vegan baklava...yum!

[DancingWillow]

This past weekend, a friend and I made vegan baklava for another friend's birthday. Baklava is his favorite dessert, so we decided to surprise him. He's an omni and he said that this was the best baklava he had ever eaten (and judging by how much he ate and his facial expressions, he was being honest!). It's really simple and soooo goood!

My recipe is a veganized and slightly altered version of this recipe.

Ingredients

Baklava:
1 (16 oz) package of phyllo dough
18-20 oz of chopped nuts (I recommend 6 oz walnuts, 6 oz pecans, 3 oz hazelnuts, and 3 oz almonds)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Allspice, nutmeg, and cloves to taste (maybe 1/2 a teaspoon of each)
1 cup soy margarine (you may need 1 1/2 cups)

Syrup:
3/4 cup water
1 cup beet sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 175 degrees Celcius).
2. Melt the soy margarine. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9”x13” baking pan.
3. Finely chop all the nuts (if they are not pre-chopped). A food processor will make this easier. In a large bowl, toss the nuts with the cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves.
4. Unroll the phyllo dough. Cut the whole stack in half (width-wise), so that it fits the pan. Phyllo dough dries out very fast, so cover it with a damp towel. Set aside 8 sheets of phyllo dough for the top layer.
5. To make the base of the baklava: take 2 sheets of phyllo dough and place them in the pan. Spread a little bit of the margarine evenly over the sheets. Repeat until you have 8 sheets (spreading margarine after every 2).
6. To make the middle part: sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of the nuts over the base. Place 2 sheets of phyllo dough, spread margarine evenly on them, and sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of nuts evenly. Repeat these steps until you have used all of the nuts and all of the sheets of phyllo dough (except the 8 that were set aside).
7. To make the top layer: take 2 sheets of phyllo dough and place them in the pan. Spread a little bit of the margarine evenly over the sheets. Repeat until you have 8 sheets (spreading margarine after every 2, including the very top layer).
8. With a sharp knife, cut the baklava into 3 strips length-wise and 4 strips width-wise, so that it forms 12 squares. Now, cut the squares into triangles.
9. Place the pan in the oven and bake until golden-brown (depending on your oven, baking time will vary between 35-50 minutes).
10. While the baklava is in the oven, make the syrup. In a saucepan, boil the water and sugar until the sugar has melted. Add the vanilla extract, maple syrup, and lemon juice. Simmer for 20 minutes and remove from heat.
11. Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately spread the syrup evenly over the baklava. Let it cool before serving. Enjoy!
12. Do NOT cover the baklava, because it will get soggy. Feel free to freeze it.

The instructions seem kind of long, but they're really not...I just wrote a lot to make them clear.

Bon apetit

[Tigerlily]

Mmm!

[Troutina]

Thankyou!!
I used to adore baklava, I have to try this recipe!!

[sugarmouse]

Sounds good!
lol I thought the title said 'Balaclava' at first!!

[Pob]

Oooh, I was just thinking about making baklava the other day, and was meaning to dig out a vegan recipe.

Now all I have to do is be bothered to make it, ha ha.