#bread flour

Ingredients:

For the dough:

4 2/3 cup (560g) bread flour

1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp (133mL) olive oil

1 Tbsp + 2 tsp red wine vinegar

About 1 - 1 1/3 cup (240 - 320g) lukewarm water

3/4 cup (165g) butter or non-dairy margarine, melted, for brushing

For the filling:

400g walnuts (or hazelnuts, shelled pistachios, and/or blanched almonds)

1/4 cup (35g) breadcrumbs

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (1/2 cassia cinnamon stick)

1 1/2 tsp ground cloves (18 / 1.5g whole cloves)

Greek baklava most commonly uses walnuts, though pistachios are also used. You may experiment with nuts of your choice.

The breadcrumbs help to soak up the syrup evenly and prevent sogginess.

For the syrup:

2 1/2 cups (500g) vegetarian granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups (355mL) water

1/4 cup (80g) agave nectar or honey

1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)

Peel of one lemon

1 cassia cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

Instructions:

For the dough:

1. Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the vinegar and olive oil and mix to combine.

2. Gradually add a scant cup of water and continue to mix until the dough just comes together. Continue to knead, by hand or with a stand mixer and dough hook attachment, until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, about five minutes. If the dough does not come together, add additional water 1 tsp at a time. The dough should not be sticky.

3. Divide the dough into small balls of about 40g each (for a 13" x 9" pan). You may decide to make the dough balls slightly larger if you’re a beginner at working with thin dough.

4. Coat each dough ball with some olive oil and cover. Allow to rest for at least an hour, to allow gluten to form and facilitate rolling out later.

For the syrup:

1. Scrub a lemon thoroughly and remove the outer layer of peel with a knife or vegetable peeler. Heat sugar, water, lemon peel, cinnamon, and cloves in a large pot over medium heat until simmering. Stir to dissolve sugar and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and stir in honey and orange blossom water. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.

For the filling:

1. Blanch almonds by boiling them for about a minute, draining, and pinching gently to remove their skins. Shell pistachios. Chop nuts, or use a food processor, to achieve a coarse grind (you don't want a powder!).

2. Toast and grind whole spices, if using. Combine nuts with breadcrumbs and spices in a mixing bowl and set aside.

To assemble:

Baklava is made by interspersing thin sheets of dough with butter and nut filling to create flaky layers. Several sheets of dough will be needed at the top and bottom to prevent the weight of the nuts from causing the pastry to collapse. Some cooks add all of the nut filling between two groups of filo dough, while others intersperse the nuts throughout.

1. Melt margarine in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Using a pastry brush, coat the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13" baking dish in margarine.

2. On a lightly oiled surface, roll out one ball of dough into a rectangle a little larger than the bottom of your baking dish (it will relax as it transferred). Place the sheet in the bottom of the dish, gently stretching it into the corners. Don't worry too much about small holes—there will be many layers!

3. Gently drizzle and brush melted margarine over the sheet of dough.

4. Repeat this process 4 more times, for a total of 5 sheets interspersed with margarine. I placed each sheet on top of the previous one on the counter and waited to transfer them to the pan until I had rolled out all four. You may need to re-oil your working surface as you go.

5. Add just enough nut filling mixture to form a thin layer.

6. Roll out another two sheets of dough and brush them with margarine as before. Add another layer of nuts. Repeat until the nut mixture is gone, making sure to reserve at least five balls of dough for the top.

7. Roll out and place the remaining balls of dough and brush them with margarine as before.

8. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes to make the baklava easier to cut. Using a sharp knife, cut the baklava into diamonds by cutting in lines diagonally in one direction, and then diagonally in another direction to form points at an acute angle; or, form triangles by cutting lengthwise and then widthwise to form squares, and then diagonally to cut those squares in half. Stick a whole clove in the center of each piece of baklava, if you like.

9. Bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for an hour to an hour and a half, until the top of the pastry is golden brown.

10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Pour the cooled syrup evenly over the surface of the baklava. Don't add the syrup warm, or it may make the baklava soggy!