Easy Baklava Bites

  • Easy Baklava Bites

    Please tell me that you are aware of the exquisite pleasure known as baklava.  (I bestowed the gift of Classic Baklava on you back in September [the 18th, to be exact, of 2013, to be more exact], so shame on you if you didn’t go straight to the grocery store and stock up on honey and nuts and phyllo dough and butter within moments of reading the original post.

    Maybe you weren’t ready to experience the full undertaking.

    Maybe you wanted peanut butter in your first baklava experience.

    Regardless of why you didn’t make the original recipe (or maybe you did, in which case you’re hooked for life and you can thank me later), this dessert of baby baklava bites are ready to make themselves known to you.  They are blasphemous (to dessert purists) because they contain PB, but they are also excellent because they contain PB.  I think you’ll find a way to deal with it.

     

    Adapted from Rachel Schultz’s recipe…

    1 cup walnuts

    1 cup pistachios

    1 tablespoon cinnamon

    2 tablespoons butter, melted (plus extra 2 tablespoons for brushing phyllo dough, melted)

    1/4 cup honey

    1 cup peanut butter

    1 teaspoon vanilla

    Pinch of salt

    Phyllo dough, thawed in fridge

    1. Preheat oven to 375º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
    2. Toast nuts on a baking sheet for 8 minutes, or until fragrant but not burning.  Allow to cool.
    3. Pulse walnuts, pistachios, and cinnamon in a food processor until large granules form.
    4. In a large bowl, stir together butter, honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and  salt.  Combine mixture with nuts and shape into 1 – 2 inch balls.
    5. Lightly brush one sheet of phyllo dough with melted butter and place a second sheet overtop.  Lightly butter top layer.  Cut dough into 4″ squares, place a ball in the center of the squares, and wrap dough up around sides of ball to contain it.  Brush phyllo balls with butter and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
    6. Allow to cool on cooling rack until room temperature.  Serve the same day or freeze until ready to serve (at room temperature!).

    Tips:

    • Keep your phyllo dough covered with a damp towel when using the sheets, or else they’ll dry up and crumble all to heck on you.  Happened to me (and will probably happen again because I think I’ll work fast enough to prevent the dry-out and I’m always wrong).
    • Want to change the nuts?  Use pecans if you’d like, or more or less of the walnuts and pistachios.  I use unsalted nuts in this recipe.
    • Yes, I kind of over baked this batch as you can see by the photo… lesson learned: peek at the bottoms of the bites when you think the tops are starting to get golden, so you can prevent a charred baklava bum.
    • These freeze well, so there.
    • Enjoy!

     

     

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    August 13th, 2014 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: ,

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