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Pistachio and Chocolate Baklava

Course Dessert
Cuisine middle eastern
Keyword baklava, choclava, pistachio
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Resting Time 1 hour
Servings 24 pieces
Author LeAnne Shor

Ingredients

Baklava and Nut Filling

  • 7 oz shelled pistachios coarsely chopped, 1 ½ cups
  • 5 oz walnuts coarsely chopped, 1 cup
  • 5 oz. Valrhona Guanaja chocolate feves coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 16 oz package phyllo dough thawed, 1 package
  • 16 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, 213 g

Honey Syrup:

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 1 cup honey
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 1/2 lemon juiced

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Prepare the Honey Syrup: Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Add the honey, and whole cloves; stir to mix. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove syrup from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Add lemon juice. Remove the whole cloves.
  3. Make the Nut Mixture: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, add the pistachios, walnut, and hazelnuts. Pulse a few times to chop. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add sugar, chopped chocolate, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Mix well to combine.

  4. Prepare the Phyllo Pastry: Unroll the thawed phyllo pastry and place the sheets in between two clean kitchen towels. This will help keep the phyllo from breaking while you work.
  5. Assemble the Baklava: Prepare a 9” x 13” x 2” baking pan. Brush the interior of the baking pan with some of the melted butter. To assemble the baklava, take one sheet of phyllo and place it in the pan, fold the sheet in half if you need to make it fit. Brush the top of the phyllo sheet with the melted butter.
  6. Repeat this process a few more times until you have used up about 1/3 of the phyllo pastry, each layer being brushed with the melted butter.
  7. Now, distribute about ½ of the nut mixture evenly over the top layer of phyllo.
  8. Continue assembling the baklava, one sheet of phyllo pastry at a time using another 1/3 of the phyllo. Again, brush each layer with a bit of the melted butter.
  9. Distribute the remaining ½ of the nut mixture evenly over the top layer of phyllo.
  10. Finish the remaining 1/3 of the phyllo pastry following the same process, laying one folded sheet at a time and brushing each layer with melted butter. Brush the very top sheet of phyllo with butter.
  11. Cut the Baklava Pastry Into Pieces: Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 24 diamond shaped pieces (you can get up to 36 smaller pieces).
  12. Place the baking dish on the middle rack of your heated oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top layer of the baklava turns deeply golden brown.
  13. As soon as you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the cooled syrup all over the hot baklava. Cool Completely: Allow the baklava to sit for a t least 1 hour before serving. Cut the baklava into pieces using the marked cuts as a guide. Top each piece with chopped pistachios as a garnish.