Pumpkin Walnut Baklava

This Pumpkin Walnut Baklava recipe is a throwback Month of Pumpkin guest post I used to run every October. The post has been edited for relevance and updated for the blog. It’s a SUPER GOOD recipe and I hope you like it. Thanks, Terri!

Hi! I’m Terri Powers and I blog over at Terri’s Table. 

I was  thrilled when Gina asked me to do a guest post for her Month of Pumpkin, so I wanted to post a recipe inspired by her. I know she is mostly vegetarian, so I wanted to make sure it was something she would feel comfortable eating. She loves savory dishes, but I know she likes desserts, too.  A few years ago,  Gina posted a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Syrup for making a delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte. I enjoyed those lattes throughout the winter. And that syrup is what gave me the inspiration to make Pumpkin Walnut Baklava. Pumpkin, nuts, pumpkin pie spices, phyllo dough, butter, sugar, then instead of a honey-based syrup,  saturate it all with the Gina’s Pumpkin Spice Syrup!  Why not.

Pumpkin Walnut Baklava

You’ll find the phyllo doughfor this pumpkin walnut baklava in the frozen food section in the grocery store. It comes in one pound packages which contain two rolls. You will only use one roll, about 20 sheets.  Take the roll out of the freezer before you start making the syrup and allow it to thaw at room temperature. Now make a batch of Gina’s Pumpkin Spice Syrup. From a 15-ounce can of pumpkin, measure 3 tablespoons into a small bowl and reserve the rest of the pumpkin to use in the baklava.

Now that you have your syrup ready to go, it’s time to put together the baklava. Have all your ingredients ready to go before you begin.

First, put an 8-ounce bag of walnuts and 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar in a food processor. You’ll want to chop the nuts in short pulses until they are ground fairly fine. Don’t let the processor go too long each time or you’ll have walnut butter, and that’s not what you’re going for.

Pour the nut mixture into a bowl and set aside. Put two sticks of butter in a small saucepan and melt it over medium low heat, being careful not to scorch or burn it. Just let it melt slowly. Once the butter is melted, turn off the heat and let it sit. Get a clean kitchen towel, run it under the faucet until it’s wet all the way through, then ring it out until it’s just damp.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Make the pumpkin mixture by putting the remaining pumpkin in a bowl and adding a beaten egg, granulated sugar, brown sugar and spices and whisk until smooth. Set aside. You have your fillings ready to go.

Open the roll of phyllo dough and discard the paper. Gently unroll the phyllo dough until it lays flat on the counter. You can use a cookie sheet if you feel uncomfortable letting it rest on the counter. Cover the dough with the damp towel. Meanwhile, pull a 9- X 13-inch baking pan out of the cabinet and set it aside. There’s no need to grease the pan or use a cooking spray. The butter will keep it from sticking to the pan.

I know there are baklava recipes that caution you to butter each layer of phyllo dough. I don’t do that. It’s really not necessary and you’ll see why in a little bit.

Uncover the phyllo dough and put one layer of phyllo dough in the bottom of the pan. If it comes up the sides a little, that’s okay. Now put down five more layers, for a total of six layers of dough. Take about 1/3 to ½ cup of the pumpkin mixture  and quickly smear it as gently and evenly as possible over the phyllo sheets.

Sprinkle about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the walnut mixture over the pumpkin mixture, so it looks like this…

Lay two layers of phyllo dough on top of the pumpkin and walnuts.  If the dough tears or cracks, just gently move it in place with your fingers and continue with layering the phyllo dough and pumpkin and walnut mixtures until you have five layers ending with a pumpkin and walnut mixture. You should have used all of the pumpkin mix and walnuts and have about six sheets of phyllo dough left. Place the six sheets of phyllo dough one at a time over the last layer of pumpkin and nut mixtures. 

Unlike brownies or bars, baklava is cut into individual servings before it’s baked, so now it’s time to cut it. Using a sharp serrated knife, make your first cut lengthwise down the middle. Gently but firmly cut all the way through the layers to the bottom of the pan, holding the phyllo dough in place with the fingers of your free hand on either side of the knife. Make two more cuts evenly spaced on either side of the center cut…

Using the same method you used for cutting lengthwise, turn the pan and cut the baklava into individual pieces, holding the phyllo dough in place with the fingers of your free hand.  This time, though, cut at an angle rather than straight across….

Turn the heat back on under the pot of butter and when it starts to sizzle again, remove it from the heat and spoon it over the baklava, making sure that it soaks down into the cuts and down the sides. Use all of the butter.  If the butter starts to pool in places, pick up the pan and gently rock it back and forth to urge the butter into all of the cuts and crevices. 

Put the baklava into the preheated oven and bake it for 45 minutes until it is nice and brown. Just before it’s time to remove the baklava from the oven, heat up the cup of Pumpkin Spice Syrup you’ve reserved. You can heat the syrup in a pot or in the microwave. Just make sure it is almost boiling. As soon as you remove the baklava from the oven use a spoon to drizzle all of the hot syrup evenly over the baklava. Allow it cool before you serve it. If you can wait that long.

I’d like to give a very special Thank You! to Gina for hosting me today! 

My blog is Terri’s Table.

I hope you’ll take a moment to check it out. Or you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter. And you can find me posting food porn on Pinterest.