brown butter baklava
My mom speaks Arabic, so we pronounce baklava like “bak-lawa” (apparently Arabic doesn’t do “v’s”) and I always thought it was kind of cool, like different. You know what else is different? Browning the butter. Each layer of phyllo dough gets a glorious toasty butter bath, and when it’s mixed with walnuts and pistachios and cinnamon, honestly I don’t know why you would eat any other type of baklava. Or baklawa, I should say.
BROWN BUTTER BAKLAVA
Step-by-step directions are in my story highlights on Instagram.
INGREDIENTS
1 package phyllo pastry dough*
1 cup raw walnuts
1 cup raw pistachios
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
*Phyllo dough can be found in the freezer section of most supermarkets or at speciality Mediterranean grocery stores; if you have the option, choose thickness #4
DIRECTIONS
Make the syrup: Combine 1 cup sugar & 3/4 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until all sugar granules are dissolved. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the syrup has thickened. Let syrup cool completely.
Make the brown butter: Place butter in a medium saucepan over med-high heat. Once butter starts to foam and boil, constantly whisk. You will see the butter begin to take on a toasty brown color, and have a nutty fragrance. When the butter has a deep brown color, turn off heat and pour butter in a heat-safe bowl. Make sure to scoop up all of those browned bits at the bottom!
Prepare the nuts: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spread nuts in an even layer (pistachios on one side and walnuts on the other, to keep them separate) on a baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes, until nuts are toasty. Let cool for 10 minutes. (If nuts are pre-roasted, you can skip this step!)
In the bowl of a food processor, grind nuts into semi-fine pieces separately. Place ground nuts in their own bowls. To each bowl, add in 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tbsp. sugar, & 1 tbsp. of the brown butter and mix until incorporated. Reserve 1 tbsp. of each nut mixture for topping.
Assembly: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare your baklava station - baking sheet, phyllo dough, nuts, and brown butter with a pastry brush. Pro tip: Always cover your phyllo dough with damp paper towels to avoid drying it out (once its dried out, you can’t use it!).
To begin, brush your sheet pan lightly with the browned butter, and place one sheet of phyllo dough to cover the entire bottom of the sheet. The first few layers of phyllo dough are always the toughest to work with - don’t get frustrated! If the phyllo tears or breaks apart, no worries, you can still use it (it is the bottom, after all!).
Continue to layer the phyllo sheets, brushing butter in between each sheet. Make sure to get the browned bits from the melted butter to capture all the flavor. Repeat for 10 sheets total.
Add in your walnut mixture in an even layer. Top with another layer of phyllo dough and repeat the phyllo-butter layering for another 10 sheets. Then, add in your pistachio mixture in an even layer. Repeat the phyllo-butter layering until all phyllo sheets are used. Pro tip: If your butter starts to solidify, pop it in the microwave at 5-second intervals until melted again. If you run out of butter, add in 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of melted butter.
Slice your baklava into any desired shape. Bake for 30 minutes. Immediately, pour the cooled sugar syrup all over the hot baklava. Sprinkle reserved nuts on top.
store: in an airtight container for up to one week.
diet: vegetarian
eat it with: coffee or tea for a nice mid-afternoon break, or broken onto vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of honey for a delicious sundae.
