I admit, I messed up when making these this time! I forgot to add the sugar. But, since I’ve made them before (the right way) and they were delicious, I am going to share this recipe with you.
Now I’m not one to shy away from complicated recipes, but I saw Alton Brown make baklava on Good Eats on the Food Network once and it was really time consuming, not to mention that I have no idea where you would find the rose water his recipe calls for. If you love baklava like me, but don’t want the hassle, try this recipe. You could make it even simpler by buying those phyllo dough mini cups they sell in the freezer section of the grocery store.
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of salt
1 stick of butter, melted, divided
3 tablespoons honey
12 sheets phyllo dough
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Finely chop the almonds, walnuts, apricots, bread crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt in a food processor. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and the honey and stir to combine.
(You can skip this step if using the pre-made phyllo dough cups) Place 1 sheet of phyllo on your work surface. Using a pastry brush and the remaining melted butter, brush the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Continue until there is a stack of 6 sheets of phyllo. Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 12 equal pieces.
Gently press each cut piece of phyllo into a mini-muffin pan. Press 1 tablespoon of the nut mixture into each of the phyllo cups. Gather the ends of each of the phyllo squares and twist to make a sachet shape. Continue shaping the remaining sachets in the other mini-muffin tin. Bake until the edges of the phyllo are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in muffin tins.
My third favorite new cookie this year is not actually a cookie, but a candy bar. This recipe comes courtesy of my friend Christina’s grandmother. Christina and I made these together (along with the caramels) when she was inspired after seeing these bars at Yum! Kitchen and Bakery in St. Louis Park (I highly recommend the place). I enjoyed one of these bars pretty much every day after work while making dinner or waiting for John to get home from work. Needless to say, I’m spending lots of time on the treadmill these days.
Nut Goodie Bars Cut them small – they are very sweet!
Butter a half-sheet sized jellyroll pan. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips in a large bowl in the microwave, stirring after 30-second intervals until melted. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. Spread 1/2 of the mix onto pan. Place in refrigerator to set. Stir peanuts into remaining mix and set aside. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter then slowly add evaporated milk. Stir in pudding mix. Stir constantly until thickened slightly – do not boil. Remove from heat and slowly stir in powered sugar. Add vanilla. Carefully spread over chilled chocolate layer. Chill 30 minutes. Drop reserved chocolate and peanut mix over chilled pudding layer. Spread to cover. Cover and chill until firm. Cut into 1-inch squares and enjoy.
