Salted Caramel & Pecan Baklava

Crunchy and sweet baklava with pecans and a salted maple syrup

Course Dessert

Cuisine European

Keyword Dessert

Prep Time 35

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 20

Servings

Calories 256kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Start by making the syrup. In a pan on a low heat melt the light brown soft sugar, salt, water and maple syrup together Once the sugar is dissolved, let it boil for 10 minutes while stirring constantly. Pour into a bowl and cool fully in the fridge
Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
For the filling place the pecans, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a food processor and pulse them until they look like a coarse crumb. Reserve a small amount of the filling for garnishing the baklava after baking if you like (about 1-2 tbsp)
Melt the butter and light brown soft sugar in a pan on a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves
In a deep sided 12"x9" baking tray layer up the filo sheets, brushing the butter and brown sugar mixture between each layer. Do 10 sheets of filo, then a layer of the pecan filling, then 10 more filo sheets, another layer of the filling, then a final layer of 10 filo sheets
Slice the baklava in the tin, into the pieces desired, before baking. Bake for 45 minutes until golden
When it is done, immediately pour the cooled syrup all over the baklava, then sprinkle the remaining filling in the centre of each square along with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. Leave to cool fully
Store in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 1-2 weeks

I used two packets of shop bought filo pastry (phyllo pastry) for this recipe. Although you can make filo from scratch, it's quite a process, so shop bought makes this so much easier!
I highly recommend using light brown soft sugar for this recipe to get the caramel flavour.
You could use other nuts in this recipe such as walnuts or pistachios.
I cut this baklava into squares, but you could also cut it into the more traditional diamond shape.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.