Baklava Rangoon!

As you may have noticed I didn't post this yesterday but I am doing it today! I know, epic fail. Anyways, thanks go to Jessica for the ingenious name for these lovely little baklava bits of joy. I saw this recipe on Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis when she was doing Greek inspired food. They were a slightly different way to make baklava and I thought what the heck, let the amateur baker play with tissue paper thin phyllo dough. I had so much fun making these and I think if you decide to try it you will too. Let's start with the recipe.

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

1 Stick Butter, Melted, Divided (2 Tablespoons for the dough)

3 Tablespoons Honey

Pinch of Salt

12 Sheets of Phyllo Dough

1/4 Cup Dried Apricots (Optional)

For this you will need 2 mini muffin tins and several mixing bowls. Preheat your over to 350. Take your almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, bread crumbs, sugar, clovers, salt and apricots (if using) into a food processor. Personally I have one of those bullet mixers so I just used the chopper attachment. Once finished set it aside in a bowl and melt your 2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave for 15 seconds or until it is mostly melted. You can stir it a bit to make it melt the rest of the way.


Tada! Chopped yummy goodness ready for the butter and honey. I should have used something other than a yellow bowl for the butter in this picture. Oh well, lesson learned. Pour in your honey and butter and gently stir them until it forms a soft mixture. Set it aside for now and pull your phyllo dough out. Be sure to pull your phyllo dough out and let it come to room temp before trying to use. Lay it out flat on a cookie sheet and place a damp cloth over it to keep it from drying out. It will do nothing but rip and tear if you don't keep it moist. Start with a clean and dry work surface, lay one of the sheets down on the surface and dip your pastry brush in the melted butter. Gently swash the dough with the butter all over and lay another layer of it on-top. Continue to do this until you have 6 layers.


Now take a sharp knife and cut the dough into 3 rows length wise and 4 rows width wise. It should make 12 pieces, enough for 1 of your muffin tins. Take the pieces and carefully press them into your muffin tin like such.


Time to fill them! Place a spoonful of your honey nut mixture into each one of the little phyllo cups and press the top of them together so they look kinda like the top of a sack or crab rangoon. Either one really. Place them in your oven to bake for 20-25 minutes. Mine took right around 22 minutes. Cool and then eat! They turned out fantastic! Once they cool, the flavor sets in more but it tastes even better if you place it in the microwave for 15 seconds just to give it some warmth.


Here is the link to the original recipe and there is even a video of Giada making it. It is amazing how my experience making them was just like her video. *insert sarcasm* Happy baking!