Pistachio Baklava + Orange Blossom Water & Saffron

Oh, Baklava.

I often am tempted to buy it when I pass by it in the supermarket, but I don’t. Because nothing, and I mean NOTHING beats a pan of homemade baklava. It’s perfectly flakey, buttery crisp, and fragrant. I find that store-bought baklava is often cloyingly sweet, something that I can not bear in a dessert. My go-to recipe for baklava is from Natasha’s Kitchen. It’s not overly sweet and the syrup contains a good measure of honey which is a must.

I’ve been dying to make the version you see before you today! It’s a bit of a Spring-y take on traditional baklava, adding in pistachios with the walnuts and flavoring the syrup with floral, fragrant orange blossom water and a bit of saffron for color and depth. I like to use just a little less syrup than called for in the recipe. It’s not an over the top, crazy sweet baklava, but I like mine just a little less sweet than the average Joe.

This is the orange blossom water that I use(a little goes a long way so a bottle lasts a long time):

And if you aren’t crazy about pistachios, just sub them for more walnuts! Shelled pistachios can be a bit expensive. I like to get them at Costco where the price is pretty reasonable.

The baklava should last for 1-2 weeks, at room temperature. Just keep it covered with a tea towel. Keeping it stored in an airtight situation will leave you with soggy baklava =(

Pistachio Baklava + Orange Blossom Water & Saffron

 

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*Thaw phyllo dough specifically as package instructions indicate.

Serves: one 9x13 pan

Ingredients

• 1 package Phyllo dough, thawed(16 oz.)
• 2½ sticks Unsalted Butter, melted (10 oz., 1¼ cups)
• ½ pound Walnuts, finely chopped
• ½ pound Pistachios, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¾ cup Raw Cane Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
• ¾ cup water
• ¾ cup Honey
• 1 teaspoon Saffron Threads
• 2 teaspoons Orange Blossom Water

Instructions

1. Combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium sized saucepan.
2. Whisk over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the heat up to medium/high and bring syrup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and let cook for four minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the saffron and honey. Whisk in the orange blossom water. Set syrup aside.
3. Place the walnuts, pistachios, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse the mixture until the nuts resemble coarse crumbs. Place mixture in a bowl and set aside.
4. Trim thawed phyllo sheets to fit your baking pan. I use a 9x13" pan so I trim about 1 inch of dough of the length of the phyllo.
5. Lay the trimmed sheets of phyllo on a towel and cover the stack with another towel that is slightly damp(this is to keep the dough from drying out).
6. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13" baking pan.
7. Lay a sheet of phyllo in the buttered pan(sheet should cover the pan completely) and brush that sheet with butter. Repeat this another 9 times so that you have a layer of 10 phyllo dough sheets, each brushed with butter.
8. Sprinkle ¾ cup of the nut mixture over the layer of phyllo.
9. Layer another 5 sheets of phyllo, each brushed with butter, over the nut layer.
10. Sprinkle the layer of 5 sheets phyllo dough with another 3/5 cup of nut mixture.
11. Layer another 5 sheets of phyllo, each brushed with butter, over the nut layer.
12. Sprinkle the layer of 5 sheets phyllo dough with another 3/5 cup of nut mixture.
13. Layer another 5 sheets of phyllo, each brushed with butter, over the nut layer.
14. Sprinkle the layer of 5 sheets phyllo dough with another 3/5 cup of nut mixture.
15. Layer 10 more sheets of phyllo dough over the nut mixture, each layer brushed with butter.
16. To shorten the explanation, you'll want to layer in the following manner:
17. *10 sheets phyllo
18. *3/4 cup nut mixture
19. *5 sheets phyllo
20. *3/4 cup nut mixture
21. *5 sheets phyllo
22. *3/4 cup nut mixture
23. *5 sheets phyllo
24. *3/4 cup nut mixture
25. *5 sheets phyylo
26. *3/4 cup nut mixture
27. *10 sheets phyllo
28. Once the layering is complete, cut the baklava into 1½" strips, lengthwise, and then cut on a diagonal to form diamonds.
29. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
30. As soon as you take the baklava out of the oven, drizzle the saffron syrup evenly over the top of the baklava. The syrup should sizzle when it hits the bottom of the pan.
31. Let cool completely. Baklava is best when served after sitting for 6 hours or overnight to allow the syrup to penetrate and soften the layers.
32. Store at room temperature covered by a tea towel.

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