Special equipment: 2 mini-muffin tins
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of salt
1 stick butter, melted, divided
3 tablespoons honey
12 sheets phyllo dough
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the almonds, walnuts, apricots, bread crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt in a food processor. Run the machine until the mixture is very finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and the honey and stir to combine.
On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of phyllo. Using a pastry brush and the remaining melted butter, lightly cover the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Continue until there is a stack of 6 sheets of phyllo. Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 12 equal pieces (Cut lengthwise into 4 pieces and widthwise into 3 pieces).
Gently press each cut piece of phyllo into the mini-muffin tin cups. Press 1 tablespoon of the nut mixture into each of the phyllo cups. Gather the ends of each of the phyllo squares and twist to make a sachet shape. Continue shaping the remaining sachets in the other mini-muffin tin. Bake until the edges of the phyllo are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove the baklava sachets and transfer to a serving plate.
selected by Karen
2 comments:
I've always wanted to make baklava, so this was a good prompt. Since I had already thawed the entire package of phyllo before reading the recipe, I ended up doubling the filling, so I was really hoping to love it!
Unfortunately for me, my butter exploded in the microwave, spattering just about everything in the vicinity, so I found this recipe to be a huge pain, even though it's fairly easy in theory. Because I buttered the dough directly on my countertop, I wound up with a thick coating of butter there, too.
The filling itself was tasty, and the cloves weren't terribly overpowering. I substituted dried cherries for the apricots since my husband isn't a fan and liked the tang they provided. The mini muffin tin was a clever format, and the pieces came out with no trouble. (I did spray the pan, which the recipe hadn't specified, so -- you guessed it -- still more buttery mess to clean up!)
I thought the overall flavor was okay, but the dough was a little too present, especially at the top of the little purse. If I made these again, I would a) cover the hell out of my butter in the microwave, and b) use only 3 sheets of phyllo, with perhaps a little cinnamon sugar in between layers for texture. All in all, a worthwhile experiment...but I might just stick to ordering my baklava in restaurants!
From annie (lev-hoff) (since I forgot my user ID and cant' remember it for the life of me): I didnt' make it! I'm sorry. I really wanted to, but I didn't get around to it... :(
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