Easy Pistachio Chocolate Baklava Recipes

Steps:

• Lay the phyllo tart shells out on a serving platter.
• Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the pistachios and toast in the butter, stirring, until they have a nutty aroma, about 2 minutes. Add the honey, sugar, cinnamon and salt and cook, stirring, until thick and bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Use two small spoons to scoop the pistachio filling into the shells. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Toss together cinnamon and nuts. Unroll phyllo and cut whole stack in half to fit the dish. Cover phyllo with a damp cloth while assembling the baklava, to keep it from drying out.
• Place two sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the prepared dish. Brush generously with butter. Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of the nut mixture on top. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, ending with about 6 sheets of phyllo. Using a sharp knife, cut baklava (all the way through to the bottom of the dish) into four long rows, then (nine times) diagonally to make 36 diamond shapes.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden brown and crisp, about 50 minutes.
• While baklava is baking, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in honey, vanilla and lemon or orange zest; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
• Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately spoon the syrup over it. Let cool completely before serving. Store uncovered.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine honey, sugar, 1/3 cup water, lemon zest, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove syrup from heat; set aside.
• Butter bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish. Cut two 8-by-13-inch sheets of parchment paper; line bottom and sides of dish, overlapping sheets in a crisscross pattern, leaving an overhang.
• Unroll phyllo sheets on a flat surface; lift the top half, and carefully roll into a tight tube. Using a sharp knife, cut crosswise to make 1-inch-wide ribbons. Roll remaining phyllo sheets, and store, tightly wrapped in plastic, in refrigerator up to a week.
• In a large bowl, unroll and loosen phyllo ribbons. Using your hands, gently toss with butter and all but 2 tablespoons pistachios; press firmly into prepared baking dish. Bake until lightly browned, about 45 minutes.
• Remove zest and cinnamon stick from syrup; discard. Reheat syrup over medium heat; pour over the hot pastry. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons pistachios; let cool completely.
• Using paper overhang, lift baklava onto a cutting board. Remove paper. With a sharp knife, gently cut into 8 triangles; transfer to a serving dish. Serve with orange slices, if desired.

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse the pistachios until coarsely ground (or you can chop them by hand until very finely chopped). Don't overprocess the nuts. You want to maintain some texture.
• Clarify the butter by melting it over low heat, then letting it cook until the foam rises to the top and the milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan. This will take about 5 to 15 minutes depending upon how high your heat is, but don't rush it or the butter could burn.
• Skim foam off the top of the melted butter. Line a fine-mesh sieve with a piece of cheesecloth, place it over a bowl and pour the melted butter through.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees and brush the inside of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with a little of the clarified butter.
• Prepare the phyllo dough by trimming the stack of it with scissors to fit the bottom of your baking dish. Packages of phyllo come in different sizes; some won't need any trimming, some may need an inch or two cut off a side, and some may need to be cut in half crosswise. Cover phyllo layers with a lightly damp kitchen towel, and keep covered.
• Place 1 piece of phyllo on the bottom of the baking pan; brush lightly with clarified butter. Layer phyllo sheets on top, brushing each sheet with butter as you go, until half the phyllo is used.
• Spread pistachios on phyllo in an even layer, then layer with remaining phyllo, brushing each sheet with butter as you go (rewarm butter if necessary).
• Cut the pastry into 36 pieces, using clean up-and-down strokes and rotating the pan if necessary. Make sure to cut all the way through to bottom of pan. Pour any remaining butter evenly over pan.
• Bake baklava until the top is golden brown, and the lower phyllo layers beneath the pistachios are thoroughly baked through. To test this, use a knife to lift up a corner of one of the pastry rectangles from the center of the pan so you can peek at the bottom layers. Start checking after 40 minutes, but it could take an hour or even 1 hour 10 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown before the pastry is cooked through, lay a piece of foil over the top.
• Meanwhile, prepare sugar syrup: In a medium pot, combine sugar with 1 2/3 cups/400 milliliters water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in lemon juice.
• When the baklava is baked through, reheat the syrup until it comes to a simmer. Remove pan from oven and place in the sink or on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips of syrup. Slowly pour hot sugar syrup over the pastry; it will bubble up and some may overflow. When the syrup stops bubbling, move pan to wire rack to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.