This Baklava is flaky, crisp, and tender, and easier to make than you think. I share my authentic Greek Baklava Recipe below with step-by-step directions that are easy to follow. Make this dessert and be prepared for oo’s and ahh’s, because this is the BEST baklava recipe I have ever tried.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Helpful Reader Review
“Love this recipe. I am Greek, but my baklava never turned out this good. I made your recipe for my husband’s family reunion. They were so impressed by how delicious it was. They said the syrup wasn’t too sweet like other baklava recipes and it’s the best they ever tasted.” – Tina ★★★★★
Baklava Video
Baklava can be a little tedious to make, but it’s truly simpler than you think. Watch my video, and you’ll be confidently buttering layers in no time! If you want a sneaky shortcut version, try my Baklava Cups.
Best Baklava Recipe
Store-bought baklava has nothing on this, and trust me, I’ve been around the block when shopping for baklava. This baklava recipe is well-loved wherever it goes, and with so many 5-star reviews, it is definitely a reader and family favorite! It’s also make-ahead and freezer-friendly, which is perfect for holiday baking.
My baklava recipe comes out beautifully flaky, buttery, and crisp. The flavor is incredible, since this one is not too sweet. You will love the hint of mellow lemony flavor, which offsets the sweetness and complements the cinnamon. It also keeps well for over a week on the counter, making it a great option to make ahead.
Baklava Ingredients
While this recipe is a Classic Greek Baklava, other varieties, such as Lebanese and Turkish recipes, swap the walnuts for pistachios and include rose water. My Baklava recipe calls for simple ingredients, most of which you can find in your pantry.
- Phyllo (fillo) dough – one 16oz package should have about 40 total paper-thin sheets. Do not use the thick sheets of fillo dough for this recipe. They are sold in the freezer section of the grocery store. Thaw according to the package instructions.
- Unsalted Butter – don’t skimp here! This keeps the fillo dough from peeling away.
- Walnuts – finely chop. You can swap them for almonds, pistachios, or a mix of nuts.
- Cinnamon – adds a great hint of flavor that’s traditional for Baklava
- Syrup ingredients – sugar, lemon juice, water, and honey
- Garnish – drizzle with melted chocolate or Chocolate Ganache, and chopped walnuts
How To Make Baklava
While it takes time to brush each layer, the result is worth every moment! Don’t skim on the butter, and you will be rewarded.
- Thaw phyllo dough in the refrigerator per the package instructions, then place it covered on the counter for 1 hour to bring to room temperature.
- Trim the phyllo dough to fit your 9×13 pan, covering it with a damp (not wet) towel to keep from drying out.
- Grease – use butter to coat the sides and bottom of a 13×9 non-stick baking pan. You can line it with parchment paper so you don’t damage it with your knife when slicing later.
- Make the honey syrup – heat the syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan while stirring until it boils, and then reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to cook for 4 more minutes without stirring. Set aside to cool.
- Chop Walnuts – pulse walnuts in a food processor until finely chopped, and then mix with cinnamon.
How to Assemble the Baklava
- 10 Layers – Preheat oven to 325°F. Start layering the phyllo dough, brushing each sheet with butter as you place it in the pan. Repeat this until you’ve added 10 layers. Then sprinkle 3/4 cup of walnuts over the top.
- 5 Layers – add 5 more sheets, buttering between each one, and then another layer of walnuts. Repeat this 3 more times. Finally, add 10 more layers of buttered dough on top.
- Cut the dessert into strips using a sharp knife, and then cut across to make diamonds. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Add syrup – spoon cooled syrup over the Baklava right after removing it from the oven. It should sizzle. Leave it uncovered on the counter to cool completely (4 hours or overnight). Then store covered with a tea towel for up to a week.
Tips for Making the Best Baklava
Follow these simple tips to make homemade baklava easy.
- Use a 13×9 pan with straight corners that fits the pastry to the edges. Avoid pans with angled corners that fan out, as they can cause the syrup to pool at the edges and make the top of the baklava dry. If you choose a larger pan, increase the syrup amount by 25% so you don’t run out. You can also cut the recipe in half using an 8×8 pan.
