Turkish Baklava Recipe

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Turkish Baklava Recipe
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The Most Authentic Turkish Baklava Recipe

A sweet, syrupy delicacy enjoyed by many for centuries, this turkish baklava features buttery and crispy layers of ‘yufka’ dough with a pistachio middle.

Though a little time consuming, this dessert is a labor of love that does not require many ingredients.

 

Tips for the Best and Most Authentic Baklava

  1. Ghee – ghee, or clarified butter, is essential and gives baklava its buttery, rich and complex flavor. you will use this not only to grease the pan but brush each layer of dough as well. this creates the flakey, raised layers above the bed of pistachios.
  2. Fresh Dough – traditionally, turkish baklava is made with a type of unleavened pastry dough called ‘yufka’, which resembles phyllo dough. it is paper-thin and sold in turkish yufkacıs. using fresh yufka dough is imperative for the best baklava. making your own yufka dough, as dedicated baklava-makers do is ideal, but absolutely not necessary for some amazing baklava. just make sure the dough you use is fresh and not dried out. you can find them at your local turkish or middle eastern grocery shop, or specialty food stores, and even online.
  3. Pistachio – if you have the time, grinding your shelled pistachios on your own with a food processor will give you the freshest and crunchiest pistachio compared to ground pistachio at the store. both work but one will arguably give you the best result.

 

a cut square of authentic turkish baklava recipe on a metal spatula avoe a tray of more pieces of baklava.

 

yufka dough reccs

Authentic Baklava

Here is how you make authentic, Turkish-style baklava. Syrupy, crispy, sweet, and nutty, if you have yufka/phyllo dough on hand, you gottta make this.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
cook time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Turkish
Servings 12 squares

Equipment

  • 1 baking pan 6.5in x 9.5in pan, you can absolutely use a larger one for more. this pan made 12 squares, enough for 4-5
  • 1 basting brush
  • 1 sharp knife
  • 1 bowl to melt the ghee in
  • 1 food processor if you don't have ground pistachios on hand and want to grind the pistachios on your own (recommended)

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup ghee melted
  • 1 package yufka dough/pastry leaves can be bought at a turkish, middle eastern grocery store, or online.
  • 3/4 cup whole pistachios

Baklava Syrup

  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • half lemon

Instructions
 

  • preheat the oven to 350F/180C
  • melt 1/2 cup of the ghee until liquid in the microwave using a microwave-safe bowl or on the stove top. optional: add ground cardamom to the ghee to infuse while preparing the layers of dough
  • grind 3/4 cup of pistachios in a food processor, optionally: with 2-3 cardamom pods (seeds taken out), until evenly ground into tiny pieces, almost powder-like. do not grind it too fine tho
  • brush the baking sheet with the melted ghee
  • layer approximately 30 sheets of yufka dough on the baking sheet
  • brush the last, uppermost layer of dough with a thin layer of melted ghee all over the surface
  • evenly sprinkle and spread the ground pistachio all alongside the center and edges
  • layer another piece of the pastry dough. brush the top entirely with ghee and repeat this process (dough + ghee) until you have layered approximately 30 layers of dough (this makes it rise). you may have leftover ghee, use this for the next step
  • carefully cut the dough into even pieces, any size you desire, with a sharp knife. ensure all edges and bottoms are cut through. brush/pour any remaining ghee atop the baklava evenly, getting in the cut edges and around the pan.
  • place into the oven for anywhere between 35-50 mins. you want the tops to be a golden brown

syrup

  • combine 1 and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar with 1 cup of water in a pot over medium heat.
  • once melted, add the juice of half a lemon
  • continue to simmer the mixture until reduced and thickened into a syrup. your simple syrup is done, keep it hot until the baklava is ready

assembly

  • once the baklava has baked, take it out. for the crispiest baklava, immediately pour about half of the syrup all over the hot baklava carefully. it should bubble and fizzle. the baklava should absorb the syrup shortly and once it does, pour more of the syrup. let sit for 1-2 hours to absorb and cool. then, enjoy!!

Notes

  1. use fresh and soft yufka dough for the best baklava. you can find them at your local turkish or middle eastern grocery shop, or specialty food stores, and even online.
  2. I found 30 layers of dough to be ideal for enough height to absorb the syrup as well as give a great crunch in each bite. you can adjust this, just ensure you do the same amount above and below the bed of pistachio.
  3. cardamom-infused ghee and grinding cardamom up with the pistachio is optional but highly recommended. it adds a really nice, subtle flavor and spice. 
  4. the sugar to water ratio is 5:4. if you are making a bigger batch, you can simply scale this up.
  5. be generous with the syrup. 
Keyword baklava, dessert, pastry, pistachio

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