Baklava!

For those who were wondering, here is the recipe for the baklava hubby and I made this weekend. It is so tasty, we were going to share at first, but couldn't bring ourselves to give any away. Mwuh ha ha.

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) package phyllo dough (in the refrigerated pie section)
1 pound chopped nuts (the recipe called for this much, but 1/2-3/4 pound would probably work just fine. Also, it doesn't specify what kind of nuts, but we used pecans and they were delish)
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch pan

Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer shouldbe about 6-8 sheets deep.

Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into four long rows to make the diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. It freezes well, but should be left uncovered as it gets soggy if wrapped up.

My notes: This worked well as a team effort. Hubby buttered each layer, I unwrapped the phyllo dough and laid it out, then ran around cleaning up dishes while he buttered. Enjoy!