Yes, you can get used to this: delicious Bulgarian vegan baklava
Traditional baklava is not vegan, as it includes honey and butter. But if we just sub those you’re in the clear!
You know we love tasty but healthy treats, so what makes this healthy? Well I wouldn’t really put it completely in that category, but if you’re looking for something sweet, this will certainly be that and you’ll be full in just a few small bites.
I usually like to leave the sweet syrup out of this recipe, the baklava is already very sweet on it’s own!
This recipe will give you a more dry and crispy baklava on the outside, and soft sweet layers inside, perfect for an afternoon coffee or tea.
Did you know that filo pastry is vegan? Yes! So preheat your ovens because this recipe will have your mouth water all for good reason.
Ingredients:
- Filo pastry, thawed (these usually come in a pack/roll of 30-35 sheets)
- 3 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped (if you like them more fine use a mini blender like the Magic Bullet)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups ground or chopped pistachios or hazelnuts (get creative here to your liking, use almonds or even peanuts if you wish too!)
- 1 1/4 cups vegan butter, melted – leave two tablespoons for brushing the pastry sheets
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon (optional)
- 3 tablespoons Agave (optional)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Lightly grease your pan. Can be two smaller square pans or a larger sheet pan.
- In a mixing bowl combine the 3 1/2 cups chopped walnuts and 1 cup powdered sugar (add the cinnamon in here too if you are using)
- In a different bowl combine the 1 1/2 cups of other ground nuts (pistachios, hazelnuts or almonds) with 1 cup vegan butter.
- If you are using two smaller square pans, lay your filo pastry flat and cut in two halves (so they resemble close to squares). If you are using a sheet pan the same size as the filo pastry no need to cut.
- Lay 3 sheets of filo pastry into the pan.
- Sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of the Pistachio/butter mixture over the filo sheet (2 tablespoons if using small square pans).
- Lay 2 sheets of filo pastry on top. Repeat step 7 four more times.
- Now spread half of the walnut mixture over
- Here you can add agave if you’d like. I usually drizzle it back and forth evenly as much as you would add to a hot fudge sunday (2-3 tablespoons). Don’t go too close to the edges as it will caramelize too much
- Place another 2 filo sheets on top of the walnut mixture
- Repeat step 7 and 8 three more times
- Add another 2 filo sheets on top, and spread the rest of the walnut mixture evenly
- Repeat step 7 and 8 but leave 5 sheets of filo for the top with no nutty mixture
- Brush two tablespoons of butter that you had originally set aside over the last two filo sheets on top
- Using a knife cut the baklava into small diamond shapes, about 1.5″ x 1″
- Bake baklava for 30 min (on the 350F that was preheated)
- Reduce heat to 275 and cook for two more hours
- Let cool before serving!
Cooking time: 2:30 min
Prep time: 30 min
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