Baklawa is a common transliteration of the Arabic name, while baklava is the spelling more widely used in English. We use baklawa here, following Attar-Bashi’s terminology.
Why You’ll Love This Baklawa Recipe
- It’s crisp and flaky.
- Layers of filo pastry bake until golden, with crushed walnuts tucked between them.
- The syrup is scented with cardamom.
- Cardamom pods give the simple syrup its distinctive flavour, with lemon juice balancing the sweetness.
- There’s an easier way to handle the filo.
- Attar-Bashi uses avocado oil spray between most of the filo layers rather than brushing each delicate sheet with melted butter.
- It makes a beautiful presentation.
- Baked in a round pan and cut into diamond-shaped pieces, the baklawa looks impressive finished with ground pistachios or walnuts and optional rose petals.
Middle Eastern Baklawa
Ingredients
- 3¼ cups crushed walnuts
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- avocado oil spray
- 1 16–oz (454-g) pkg filo dough thawed
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
Simple Syrup
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 3-4 cardamom pods
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
For Garnishing
- ground walnuts or pistachios
- dried rose petals optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (160°C).
- In a large bowl, mix the crushed walnuts with the granulated sugar until well combined. Set this aside. Spray the avocado oil into a 12-inch (30-cm) round pan. Place two sheets of the dough into the pan, folding any extra dough inwards. Then spray the top completely with the avocado oil. Place another two pieces of the dough and repeat the process until you have ten filo sheets in total. Spread half of the nut mixture evenly over the base layer of filo dough. Add another eight layers of the dough, spraying every two layers with the avocado oil. Add the remaining half of the nut mixture. Then top it off with twelve more layers of filo dough, spraying avocado oil every two layers. Lastly, spray the top of the baklawa with oil, just before cutting to prevent the top layer from moving. With a sharp knife, cut straight and diagonal slices, all the way through creating diamond shaped pieces. Drizzle the melted butter on top evenly and through all the cuts. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the top is golden.
- While the baklawa is baking, prepare the sugar syrup. Add the sugar and water to a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Let it boil until all the sugar has been fully dissolved, around 7 to 10 minutes. Next, add the cardamom pods and let it continue to boil until reduced to two thirds (around 15 minutes). Just before removing from heat, add the lemon juice and set aside to cool completely (30 to 45 minutes). Take the baklawa out of the oven and pour sugar syrup on top while still hot. Let the baklawa cool completely uncovered for around 30 minutes.
- Garnish with ground walnuts or pistachios and rose petals, if using.
Notes
- It is essential that when pouring sugar syrup on any dessert that the syrup is room temperature. If you pour hot syrup on a hot dessert, it will make it soggy and extra sweet in flavour. However, when it’s room temperature, the dessert remains crunchy for several days with just the right amount of sweetness.
- A great hack: baklawa usually calls for brushing melted butter in between layers but if you have ever tried this method, you would know how hard it is to brush over a filo dough, due to how delicate and fragile those layers are. Therefore, I started using avocado spray instead. It’s much easier, faster and gets the job done with the exact same results and taste.
- This is a double layered nut baklawa, meaning it has two layers of nuts. I’ve found that separating the nut mixture into two layers instead of one, prevents the nut mixture from becoming bulky and hard and provides a more airy and flaky texture to the overall baklawa.
How to Cut Baklawa Into a Diamond Pattern
The geometric diamond pattern is part of this baklawa’s beautiful presentation. Once the filo is layered in a 12-inch round pan, use a sharp knife to make straight and diagonal cuts through the pastry before baking, creating individual diamond-shaped pieces.
Reprinted with permission from Middle Eastern Delights by Lamees AttarBashi. Page Street Publishing Co. 2024.
More Baklawa- and Baklava-Inspired Desserts
Baklava Cheesecake
Inside layers of crispy phyllo dough sheets is a creamy baklava cheesecake made with cream cheese and mascarpone then topped with crushed pistachio and a drizzle of honey syrup.
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Baklava French Toast
Inspired by the sticky, honey syrup and delicately spiced chopped nuts of baklava, this rich, baked French toast is a sweet, indulgent breakfast. Challah and croissants stand in for the usual bread and make it sublime.
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