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Baklava – A Sweet Indulgence with Wheatgerm and Healthy Nuts & Fruits

27 June 2011 32 Comments

Baklava recipe

Never thought I would ever bake a Baklava and post it on Lite Bite, till I got to see the Daring Baker challenge of this month. A classic Greek specialty baked with flaky phyllo dough, stuffed with nuts and soaked in sugar syrup, yes I avoided it for all the good reasons, refined flour, loads of butter and the sugar syrup to name a few.

The Baklava I baked for the DB challenge has some of my favorite healthy ingredients.  Wheat germ in the phyllo dough, pumpkin seeds, Charoli seeds, black currents, pistachio, walnuts and honey, which of course does make me less guilty of baking a Baklava 🙂  To my surprise wheat germ gave a very crisp pastry and does not hamper the stretching property of refined flour.

Baklava

Wheat germ with the flour

Ingredients;

For the Phyllo Pastry

  • 1/4 cup Wheat germ
  • 1 cup All purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • A pinch of salt
Baklava

Healthy nuts and fruit combo

For the Filling

  • Nuts (pistachio, Charoili, walnuts)
  • dried fruits (black current or raisins)
  • Melon seeds
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
  • 1 tbsp. brown sugar/palm sugar
  • 2 tbsp. melted butter for coating

For the syrup

  • 11/2 cups of water
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tbsp. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
Baklava

Ready to go in the oven..

Method; Take a large vessel and mix all the ingredients for the phyllo pastry and knead well. Make small balls of the dough and roll as thin as possible. I got 10 small phyllo sheets. Spread all the sheets on a plate or a paper, cover with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out.

Grind the fillings in a grinder to a coarse powder.

Boil water and sugar and make a thing syrup. Take off the flame and add honey and the lemon zest to it.

Take a flat rectangular baking tin and grease it with oil. Spread a phyllo sheet on it and brush it with melted butter, add another sheet. Brush again with a little oil and sprinkle a generous amount of the filling over it. Cover it with another phyllo sheet. Repeat the same process till all the sheets and filling is consumed. The top layer should have 5-6 phyllo sheets.

Make incision with a sharp knife as shown in the picture into diamond and square shapes. Bake the pastry at 180°C for 40 minutes or till the top sheet is golden and crisp.

Baklava

Baked Wheatgerm Baklava

Remove Baklava from the oven and pour the prepared syrup over it. Let it cool and serve the individual pieces in a cup cake liner or small bowls. Baklava without the syrup is scrumptious too. I am loving this delicate and nutty indulgence in Baklava and will be baking it more often with my favorite ingredients without compromising on health.

Baklava recipe

Melt-in-mouth Baklava!

Notes;

  1. Make the phyllo sheets using refined flour for more crisp and flaky pastry.
  2. Refined flour is important for the phyllo dough as it can be stretched to make real thin sheets. Wheat germ in the dough did not hamper this quality of the flour and can be replaced easily if you are looking for some healthy options for Baklava.
  3. If the whole process of assembling and rolling out the thin sheets seem intimidating you can purchase ready made phyllo sheets available in many specialty stores.

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32 Comments »

  • chinmayie @ love food eat said:

    WOW! I can’t believe you have transformed something like Baklava into a healthy dish! It looks really delicious! I remember seeing Baklava recipe several times and telling myself that I will never be making it as i will just feel super guilty eating it!
    Thanks for this wonderful recipe!!

  • Saee Koranne-Khandekar said:

    Hey! I loved your “Lite bite” take on the sinful dessert. Will try your version. 🙂

  • Hari Chandana said:

    Wowwwwwwwwwwww.. looks so cute and delicious.. Gr8 preparation !!
    Indian Cuisine

  • kouky said:

    I love so much your baklawa!!original and amazing job!

  • Junia @ Mis Pensamientos said:

    wow, baklava with no butter?! amazing!!!! this looks soo good still. great recipe 😀

  • Swathi said:

    Baklava looks dleicious, adding wheat germ is nice idea.

  • Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal said:

    yum, that is a wonderful invention 🙂

  • aipi said:

    Now here’s a baklava that you can go nuts with ( no pun intended) 🙂
    What a creation!
    US Masala

  • Premalatha Aravindhan said:

    Hi Sanjeeta,

    H r u? Missed many of ur recipes:(
    Baklava luks very tempting…

  • Kalyani said:

    ooh !! what a sinful indulgence 🙂 !!! drooooling !!

    Cheers
    Kalyani

  • Priya said:

    Wow wat a fabulous baklavas, simply looks out of the world;.

  • Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen said:

    What a great re-make. I would not have thought this was a dessert that could be lighted up but you have done it beautifully.

  • Raks said:

    Nice twist to baklava,yummy it looks!

  • Biren @ Roti n Rice said:

    You are always so creative in turning sweet indulgences to healthier options. This looks wonderful!

  • Faith said:

    Your healthy twist on baklava is wonderful! This is one dessert I would really love to try!!

  • geetanjali said:

    the moment i saw it , I knew i have to try it, so there I was , tried and wow its turned out so wonderful and yummy. thanks a million for making dessert time soooooo interesting. love u for this.

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Geetanjali, Thanks for trying out and writing your views here. Have a great time!

  • Feng said:

    This looks really delicious, yum!

  • Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said:

    Your healthy baklava looks just as tempting as those with 10x the fat ;). Great job on this DB challenge!

  • amita said:

    wow. I NEVER THOUGHT I CAN MAKE BAKLAVA. HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT THIS SWEET. THANKS A LOT FOR GIVING THIS RECEIPE.

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Amita, Welcome, hope you make this dessert and enjoy!

  • Pachecopatty said:

    I’m so impressed with your healthy take on baklava, it looks beautiful with all your healthy tweaks, better than the original;-)

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Pachecopatty, Thanks a lot for your appreciation!

  • Jenni said:

    Fantastic job! Your baklava sound utterly wonderful! Triple points to you for making taking sticky sweet treat and making it healthy (er)! It looks great!!

  • Yuri said:

    So beautiful! I must try making my own phyllo dough, I cheated by using the store-bought kind… Love this healthified version, it sounds tastier than regular baklava 😀

  • rebecca said:

    wow great job on the baklava your such a great cook and baker

  • Angie@Angiesrecipes said:

    Your healthy version of Baklava looks terrific! Love wheatgerm!

  • Karriann Graf said:

    Gorgeous Baklava and I love the healthy kick you’ve done. Happy Baking!

  • FOODESSA said:

    Not only did you succeed in making your own Sanjeeta twist on the phyllo dough…you also managed to make the Baklava a little less of a guilty pleasure. Well done ;o)

    Have a great weekend and flavourful wishes,
    Claudia

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Claudia, Thanks! Your comments always bring a smile on my face, and to tell the truth I really wait for it (your comments) to complete my posts. Love you, tight hugs.

  • bhavani/ameanderingmango said:

    Wow -a healthy alternative to baklava! Looks way too good to be true – thanks for the recipe!

  • gingerbread bars said:

    […] Samantha loves this healthier take on baklava […]

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