- Don’t skimp on the butter, especially on the top layers, since that can cause them to flake off. You can melt a few more tablespoons if you run out.
- Sizzle – the sound you’ll hear when you spoon the syrup over the hot pastry. This keeps it from getting soggy.
My Baklava recipe has so many layers of irresistible textures and flavors! The crispy layers of dough are perfectly complemented by the honey syrup and crunchy nuts. I hope it becomes your new favorite dessert.
Baklava Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 oz phyllo dough, thawed by package instructions
- 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, 10 oz or 2 1/2 sticks, melted
- 1 lb walnuts, finely chopped, about 4 1/4 cups unprocessed
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, juice of 1/2 lemon
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup honey
- Melted chocolate chips & chopped walnuts for garnish, optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Thaw phyllo dough by package instructions (this is best done overnight in the fridge, then place it on the counter for 1 hr before starting your recipe to bring it to room temperature).
- Trim phyllo dough to fit your baking dish. My phyllo package had 2 rolls with a total of 40 sheets that measured 9×14, so I had to trim them slightly. You can trim one stack at a time, then cover with a damp towel to keep from drying out.
- Grease – Butter the bottom and sides of a 13×9 non-stick baking pan. Line the bottom with parchment if desired to protect the pan when cutting later.
- Make the honey syrup – In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup honey, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, and 3/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium/high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce the heat to medium/low and boil an additional 4 min without stirring. Remove from heat and let the syrup cool while preparing baklava.
- Chop walnuts – Pulse walnuts 10 times in a food processor until coarsely ground/ finely chopped. In a medium bowl, stir together: 4 cups finely chopped walnuts and 1 tsp cinnamon.
Assemble the Baklava
- 10 layers – Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place 10 phyllo sheets into a baking pan one at a time, brushing each sheet with butter once it's in the pan before adding the next (i.e., place phyllo sheet into pan, brush the top with butter, place next phyllo sheet in pan, butter the top, etc.). Keep the remaining phyllo covered with a damp towel at all times. Spread about 1/5 of the nut mixture (about 3/4 cup) over the phyllo dough.
- 5 layers – Add 5 buttered sheets of phyllo, then another layer of nuts. Repeat four times with the remaining layers of fillo, butter and nuts. Finish off with 10 layers of buttered phyllo sheets. Brush the very top with butter.
- Cut pastry into 1 1/2" wide strips, then cut diagonally to form diamond shapes. Bake at 325˚F for 1 hour and 15 min or until tops are golden brown.
- Add syrup – Remove from oven and immediately spoon cooled syrup evenly over the hot baklava (you'll hear it sizzle). This will ensure that it stays crisp rather than soggy. Let baklava cool and rest uncovered at room temperature 4-6 hours or overnight for the syrup to penetrate and soften the layers. Garnish with chocolate and nuts if desired.
Notes
- 10 buttered sheets, 3/4 cup nuts,
- 5 buttered sheets, 3/4 cup nuts,
- 5 buttered sheets, 3/4 cup nuts,
- 5 buttered sheets, 3/4 cup nuts,
- 5 buttered sheets, 3/4 cup nuts,
- 10 buttered sheets and butter the top.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Pastry Recipes
Homemade pastries always turn heads, so once you try this Baklava, don’t miss these other classic dessert recipes:
- Eclairs
- Croissants
- Cream Puffs
- Apple Turnovers
- Churros
- Fruit Tart
- Rugelach
- Palmiers
- Cheese Danish
- Apple Danish
- Apple Roses
Haven’t had baklava in ages and forgot how it taste. This was my first attempt at making it and the recipe was alright, a bit sweet for my liking. I did see a review here that said it was quite sweet so I added 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup, and it was still sweet. An issue I had was the bottom and top layers (where you add 10 sheets of phyllo) didn’t stick between other layers (hope that make sense), so it was a bit sloppy to eat with the top and bottom coming apart. Not sure what went wrong. Anyway, still edible
Everyone has a different affinity for sugar I guess. I’ve also heard the opposite that this was not nearly as sweet as store-bought baklava. Cutting down the Sugar in the syrup may have contributed to the layers separating. Also, did you use the same amount of butter? I don’t advise cutting down on the butter in this recipe.
