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Ramadan Special – Vegan Mini Baklava

Ramadan Special – Vegan Mini Baklava

The festival of Ramadan is incomplete without some crispy, flaky, and soft Baklavas. And it becomes even more special if they are homemade. Making vegan Baklava at home is time taking but it is quite easy. All the efforts and the patience are totally worth it. Moreover, homemade is always the best. Am I right?

Generally, it is made with cow ghee but I made it vegan by using a combination of coconut oil and some vegan butter. In my opinion, it tastes much better because you get that slight hint of coconut flavor which tastes quite good in Baklava. You must try my recipe and I am sure you are going to love it.

Story Time

We saw Baklava in Indian stores but never felt like buying it. Mostly because we did not know how it tastes and what it is like and buying a big pack never made sense. But it looks quite exciting – the flaky layers with the garnishing of pistachios and rose petals. Anyway, we never had it in India.

But when we came to Munich, Germany, we saw a big and beautiful Turkish sweet shop here. It had so many varieties of Baklava and they all were looking gorgeous. My mouth waters even when I think about it. We went inside the shop and instead of trying some Baklava, I ended up buying some gulab jamun and jalebi. Huhhh. And then again I started fantasizing about Baklavas.

One day, I couldn’t control myself and bought a packet of filo sheets. I watched a bunch of baklava recipes and made this amazing sweet at home. At first, I thought that it is just hyped but after a few bites, we both changed our minds. It is worth all the hype. It is flaky and crispy from the outside and softer from the inside. And that nuttiness, so tempting. It doesn’t need many ingredients and you end up having such an amazing sweet at home. It is just like Ghevar – seems difficult and enigmatic but quite simple to make.

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What is Baklava?

Baklava is a popular Turkish (or Greek) sweet or dessert made with layers of filo pastry sheets. This is a baked dessert in which thin filo pastry sheets are layered and coated with some ghee all over. After a few layers, a thin layer of finely chopped nuts (like walnuts and pistachios) is sprinkled over it. Then again, it is covered with a few layers of filo sheets. This is repeated three to four times until you get a nice layered sweet.

Once baked, they are sweetened with some sugar syrup.

Components of Vegan Baklava

  1. Filo Sheets: You can use store-bought sheets which makes the job much easier. Otherwise, you can make these thin sheets at home too.
  2. Chopped Nuts: For Baklava, you can either use walnuts, pistachios or almonds, or a combination of these nuts. I mostly prefer the taste of mixed walnuts and pistachios. You can even season the chopped nuts with some nutmeg, cardamom powder, or cinnamon.
  3. Melted Oil: Generally, Baklava is made with ghee but I made it vegan using a combination of coconut oil and vegan butter. You can use either of these or a combination of both. The coconut oil adds a very nice flavor to it Also, make sure to melt both together. Because butter contains moisture, it will form bubbles on heating. Heat and cook till the bubbles stop and the moisture evaporates.
  4. Sugar Syrup: I prefer to make the sugar syrup using brown sugar and maple syrup. It tastes so much better. I even add some lemon juice and orange flavor because that citrus flavor makes these baklavas even tastier.

Why do baklavas become soft and soggy?

To make crispy and flaky baklavas, it is very important that the sugar syrup is at room temperature (not hot or cold). Pour the sugar syrup on baklavas as soon as they are out of the oven. If the baklavas get cold and then you pour the sugar syrup, chances are that they will become soft and soggy.

Another reason for sogginess is the consistency of sugar syrup. If the sugar syrup is watery, your baklavas will become soggy because of all the moisture. Cook sugar syrup till you get one thread consistency.

Also, make sure that there is no moisture in the oil and butter combination that we are using. Heat and cook the butter till there is no moisture left in it.

Baklava

How to store Baklavas?

You can prepare it at home and store it in an air-tight container. It can easily last for a couple of days. You can even keep them in the refrigerator for a week or even more.

How to store Filo Pastry?

Filo pastry tends to get dry very quickly. Make sure to take them out of the refrigerator when you are ready to make this recipe. Keep them covered with a damp cloth at all times. Do not use wet towels otherwise they may become wet and stick to each other.

If you have leftover sheets, cover them well from all over (using a cling wrap) and refrigerate. They can last for a very long time if they don’t get dry.

Is this recipe Vegan?

Yes. This Baklava recipe is vegan. All the ingredients used in this recipe are plant-based.

Easy Swaps

  1. Coconut Oil and Vegan Butter – You can use Ghee instead if you are okay with using dairy products. If you are a vegan, you can make it with coconut oil or with vegan butter only. Use either.
  2. Brown Sugar – You can replace it with the same quantity of white sugar.
  3. Maple Syrup – Use honey, if you are looking for a non-vegan option. Or you can skip it too.
  4. Nuts – You can make it with just walnuts or pistachios. You can even add some almonds.

Now grab all the ingredients because you are ready to make this deliciously sweet recipe at home. If you like the recipe and make it, please share the photo on Instagram and tag us too @marriedfriends. We just love to see your recreation of our recipes.

