mini baklava recipe

WARNING -- The following recipe is a labor of love. And that's probably an understatement. Though this is like daisy picking in comparison to making homemade pasta without a pasta machine (what was I thinking?), it's still a lot of work. However, the end almost always justifies the means, right? Right. The hard work contained in this recipe is well worth it, I promise.

This is my rendition of Giada de Laurentiis' mini baklava recipe.

You'll need a mini muffin tin.


1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey (I use President's Choice Organic Creamed Wildflower Honey because it adds another dimension of floral flavour)
6 sheets fillo dough


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the almonds, walnuts, bread crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt in a food processor until the mixture is very finely chopped.

3. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and the honey and stir to combine. (You might want to soften the honey in the microwave just so it's a little easier to mix in.)

4. On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of fillo. Using a pastry brush and the remaining melted butter, lightly cover the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter.

5. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Continue this process with all six sheets of fillo.

6. Cut the stacked fillo rectangle into 12 equal pieces (Cut lengthwise into 4 pieces and widthwise into 3 pieces.)

7. Very carefully press each cut piece of phyllo into the mini-muffin tin cups.

8. Fill the fillo cups with the nut mixture (approximately 1 tablespoon -- eye ball it)

9. Pinch the fillo cups closed with your fingers.

10. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

11. Allow to cool before transferring to a serving plate.