This was seriously the most delicious baklava. It was a bit time consuming but wow was it good. Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe.
Catherine, thank you for sharing such a nice review and you are very welcome 😋.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe Natasha! It turned out very delicious!
I’m so happy you liked it. 🙂
This is perfect. My family loves baklava, but though I cook and bake all the time, I had never attempted what I asked would be very difficult. It’s easy, no more time consuming than other desserts, and quite impressive! Do not change a thing when you make it!
Thank you thank you thank you for sharing this, I have no need to even try other recipes.
Awww that is the best review! thank you so much Goldrie 🙂
Made this today. AWESOME!! Had to use twice as much butter, and next time I will go for a tad less sugar. Otherwise, perfect recipe, and way better than in stores or restaurants… I think they do not butter each sheet, that’s why Natasha’s recipe is really, really fluffy and delicate. One more observation: damp towel did not work for me at all, just ruined the top sheet, making it too soggy to be useful.
I’m so happy you loved it! The towel should be just damp and not wet. It sounds like your towel was probably too wet. Hope that helps for next time. Thank you for sharing your awesome review! 🙂
Sasha, I had the same problem the first time I made it. My towel was too wet and I believe too heavy. The 2nd time I made it I just wet it a little and used a tea towel instead of a terry towel. Then it doesn’t sit so heavily on the sheets, which would soak up any moisture touching.
I was first introduced to Baklava by an old Greek gentleman that brought a batch in that his wife had made. I thought I died and went to Heaven. So for years I have been meaning to make it but really had no recipe, this is before the computer age mind you (1982). So I would buy it every Christmas where I could find it. Tonight I ran across your recipe and got inspired because it looked so good and your directions and pictures made me feel confident to try it. Well, I, like others, used a little more butter, but knew it would be ok and a mixture of walnuts and pecans. Also, my dough was in the freezer longer than really should have been so it was quite challenging to deal with. I had to piece a few together but the butter held it all beautifully. Just finished making it and by golly it turned out super delicious, even though I waited all of 30 minutes before digging in. This girl couldn’t stand to look at it and not eat it. I found it to be just right on every level. Has the right amount of crunch, color, just enough sweetness and the ever so delightful nut crunchiness. It definitely reminded me of that first Baklava I had tasted, not like the commercial store type that is overly sweet. Thank you so much for putting this recipe and your directions out there for us to try. Seems to me other recipes cheat and make less layers. I believe your layers were just right. I have to say you made my day! Don’t think I will ever buy it again. I may experiment with the recipe and make it a little different each time now for fun.
Hi Jean! I absolutely loved reading your wonderful review. Thank you so much for sharing that with us! 🙂
I had to make this recipe again a few days later for the Superbowl game. This time my daughter asked me to use less lemon and add vanilla. So I just cut the lemon to 1 Tbsp and added back in 1 Tbsp of vanilla. She just loved it. As for the guests at the Superbowl party, well they gobbled it down. My husband went to get a piece and it was GONE! This stuff is just soooo tasty. Seriously, this recipe is super easy, just a bit time-consuming but ohhhhh so worth it. I recommend anyone, even beginners to try this. It’s kind of hard to screw this up, so give it a try and you won’t be disappointed. Thank you again Natasha for the recipe and beautiful pictures, they really help.
Jean, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review! 😁
First time I’ve heard of such a dessert when scrolling thru your blog. So I decided to make it looking at all the great reviews. I loved it!! Even though it has to cool to room temp my fam and I were tempted to try it right away and it tasted wonderful… But oooo the next day even better!!
Ps. I want to share with you what a lot of my college break consisted of: I tried a bunch of your recipes that I’ve never done. I made many new salads, a new soup, some main course meals, and of course desserts!! I won’t go thru to review them individually (some I did already) but as a whole I felt very accomplished and mommy was proud of me 😉 hehe and our family loveeees them all.