More Sweets Recipes to Try

  1. Ghevar
  2. Baked Gujiya
  3. Vegan Rice Kheer

Ramadan Special – Vegan Mini Baklava

Crispy. Flaky. Vegan.

Ramadan is incomplete without some lip-smacking and deliciously sweet - Baklava. 

These are crispy, flaky, and soft baked desserts that are filled with some crunchy nuts. They seem difficult and enigmatic but these are quite simple to make at home. Just need a few basic ingredients. Are you ready?

5

Servings

1 hr

Prep Time

35 min

Cook Time

1 hr 35 min

Total Time

Courses

Cuisines


Ingredients

Sugar Syrup

Baklava

Steps

Sugar Syrup
  1. Add all the ingredients to a pan and heat till the sugar melts. Keep the flame high. 
  2. Once it starts to boil, lower the flame and heat for another 5 minutes or till you get one-thread consistency of syrup. Keep it aside and cool completely. 
Baklava Preparations
  1. Prep 1 - Cut each filo pastry sheet into 16 square pieces. In total, you will have 160 mini filo pastry sheets (square). Keep them covered in a damp cloth. 
  2. Prep 2 - Mix chopped nuts in a bowl and keep them aside.
  3. Prep 3 - Add coconut oil and vegan butter to a pan and heat them together. They start to form bubbles as they melt. Heat and cook till there are no bubbles. 
Layering
  1. Brush some oil-butter mixture in a muffin tin. 
  2. In one cavity of the muffin tin, place a filo sheet. Brush some oil all over it. Then place another filo sheet and brush some oil all over it. Repeat the same filo-oil, filo oil for 10 sheets. 
  3. After 10 layers of the sheet, sprinkle some nuts mixture. 
  4. Place a filo sheet over the nuts mixture and brush some oil all over it. Repeat the same filo-oil for 10 sheets. After 10 sheets, sprinkle some nut mixture. Repeat the same for another 10 sheets and nut mixture on top. 
  5. You can have either two or three layers of filo and nuts mixture (each layer of 10 filo sheets).
  6. Repeat the same with the rest of the filo sheets. Each baklava will need around 30 mini filo sheets. 
  7. Keep a track of the count. It gets missed very easily :)
  8. Once they are done, bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20 to 25 minutes or until they become brown on top. 
  9. Preheat oven to 180 C, top/bottom.
  10. After taking them out, transfer them to a tray and pour the sugar syrup all over. You can pour some sugar syrup into the muffin tray and place them back in to soak the syrup. 
  11. Now the difficult part - Resting. Let them rest for around 6 to 8 hours to absorb all the sugar syrup. 
  12. Once they are ready, serve right away. Enjoy this sweet delight :)

FAQs

What is Baklava?
+
Baklava is a popular Turkish (or Greek) sweet or dessert made with layers of filo pastry sheets. This is a baked dessert in which thin filo pastry sheets are layered and coated with some ghee all over. After a few layers, a thin layer of finely chopped nuts (like walnuts and pistachios) is sprinkled over it. Then again, it is covered with a few layers of filo sheets. This is repeated three to four times until you get a nice layered sweet. Once baked, they are sweetened with some sugar syrup.

Why do baklavas become soft and soggy?
+
To make crispy and flaky baklavas, it is very important that the sugar syrup is at room temperature (not hot or cold). Pour the sugar syrup on baklavas as soon as they are out of the oven. If the baklavas get cold and then you pour the sugar syrup, chances are that they will become soft and soggy. Another reason for sogginess is the consistency of sugar syrup. If the sugar syrup is watery, your baklavas will become soggy because of all the moisture. Cook sugar syrup till you get one thread consistency. Also, make sure that there is no moisture in the oil and butter combination that we are using. Heat and cook the butter till there is no moisture left in it.

How to store Filo Pastry?
+
Filo pastry tends to get dry very quickly. Make sure to take them out of the refrigerator when you are ready to make this recipe. Keep them covered with a damp cloth at all times. Do not use wet towels otherwise they may become wet and stick to each other. If you have leftover sheets, cover them well from all over (using a cling wrap) and refrigerate. They can last for a very long time if they don’t get dry.

What does baklava taste like?
+

Baklava is a baked dessert or sweets recipe that is made with layers of filo pastry sheets and chopped nuts. It is sweetened with sugar syrup or honey. It is a crispy and flaky dessert recipe that is softer from the inside. You get a nice bite of all the chopped nuts. It is quite sweet but you are going to enjoy this deliciously sweet recipe – Baklava.


Is filo pastry same as puff pastry sheets?
+

Both are different. Puff pastry sheets are laminated sheets that contain a lot of butter in between each layer. It becomes flaky and puffy after baking because of the amount of butter used in it. On the other hand, filo pastry sheets are very thin sheets (paper-thin) that are made with flour, water, oil, and some vinegar. It doesn’t become flaky or puffy after baking.


Can we substitute filo or phyllo sheets with puff pastry sheets?
+

Both are absolutely different ingredients in terms of preparation, thickness, and texture. Both are made using different ingredients and can not be substituted for one another. But it is your kitchen and your creativity. Experiment and create something new 🙂

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