Baklava is a delicious, impressive dessert that's buttery, sweet, and filled with the warming spices of cinnamon and clove. It's not as hard as you think- especially with this super easy trick!
Mix together the walnuts (5 cups), sugar (1/2 cup), and cinnamon (1.5 teaspoons) in a medium sized bowl.
Unroll the phyllo dough and, using a sharp knife, cut the stack down to the size of the baking dish (You can place the dish on top of the phyllo to trace it. You should be able to get two baking dish size cuts out of the stack, with a few scraps.)
Place one piece of phyllo on the bottom of the baking dish. Using a pastry brush, brush melted butter on top of it. Layer another piece of phyllo and repeat until you have 6 layers.
Spread 1 cup of the walnut mixture on top of phyllo layers in baking dish.
Layer 6 more layers of phyllo on the walnut mixture, and repeat until you have no mixture left, ending with the rest of the phyllo dough (the top layer may have more than 6 layers).
Spread the rest of the butter evenly on top of the last layer of phyllo.
Using a sharp knife, cut the top layers of phyllo into small squares, diamonds, or triangles.
Stick a whole clove in the center of each piece.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown.
While the baklava is baking, place the jar of honey on top of the oven. This will thin it out and make it easier to pour.
When baklava is done, pour entire jar of honey on top of baklava.
Allow to cool completely, then finish cutting the baklava through to the bottom.
Notes
To thaw phyllo dough, place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before using. It will last for about a month in the refrigerator.
You can make this without the cloves, but I recommend having them- it makes the baklava look beautiful and gives it a great flavor!
The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.