Mom’s Rolled Baklava Recipe

A simple to follow homemade recipe for perfectly delicious walnut stuffed Middle-Eastern rolled baklava.

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*This post was originally shared when I first stated this blog 4 years ago. This is an updated post with new pictures.

Baklava is a delicious pastry made with phyllo dough, ground nuts, butter and a sweet syrup made of sugar or honey. Many variations of baklava exist and depending on what your preference is, you can make it with ground walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios or even a combination of these nuts. My family’s preference is walnuts, and so the recipe I’m sharing with you is for walnut stuffed baklava.

If you’ve been following my blog, then you know that I love to bake. To prepare for the holidays, my mother and I often bake together which I always find such a treat. My mother’s not only a great baker, but she’s also an amazing cook!  Now she doesn’t precisely measure her ingredients when she makes baklava, so to share this recipe with you, we measured all of the ingredients so that you can make this recipe with the same delicious results every time. Note that this recipe makes a lot of baklava (about 100 pieces), but you can easily divide the ingredients in half if you want to make a smaller quantity.

Here’s a picture (of my original post) that shows you how to lay out the phyllo dough and nuts as you prepare to roll it. My mother likes to roll her baklava using the wider side, I find it can take some practice to do it this way. So if you find it too difficult, you can lay the nuts on the shorter end of the phyllo dough and roll it from that end, I find it easier to control the tightness of the rolls that way.

Enjoy!

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Mom's Rolled Baklava Recipe

A simple to follow homemade recipe for delicious walnut stuffed Middle-Eastern rolled baklava.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 42 minutes

Servings 100 pieces

Calories 161 kcal

Author Mom

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Baklava:

• 2 lbs. phyllo pastry thawed
• 1 lb. of unsalted butter melted
• 8 cups lightly toasted walnuts halves* ground to a medium texture
• 1-1/4 cups of granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water to moisten nuts and sugar
• 1 tsp. orange blossom water** more to taste

For the syrup:

• 3 cups of water
• 4 cups of sugar
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. orange blossom water

Instructions

For the Sugar Syrup:

1.  In a large saucepan, combine water, sugar and lemon juice.
2. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approximately 20 minutes until syrup thickens, add the orange blossom water and stir. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

For the Filling:

1.  To make the filling, process the walnuts in a food processor using the pulse method until they are medium ground.

2. In a large bowl, combine the chopped walnuts, sugar, water and orange blossom water until blended; set mixture aside.

To assemble and bake the Baklava:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. You will need to return the butter to the heat as you work to keep it from solidifying.
   

3. Start with unfolding one package of phyllo dough. Take two phyllo sheets together and roll them, repeat for every 2 sheets in package and stack them. Cover the stack with a clean plastic bag and then a tea towel. Make sure your unused dough rolls remain covered while you work.

4. Take one roll of phyllo and unroll it so that it lays flat on the counter. You will be working with the wider side. Brush the phyllo dough evenly with melted butter.

5. Spoon about 6 tablespoons of the walnut mixture evenly along the edge (closest to you) of the phyllo dough, leaving a one inch border.

6. Fold dough over once to cover the nuts and then proceed to roll the dough around the nuts until the end (like a cigar). Make sure to roll the baklava as tightly as possible without breaking it.

7. Once rolled, place seam down and portion it into approximately 6 even pieces.

8. Move the cut pieces (again seam down) onto the baking sheet. Repeat process until you have a full sheet of baklava.

9. Brush the cut pieces of baklava with the melted butter and then bake for approximately 22-25 minutes, until golden and crisp.

10. Remove from oven and brush baklava with butter one more time. Cool baklava on baking sheet for a few minutes, then submerge them in the prepared syrup. Turn pieces to coat well with syrup, and then move them into a colander to drain excess syrup.

11. Repeat this process until all phyllo dough and ground nuts are used.

12. Optional: Before serving, sprinkle a bit of ground unsalted pistachio nuts above each piece of baklava. Store the baklava in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
    

Recipe Notes

*To toast walnuts, heat oven to 350°F. Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, stirring nuts once after 5 minutes. Let cool.
You can also freeze baklava. Just make sure you place a sheet of wax paper between the layers of baklava in your container. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for about 4 hours before serving.

**Orange Blossom Water can be found in Middle-Eastern grocery stores.

Nutrition Facts

Mom's Rolled Baklava Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 161 Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 10g 15%

Saturated Fat 3g 15%

Cholesterol 9mg 3%

Sodium 45mg 2%

Potassium 49mg 1%

Total Carbohydrates 16g 5%

Sugars 10g

Protein 2g 4%

Vitamin A 2.3%

Vitamin C 0.2%

Calcium 1.1%

Iron 3.2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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