Pss. I’ve yet to try your red borscht this week! 🙂
That’s awesome! I’m seriously so happy to hear that. Thank you for the great reviews! 🙂
can I make the syrup a day ahead and just keep it in the fridge or out on the counter?
Yes that should be fine. Let it cool to room temp then cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.
I had two small Christmas tins to send the baklava. Rather than transferring cut slices from the main dish to each tin, I placed parchment in each tin, prepared the baklava, then pulled them out of the tins (using the parchment) and baked them in a glass dish. Once baked, I transferred them to the tins and spooned the honey sauce. It was a perfect fit and they looked lovely. Most importantly, they tasted wonderful. Thank you for such a good recipe.
Rebecca, thank you for such a nice review and great job on improvising 😁.
The pictures of the baklava look wonderful and are making me drool until I make my own. If there is anything better than baklave, maybe it’s kolacky, but I would hate to choose. Thanks. I like your straightforward directions.
Thank you so much Joe! I had to do a little googling on kolacky to see what they were! They look delicious! Do you have a good recipe you could share?
Delicious!
Thank you so much Carol 🙂
Just fyi, you say “with with” in your article–it’s a grammatical error.
Cheers! Can’t wait to try your recipe.
Thank you for pointing that out, I got it fixed. I would love to hear your feedback after you make this recipe 😀.
I learned to make baklava many years ago from a Greek Cypriot boyfriend, and this is very close to the recipe we used. Maybe I’m too generous with the butter, I found that I used 4 sticks (1 lb) in preparing the phyllo dough. Also i prefer almonds to walnuts, either will work. Yum!
You probably can’t go wrong with a little extra butter! 🙂 That’s wonderful to know that this is very close to an authentic Greek version!! 🙂
It’s in the oven now. My dough seemed pretty dry out of the package is that normal? It’s looking great but I do see a couple of spots where the pastry is curling up. Should I remove those before putting the honey sauce on top??
It depends on what you mean by dry – was it brittle and flaking off and white looking? If so, that does sound like you may have a box that was either exposed to too much air, frostburned or possibly expired? It’s difficult to say without seeing it. It should be ok even if it is curling up in some spots. I’d still pour the honey sauce over the top. :).
I made this yesterday, and just want to tell you thanks. I have been afraid to make this due to all the steps, but, your recipe is awesome and explains directions so well.
I turned out perfect, little bit beginner looking, but, the taste is perfect!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for the awesome review!
Hi Natasha, Wonderful recipe. My family loves Baklava is little rolled up cigar \ Mini sausage rolls shapes.I have no idea how you would asspemble those and still get layers of flaky phyllo in between – any idea.
I haven’t tried it myself but I’ve seen it done. Here’s a youtube video I found: https://youtu.be/6FvM8cWzjKI
This baklava tastes pretty much like what I imagine ambrosia tastes like. Thanks a lot for this perfect recipe!
The only difficulty is that the common brands of phyllo have terrible thawing directions. You should unroll the stacks in stages, thawing out the revealed sections little by little, not unroll them all at once. Then again, the layers don’t have to be all in one piece.
Thanks again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thanks David for sharing your tips for unrolling the phyllo.
Do you think using an aluminum cake pan verses a metal cake pan will make a difference in the how the baklava turns out?
I’m not sure since I haven’t tried it, but the aluminum ones that I’ve used don’t have a perfectly flat bottom so I’m not sure how that would affect the outcome and how it bakes. I’m thinking it should be ok to use aluminum.
HI Natasha
I just made this baklawa its my second time making baklawa. thank u very much for your receipe. it turned out great. hope my friends will like it too. i am made this today for a baby shower as dessert. hooooo waiting for results / wowws . nervous,,
You are welcome Sumayya and I’m sure they’re going to love it 😀 .
Natasha where can I buy phyllo dough? I never heard about that one. Is it the same thing as слоеное тесто?
Hi Tanya, it’s very different from puff pastry. It is available in most large grocery stores in the freezer section.