Chocolate Baklava
Yesterday the weather finally felt like fall. It was crisp but sunny with a little breeze rustling dead leaves that have fallen around the yard. I just couldn’t stay inside so I took a slice of Chocolate Baklava and headed out.
Fall always reminds me of sticky sweet treats like candied apples, gooey caramel, and now Chocolate Baklava. Layers of chewy filo dough encapsulated in honey and butter, layered with pistachios and dark chocolate chips.
It’s that simple and that good.
{Hand lettering & photos by Freutcake}
Chocolate baklava- recipe adapted from here & here
Honey syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup honey
juice of half a lemon
1 vanilla pod
1 cinnamon stick
Baklava
1 stick melted butter
1 package phyllo pastry (20 sheets cut to the size of your pan)
10 oz dark chocolate chips chopped
8 oz unsalted pistachios chopped finely
1 tbs powdered cinnamon
Directions:
1. Combine the syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Let the syrup simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Discard vanilla pod and cinnamon stick and allow the syrup to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine finely chopped nuts, cinnamon, and chocolate chips in a bowl. (You may want to pulse nuts in a food processor to finely chop)
3. Unroll package of phyllo dough; cut phyllo sheets to fit the size of your pan. Discard scraps. Cover with a damp towel to prevent phyllo sheets from drying out.
4. Butter a 9×13″ baking pan and then, working with one phyllo sheet at a time, butter and stack 8 sheets of phyllo. (*brush sheets of phyllo with a pastry brush and melted butter)
5. Spread half of nut mixture evenly over layered phyllo sheets.
6. Brush next phyllo sheet on both sides with butter, then place on top of nuts. Add 3 more phyllo sheets, brushing each one with butter, and then top with the remaining nut and chocolate mixture.
7. Brush next phyllo sheet on both sides with butter, then place on top of nuts. Add 7 more phyllo sheets, brushing each one with butter.
8. Using a sharp knife, cut baklava into 12 squares. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes, first 20 minutes uncovered, the cover with aluminium foil, to prevent it from browning too much.
9. Immediately pour the cold syrup over the hot baklava and let stand until completely cool, preferably overnight uncovered.
Oh my word. This beauty made me cry a little bit. I love the layer-y-ness of it and the filling looks AMAZING. Why aren’t we neighbors yet, Leah?
Thanks Jess! This was my first attempt at layer-y-baklava-ness so it will hopefully be a little prettier next time.
Seriously though, why are we not neighbors??
This looks SO good! Drooling on my keyboard over here!
Uh oh. My chocolate baklava owes you a new keyboard!
This is gorgeous Leah!! And it actually doesn’t sound as intimidating to make as I expected baklava to be!
Thanks Kelsey! Yes, it is an easy process as long as you get the hang of brushing the filo quickly with butter, layering and repeating. It’s actually pretty fun!
Oh Leah, this looks amazing! I love baklava and I’m sure I’ll try this
Wish I could send you some!
Let me know if you try it.
Do you need my mailing address? LOL
Haha! I wish I could send samples to all my readers.
Holy moly. I love baklava, but I always wondered what it would taste like with chocolate, since I’m such a chocoholic and want it in everything. I can’t wait to try this!!
This was my first time trying chocolate baklava but it seems like a natural fit! Honey, chocolate, cinnamon and pistachios all mix well together.
Never had baklava but you make want to try it. This looks delish.
If you like sticky sweet desserts, and nuts, you will love baklava!
I personally love dark chocolate but my family prefers semi-sweet. Can I use semi-sweet chips instead of dark chocolate?
You can use semi-sweet chips however due to the amount of sugar and honey that is in this recipe, I would stick to dark chocolate. It’s already very sweet without the addition of a sweeter chocolate.
I’ve had some amazing baklava, but never chocolate! I think this will be my new favorite.
Oh my. Baklava is one of my favorite treats and now you’ve gone and added chocolate, one of my other favorite treats. I just might faint.
i’ve been so excited for this!
Haha thanks Lynn!
Oh this looks yummy Leah…..butter, honey, flaky filo AND chocolate….how could this be bad?
Drooling. Beautiful styling as always!
this looks so amazing!! i’m new to the blog, but excited to follow along xo
Hi Ashley, so happy you found my blog! Welcome.
This sounds great! I’m wondering if I could use pecans in place of the pistachios though.
Hi Teresa,
I’m sure you can but it won’t have the typical baklava flavor. I think pecans might make it taste more like a pecan pie!