Clever Chicks Blog Hop #14, Baklava & Giveaway!

BAKLAVA
My husband and I have a long-standing tradition of making baklava together for Christmas day. This year, he assembled while I photographed the process. ☺ 

These are all of the components of the baklava prior to assembly.

Ingredients for layering
1 (16 oz) pkg phyllo dough (use both packages in the box)

1 cup melted butter (2 sticks)

1 pound chopped walnuts (finely chopped in a food processor)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

Ingredients for sauce

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean

½ cup honey

some orange zest and lemon zest

juice of ½ a lemon

1 cinnamon stick

 

whole cloves for final touch

 

Directions for Sauce
In saucepan over medium heat, mix water and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and add vanilla, honey, citrus peels, lemon juice & cinnamon stick. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Remove from heat to cool & remove citrus and cinnamon stick.

Assembly Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°F. 

 Chop nuts in processor and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.

Butter the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

 Unroll phyllo dough, keep covered with a damp towel while working.

 

Reserve 6-8 sheets of phyllo dough for the top layer. Cover & set aside.

 Layer 8 sheets of phyllo dough on the bottom, buttering each sheet with melted butter.

Sprinkle approximately 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top.

 Add two more sheets of phyllo, buttering each individually.

 **Press each sheet down firmly before buttering.**

Add a layer of nuts as shown. 

 

Add two more sheets of dough, pressing, buttering & nutting. ☺

 

Repeat until nuts are gone, then place the remaining 6-8 layers on top, buttering each.

Using a very sharp knife, cut according to diagram below. 

Poke one clove into center of each triangle.

Bake for approximately 1hr to 1.5 hrs or until golden brown, remove from oven & immediately pour cooled sauce over the hot baklava or else it can become soggy.  

This Week's Featured Blogs

You are some hard-core bloggers- even in the busy week leading up to Christmas, you still managed to link up nearly 300 posts! Thank you all for taking the time to share your talents!

This week's featured blogs are welcome to grab the Clever Chicks Featured button for their blog!

Hanging ornament clusters from Practical Stewardship.

Olive Cheese Puffs from Ms. enPlace.

Secret Recipe for Caramel Candy from Serenity Cove.

Lemon Green Tea Soap instructions from She's Gone Digital.

Clever Chicks Blog Hop #14

You’re invited to LINK UP!

Despite the title, this is an equal-opportunity link party!

GRAB MY BLOG HOP BUTTON!

<center> <a href="http://www.the-chicken-chick.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Chicken Chick" src=" http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h402/ADozenGirlz/CleverChicksBloghop150x147_zps2ab1a684.jpg" /></a></center>

How to Link-up

Share your clever ideas, DIY projects, recipes, tutorials, decorating tips, Etsy store creations, stories about your families, chickens, farm animals or other pets! 
No linky parties or items for sale other than Etsy creations, please.

Please use the direct link to your blog post, not to your blog’s home page; 
we want to be able to find your clever post!

If you have trouble linking up, please email me the URL to your post and I will add it for you- Kathy@The-Chicken-Chick.com

About Featured Blogs

My favorite posts will be FEATURED on Clever Chicks next week! I will also pin them to my “Clever Chicks” Pinterest board. The featured bloggers are invited to brag about how clever they are by posting the Clever Chicks "Featured” button on their blogs!

<center> <a href="http://www.the-chicken-chick.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Chicken Chick" src=" http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h402/ADozenGirlz/CleverChicksBloghop150x147_zps2ab1a684.jpg" /></a></center>

Follow me on Facebook!

 

This party is shared with: Cottage Style @Lavender Garden Cottage, From Dream to Reality @DIY Dreamer, Pin it @Diana Rambles, The Original Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop @Deborah Jean's Dandelion House