Easy Baklava Bites – Not Nejla’s but close
Aahh..Baklava..the flaky nutty goodness doused in flavorful syrup. When me and Dr. A were graduate students, we had a special friend named Nejla. She was actually the international student adviser at the school we attended and became our friend. Nejla was from Turkey, full of personality, warm, friendly and very helpful. We would have long conversations about traditional foods from our respective countries and Baklava came up in these conversations quite often. One time Nejla invited us over for a traditional Turkish dinner and made Baklava. She knew how much Dr. A loves Baklava, so she gave us quite a bit to bring home after dinner. That Baklava was something.
Jump to Recipe
Over the years, we tried Baklava at multiple places. Mediterranean restaurants, Greek cafes, food courts, fancy pastry shops but nothing even came close to the flavor of Nejla’s Baklava that lingered on my taste buds memory. Then recently Dr. A found Nejla on Facebook and while chatting with her, the topic of Baklava came up (of course). If you knew Dr. A, this would not come as a surprise. He can pretty much squeeze food into any conversation. She had published her Baklava recipe in a magazine and was very kind to share the snapshots for her recipe with us. I tucked her recipe carefully in my recipe binder making a mental note to try it soon.
Then one day while roaming the freezer section of our grocery store, I came across phyllo dough sheets, which instantly took me to a Baklava state of mind. Right next to the phyllo dough package were two boxes – one was ready-made frozen baklava and another was pre baked phylllo dough mini cups. Phyllo dough-baklava-phyllo cups! A stroke of genius – an Edison moment! I thought – why not to make Nejla’s baklava using the phyllo cups. The filling, the syrup, the technique remains the same but instead of buttering and layering phyllo sheets and tucking in the nuts mixture; I would use thy phyllo cups and call it Baklava Bites. You cannot fail until you try, so that’s how this experiment began.
I searched the mighty internet and found that similar things have been attempted before. So that gave me some confidence and armed with Nejla’s baklava recipe I dived in to make a cheater’s version. Call it a semi-homemade version of Baklava or as I say Baklava Bites. Sorry, Nejla!
The original recipe called for walnuts, but I used a mix of walnuts, pistachios and pecans. I adjusted the amount of syrup and nuts to make a double batch of mini Baklava Bites. It is a perfect petite dessert that is enough to satisfy a sweet tooth without being too indulgent or heavy. I am no way shying away to make Baklava from scratch and it will happen sooner or later – but for now this quick version of Baklava is sure to impress your family and guests.
So here it goes:
Easy Baklava Bites
Baklava bites are easy, a lot simpler than traditional baklava, and excellent. Just pop one in your mouth and get ready to be impressed. A must try even for a beginner!
Ingredients
- 3 packs mini phyllo shells, 15 each pre baked, available in freezer section
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter melted (optional)
For the sugar syrup
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1 and 1/4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C.
-
Add all the nuts along with 2 tablespoon sugar to a food processor or blender and coarsely grind them. (See notes)
To make sugar syrup
-
Set a small saucepan over medium heat and add the water and sugar. Bring to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add lime juice and let the syrup cool.
To make Baklava Bites
-
With a pastry brush, lightly butter the mini phyllo cups with melted butter and lay them in two mini muffin pans. (if you are not using butter, you can skip this step).
-
Add 1 teaspoon of the nut mixture into each shell. Bake for 10 minutes.
-
Once the bites are out of the oven, let them cool for 6-7 minutes. Then add one teaspoon syrup to each baklava bite. Wait for 6-7 minutes and then add 1/2 teaspoon more syrup to each bite. Let sit for a few minutes so that the syrup soaks in.
-
Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.
Recipe Notes
You can choose to use only walnuts (more traditional).
Some people like cinnamon in their baklava. If so, add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the nuts when grinding them.
You can grind the nuts coarsely or to a complete powder (more traditional).
This recipe can easily be halved (or doubled).
The phyllo cups that we got are vegan. If you want to keep the recipe vegan, skip the step of basting the cups with butter.
Give this semi-homemade version of baklava a try and you won’t be disappointed.
Happy July 4th week..:)
Love – Vaishali
Tools Used:
Oven
Measuring Cups: 
Pastry brush:
Juli
July 3, 2018 at 10:37 amI always love coming to your blog for all your nutrition post and recipes.
Madison Scholl
July 3, 2018 at 7:34 pmOk, now I’m super hungry! This is one of my favorite desserts.
Melissa
August 27, 2018 at 11:36 amI have never tried baklava, but that looks delicious!
Laurie Gannon
August 27, 2018 at 6:32 pmBaklava is such a chore to make that I would never make it home. It’s such a wonderful treat! The use of the phyllo dough cups is ingenious! I pinned this recipe. I can’t wait to try it!
LaDonna Dennis
August 27, 2018 at 8:14 pmI’ve never seen baklava look like this before. Regardless it looks amazing.
Olga Zak
August 28, 2018 at 5:06 amI have never tried baklava before. This post made me hungry. I can’t wait to try it.
Monidipa
August 28, 2018 at 7:05 amBaklava looks delicious and not so tough to make. Would love to try it out, no idea if mine will look same, thanks for sharing.
alison netzer
August 28, 2018 at 7:19 amI wouldn’t consider this a cheaters version! I consider that these look delicious. I will definitely try these as I love baklava and don’t have time to make homemade phyllo dough. Thank you for a great recipe
Ale
August 28, 2018 at 11:48 amThis is one of my favorite desserts ever. Love your recipe and for sure I’ll prepare it. The picture is really lovely as well.
Vaishali
August 28, 2018 at 12:10 pmThanks Ale. Easiest baklava you will ever make..:P
Brittany Vantrease
August 28, 2018 at 12:38 pmI’ve never had baklava before and never really knew what it was. It seems to be kind of like a pecan pie, but with different nuts? This sounds very easy to make and I might need to try with the phyllo dough I bought ages ago and forgot about.
Sarah
August 28, 2018 at 2:53 pmDoes anyone want to make this for me? I’m the worst at baking but this looks SO good!
Toughcookiemommy
August 28, 2018 at 3:40 pmI love how cute these are and how easy they are to make. They are perfect for serving at any family gathering.
Echo
August 28, 2018 at 5:19 pmYum! I love baklava! These look so good!
Waren Jean Go
August 29, 2018 at 7:38 pmBaklava is my favorite! My Turkish friend made us the best baklava and I got hooked. Will definitely try this one day!
Terri Beavers
August 29, 2018 at 8:02 pmI’ve never had baklava but these look so tasty! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Angela Ricardo Bethea
August 29, 2018 at 11:33 pmThese Baklava Bites looks so yummy and healthy! I tried Baklava Bites before but I never knew how it was done. Good thing you shared how to cook one! I am definitely trying this one.
Duffelbagspouse
August 29, 2018 at 11:49 pmI love baklava. But I really like the size of these. Its the perfect size to enjoy without overdoing it.
LavandaMichelle
August 30, 2018 at 4:46 amThese look so good and delicious. I like theyvthey are simple to make, I have to try this.