Shredded Baklava Cups

I’m incredibly excited to share this recipe with you guys this morning!

It comes from my current favorite cookbook, a book I’ve been cooking out of about once a week for the past couple months, Perfect One-Dish Dinners by Pam Anderson. Pam and her daughters, Maggy and Sharon, also collaborate on writing the wonderful food blog Three Many Cooks. If you’ve never checked them out, definitely do so! And this cookbook…oh, this cookbook! I LOVE this cookbook. Everything I’ve ever made out of it has turned out fabulous. My favorites out of the book include the simple italian sausage and bean cassoulet, the salsa verde chicken n’ dumplings, the paella, the turkey feta meatballs and this baklava! Ok, I guess I pretty much just love the entire book. Get it today! You won’t be sorry.

I’ve made these easy baklava cups a few times now and they’re always a hit. I love to make them when friends come over for dinner as a fun and different dessert. If you’ve ever felt intimidated by the baklava-making process, this recipe is totally for you!

Like regular baklava, you use phyllo dough here. I know, sort of scary, right? Phyllo dough freaks me out, too. I remember crying over my ugly spanokopita in culinary school. Let’s be honest — I don’t have the patience for the stuff.

However, all you do here is cut it up into pretty little phyllo ribbons! Trust me when I say that if I can do this, so can you. Just a snip of the scissors and you have light, feathery ribbons of dough, perfect for pressing into muffin tins and dousing with honey syrup.

Pam’s original recipe uses pistachios, which is traditional in most baklava. I’ve found, though, that these little cups taste equally fabulous when made with any nut or blend of nuts! Here, I used a mix of roasted walnuts and pecans. Yum.

Just a quick bake and then a drizzle of syrup later, you have delicious shredded baklava cups. All the deliciousness of baklava without all the work.

I’m sharing this morning over at She Reads Truth in case anyone is interested! Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday!

Shredded Baklava Cups

very lightly adapted from Perfect One Dish Dinners

makes 12 baklava cups

Print this Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 8-oz package (from a 16-oz package box) frozen phyllo dough, thawed out

1 cup roasted nuts (pistachios, walnuts or pecans work great!)

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, divided

8 tbsp butter, melted

6 tbsp honey

6 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp water

pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners and lightly spray the liners with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Grind roasted nuts in a high-speed blender or food processor until they are finely ground.

Leaving phyllo dough rolled up, cut crosswise into 1″ strips. I’ve found this is easiest using a kitchen scissors! Place phyllo strips in a large bowl and lightly shake them out with your fingers to “unravel” them. Add the ground nuts, reserving about 2 tbsp. Then, sprinkle 1 tsp cinnamon over top and drizzle in the melted butter. Toss gently to coat all the phyllo ribbons with butter, nuts and cinnamon.

Fill muffin cups with phyllo mixture, pressing down gently to compress. Sprinkle remaining nuts over top and place in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Meanwhile, make the syrup. Simmer together the honey, sugar, water, 1/4th tsp cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt. Bring to a boil then remove from heat, stirring well so all sugar melts. Let cool slightly.

When baklava cups are finished baking, pour syrup over each. Let cool to room temperature and serve.

Time:

45 minutes

**I like these best served cold, straight out of the fridge