Pistachio and Walnut Baklava

• servings: 24 servings
• active time: 50 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

250 g Ready-rolled filo pastry dough (~9oz left out at room temperature for at least 2 hours beforehand)

150 g Dairy-free butter (½ cup + 2 tablespoons I recommend a block-style vegan butter, not a margarine.)

350 g Nuts (12oz I used a mixture of pistachios and walnuts)

2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

180 ml Cold water (¾ cup)

180 g Caster sugar (¾ cup + 2 tablespoons)

150 g Agave nectar (~½ a cup)

1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract

Directions

Filling:

pulse nuts

Add the nuts to a food processor or blender and pulse until fine. Place them in a large bowl with the cinnamon and mix well. Set aside.

preheat oven

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (or 160°C/325°F if you're using a fan or convection oven).

Syrup:

prepare syrup

While the oven is preheating, prepare your syrup. Add the water, sugar, agave nectar and vanilla extract to a saucepan. Heat on medium-high until the mixture is boiling and the sugar has dissolved.

simmer

Turn down the heat to medium and leave the mixture on a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

remove from heat

Remove it from the heat and set aside to cool. It'll look a bit runny but will become gooey as it cools.

Assembly:

unwrap filo pastry

Dampen a clean dish cloth and wring out excess water (it should be lightly damp, not wet). Unwrap the filo dough and cut it to fit an 8x10-inch tin. I cut mine in half then cut a little extra from the edges.

dampen

Place the filo sheets under the damp cloth, which will prevent them from drying out as you work.

melt butter

Melt the dairy-free butter and let it sit for a minute or two until it's cooled slightly. Use a pastry brush to brush some butter over the bottom of your tin.

add filo to tin

Add one sheet of filo dough to your tin and lightly brush with melted butter. Repeat with 9 more sheets of dough, brushing each one with butter as you go. You'll have 10 sheets total in the tin.

add filling

Sprinkle half of the filling over the dough and spread it out evenly.

add more filo

Add 10 more sheets of filo dough on top of the filling, brushing each one with butter.

repeat

Sprinkle over the remaining filling and top with 10 more buttered filo sheets. Brush the top one with butter too.

bake

Use a sharp knife to cut the baklava into diamond-shaped slices, then bake for 50-55 minutes. You'll know it's ready when it's golden brown all over.

add syrup

As soon as the baklava comes out of the oven, pour the syrup on top. Sprinkle over some extra nuts if desired.

leave to stand

Let it sit at room temperature uncovered overnight, or for at least 5 hours, before enjoying. This will give the pastry time to absorb the syrup properly.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 201 kcal
• Total Fat: 11 g
• Sodium: 36 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 22 g
• Total Sugars: 13 g
• Protein: 4 g