Baklava!
Baklava just screams out texture - crunchy, chewy, nutty (<- is that even a texture?).
This will surely quench that sweet tooth of yours.
Hardware: Small pot, 9 x 13 inch rimmed baking pan, sharp knife
Ingredients:
1 package (16 ounce) phyllo dough - comes with two rolls, you will only need one.
1 pound chopped walnuts (or about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup butter, melted
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 Tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 Tsp. ground cloves
Pinch of pumpkin spice
1 Cup water
3/4 Cup white sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 Cup honey
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9 x 13 baking pan
2. Chop nuts and put in a pan on the stove. Stir periodically for about 10 minutes or until the smell is just irresistible!
3. Toss nuts with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pumpkin spice.
4. Unroll the phyllo dough and use a slightly damp paper towel to cover.
5. Place one sheet of phyllo dough in the pan at a time, buttering after each layer. Use the back of a spoon or a brush to butter the sheets. Stack 8 layers. On the 8th layer, butter and sprinkle 3 tbs of the nuts mixture. Continue to sprinkle the nut mixture every two layers until there is a total of 16 layers. End with phyllo dough.
6. Using a sharp knife, cut into diamond shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan.
7. Bake for 50 minutes.
8. While thats happening, make the sauce. Boil sugar and water until the sugar is melted. Add vanilla extract and honey. Simmer for the remainder of the time until the baklava is ready.
9. Pour syrup mixture over baklava immediately after removing it from the oven. Let cool and serve in cupcake liners or stacked between parchment squares.
Tip #1: This is a very sweet dessert so use the syrup to your own liking.
Tip #2: Don’t sprinkle so many nuts that it covers all the phyllo dough, each phyllo sheet needs to be touching the bottom phyllo sheet in some way so that the entire thing stays together.
