Pistachio Baklava Cream Bars
Pistachio lovers, this one's for you! This baklava is chock-full of pistachio and walnut pieces, soaked in orange blossom honey, and topped with a layer of pistachio cream.
Would you believe I’d never tried pistachios until a couple months ago? I know! I’ve been living in ignorance. I was very anti-nut as a child. I don’t know why, I just assumed I wouldn’t like them. You can look at this recipe as making up for lost time!
Servings: 24 to 36 | Prep Time: 1 h 30 m | Cook Time: 30 to 40 m | Chill Time: 8 h
Saucepans
9x13” pan
Food processor / Blender
Pastry brush / Silicone brush
Thermometer
Fine-mesh sieve
Plastic wrap
Pistachio & Walnut Baklava:
1 ¾ cups sugar
½ cup water
½ cup orange blossom honey
⅛ tsp salt
8 oz ghee, melted
2 cups roasted and salted pistachios, shelled and skinned
1 cup walnuts
15 phyllo dough sheets, room temp
Pistachio Cream:
4 ⅔ cups whole milk, divided
1 tsp vanilla
2 (3.4 oz) packages pistachio instant pudding mix (I used Jell-o)
⅔ cup cornstarch
¼ cup sugar
4 egg yolks
¼ cup butter, cold, cubed
Assembly:
Chopped pistachios
Pistachio & Walnut Baklava (1 hour + 30 to 40 minutes baking)
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water.
Whisk over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Bring the syrup to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium and let cook for five minutes, or until thickened.
Remove from heat and whisk in the orange blossom honey and salt. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 9x13” pan with ghee.
In a food processor, combine the pistachios and walnuts, pulsing until very finely chopped. Set aside.
Cut the phyllo sheets to the size of the pan.
Place one sheet in the pan, brush with melted ghee, and then repeat for four more sheets.
Spread half of the nut mixture evenly into the pan.
Layer and brush five more sheets of phyllo with ghee.
Spread the remaining half of the nut mixture into the pan.
Layer the last five phyllo sheets and brush with ghee, including the top.
Cut the baklava into squares or diamonds of your desired size.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Once the baklava is done baking, immediately pour the cooled syrup over it.
Set the baklava aside to cool.
Pistachio Cream (25 minutes + 8 hours chilling)
In a large saucepan, stir 3 cups milk and the vanilla over high heat until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the pistachio pudding mix, cornstarch, and sugar until there are no lumps.
Whisk in the remaining 1 2/3 cups milk and the egg yolks until well combined.
While whisking, gradually pour the hot milk into the egg mixture.
Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, reading at least 170° F on a thermometer.
Remove from heat and whisk in the butter until fully combined.
Pass through a fine-mesh sieve and pour it over the cooled baklava, spreading into an even layer with an offset spatula.
Cover with plastic wrap directly touching the surface of the cream and transfer to the fridge to chill overnight.
Assembly (5 minutes)
Remove the plastic wrap and top with chopped pistachios.
Leftovers may be stored, covered, in the fridge for up to a week.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my Best Practices page for tips on how to make this recipe yourself. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and feel free to tag me on Instagram @made.by.shade if you make it!
-Shade