Chef John's Baklava

I made exactly as the recipe stated. I did experience the syrup pooling at the bottom at first, but after leaving it to soak in overnight the syrup absorbed and it became sticky and delicious! Well worth the trouble of tracking down the orange blossom water. I tried to bring it to a work potluck, but my family had at it first and left no survivors. One thing to watch out for is time; it can go from golden brown to blackened brown very quickly so keep an eye out after 45 minutes or so.

I don't like how this turned out for me. I didn't make any changes to the recipe. The taste is fine, very sweet, but what can you expect from baklava. I like the interesting taste the orange flower water adds, although it gets lost once it's poured over the baklava. The top crisped up way too much, and I didn't even leave it in the oven for the required amount of time, so the liquid didn't absorb properly. Also, there is too much liquid, it's pooling at the bottom of the pan. .. probably because it didn't absorb properly. I'll stick to supermarket baklava, that way I just buy what I want and am not stuck with copious amounts of it. Sorry Chef John - not a winner.

This was the best baklava that I have ever eaten, and surprisingly simple to make.

I made this as stated with a bake time of 40 minutes. I used a bunch of orange zest instead of orange blossom water, and while the sauce did pool, it had completely absorbed by the time the baklava had cooled completely. Definitely will be throwing this into the recipe box!

Really great technique for making homemade phyllo! I added elderflower cordial to the syrup and did a mix of almonds and pistachios

Very delicious, as anything with this much sugar and fat can't help but be. Ended up eating a third of the tray in a sitting. Boy did it take a long nap to digest that! Great proportion of nuts to dough, my only gripe is that I ended up with a pool of syrup in the bottom, even after 12 hours of sitting at room temperature. I poured the cooled syrup over the hot baklava. Mistake there? Anyways, I'm giving it 4 stars cause it was really very good, and the orange blossom came through beautifully with the honey and the nuts.

Mm-mm good This made me look good. Took liberty with nuts. Switched to Almonds and pecans. Could not find orange flower water. Will try this again after it arrives, This is another Chef John recipe for me.

Perfect recipe! I needed a bit more butter and did 2 cups pistachios and 2 cups walnuts. I added orange juice to the syrup and it turned out perfect

yes, I will make it again but I would cut the sugar syrup down by 1/2. The baklava was literally floating in sugar syrup.

Wow-e-wow! So good. Lots of work but totally worth it.

I used a 9x13 pan to waste less of the premade pastry compared to a round. Everything was perfect except i needed an extra 3/4 cup of nut/cinnamon mixture. I had a bit of difficulty at the cutting stage. I used a pastic knife so as to not damage my pan. Mine took only 40 min to bake, i should have taken it out earlier but i waited till the hour. The bottom of the pastry was almost black but somehow didnt taste burnt! Lucky me. Used a teaspoon or so of shaved orange rind instead of orangeflower water And tossed it in at the same time as the sugar. (I substituted 1/2 cup of sugar for xylitol and it turned out really well, next time i will sneak in more. Warning:xylitol has a laxative effect if your body is not used to it) Finally because my pastic knife didnt actually cut all the way through, separating them was a challenge. I would recommend a pair of clean sharp scissors if you have trouble at this point. Finaly result: AMAZING!! I love chef john.

This was good, but too much syrup for my liking. I really love the taste of the orange blossom water. It was a definitely take-away that I'll include in whatever recipe I eventually settle on. Thank you!

This recipe is amazing ... my husband loved it... thank you chef john for sharing..

I followed the recipe except I substituted lemon zest for the orange blossom water which I couldn’t find. There was a lot of syrup in the bottom which I’m hoping continues to soak into the baklava. It is delicious and easier than I expected. Note that when you cover with plastic wrap to refrigerate prior to cutting and baking, take care not to let the plastic touch the dough or it will stick.

I used the store bought dough which made it easy to put together. The syrup had great flavor but mine was a little thin. Will reduce the water next time. Used walnuts, pistachios and pecans.

It’s important that the syrup be cold and the baklava right out of the oven, piping hot when you ladel the syrup over it. Otherwise you risk it getting soggy. One hot while the other cold.

Fantastic recipe! I made this for friends we had over for dinner. Everyone loved it. The only change I made was swapping orange juice for the orange blossoms water. My grocery store didn’t carry it. I thought the recipe video was very helpful and funny. Thanks Chef John!

This is the best baklava recipe. I didn't need to change a thing. I'll definitely make it again, and again. God bless the Greeks for giving us Baklava. Sooo delicious.

Delicious!!!

Crispy, flaky, and incredibly delicious! Highly recommend you make this recipe. Yum!

I had never eaten baklava before this, but my family loved it, so I figured I’d give this a shot. Chef John breaks the recipe down so conveniently in his video. My Dad was in the navy and he said this is better than the baklava he had in turkey! So thankful for this recipe and the experience it gave my family

With less servings, I would recommend only 1 filo dough piece per layer instead of two per layer

Good recipe, but keep an eye on it while baking. I took mine out around 40 minutes and it was already overdone, so it's a little bitter and overly brown on the bottom. Take it out when it's light golden brown and you'll be fine.

Topped with nuts