Best Bacon Pecan Bourbon Baklava Recipes

BOURBON PECAN BAKLAVA RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine sugar, bourbon, 1 cup water, vanilla bean, and reserved seeds. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook until mixture registers 225° on a deep-frying/candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and stir in honey. Strain mixture, discarding vanilla bean. Let cool completely. In a large bowl, combine pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Line a 17x12-inch rimmed baking sheet with 1 sheet of phyllo dough, letting edges of dough extend over sides of pan, if necessary. Brush with melted butter. Continue layering pan with phyllo dough, covering bottom of pan only, to make 8 layers. Brush between layers with melted butter. (To prevent phyllo from drying when not in use, cover with a moist towel.) Sprinkle 3/4 cup pecan mixture evenly over top layer of phyllo. Cover pecan layer with 1 layer phyllo; brush with melted butter. Repeat procedure with remaining pecan mixture for 8 more layers. Top the last layer of nuts with 9 layers of phyllo, brushing all but the top sheet with butter. (Trim edges of phyllo if they overhang.) Preheat oven to 300°. Cut layers diagonally into 3/4- to 1-inch diamonds. In a small saucepan, heat remaining butter over medium heat until butter has a nutty aroma and is dark brown in color. Pour butter evenly over baklava. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool completely. Pour bourbon mixture evenly over baklava. Let sit for at least 24 hours before removing from pan. Store at room temperature for up to 1 week.

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Combine the nuts, cinnamon and ground crackers in a bowl.
• Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with some of the butter. Layer 10 pieces of phyllo in the dish, brushing each piece with butter before adding the next (keep the remaining dough covered with a damp towel). Sprinkle a quarter of the nut mixture over the dough. Layer 4 pieces of phyllo on top, brushing each with butter before adding the next; sprinkle with another quarter of the nut mixture. Add 4 more phyllo pieces on top, brushing each with butter, then add another quarter of the nut mixture, 4 more pieces of phyllo with butter, and the remaining nuts.
• Layer the remaining 10 pieces of phyllo on top of the nuts, brushing each with butter; brush the top piece with extra butter. Cut into the baklava to make strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Then make diagonal slices, about 1 1/2 inches apart, to create a diamond pattern. Bake until golden, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup: Bring the sugar, honey and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and boil 2 more minutes, then let cool slightly.
• Pour the syrup over the warm baklava; let soak, uncovered, at least 6 hours or overnight. Garnish with nuts.

PECAN BOURBON BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Make Baklava:
• Preheat oven to 375 ̊F with rack in the middle. Lightly brush a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with melted butter.
• Pulse pecans, sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely chopped.
• Cut phyllo sheets in half crosswise, forming 18 (12 by 8 1/2-inch) sheets, then arrange in 1 stack and cover with plastic wrap.
• Keeping remaining phyllo covered and working quickly, place 1 sheet on a work surface and gently brush with butter. Top with another sheet and brush with butter. Continue layering until you have a stack of 6 buttered sheets. Transfer stack to the baking dish and sprinkle with one-third of the pecan mixture. Build a second stack of 3 phyllo sheets, buttering between each layer. Transfer to a baking dish sprinkle with half of remaining pecan mixture. Repeat with another stack of 3 buttered sheets and sprinkle with remaining pecan mixture. Top with a stack of 6 buttered sheets.
• Score pastry with a sharp knife in quarters lengthwise, then score on a diagonal making 6 cuts about 2 inches apart to create a diamond pattern.
• Bake baklava 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 ̊F until top is golden, 40-45 minutes more.
• Make syrup while baklava bakes:
• Bring honey, sugar, water, cloves, zest, and 1/4 cup bourbon to a simmer in a small pot, stirring until sugar and honey have dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand while baklava finishes baking.
• When baklava has finished baking, transfer in pan to a rack. Boil syrup until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 2 Tbsp bourbon. Discard zest and cloves and pour hot syrup to be absorbed and flavors to develop. Cut into diamonds by cutting lengthwise into fourths, then diagonally across.

BACON BAKLAVA

Steps:

• 1. Thaw the phyllo at room temperature for 2 hours. Cut in half crosswise to get sheets approximately 9x13 to fit the baking pan. Keep the phyllo covered at all times with waxed paper and a damp tea towel to keep it from drying out.
• 2. Lightly butter the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan. Place one sheet of the phyllo in pan and brush carefully with melted butter. Add 7 more sheets, brushing each with butter.
• 3. In a bowl, combine the walnuts, pecans, bacon and the 3/4 cup sugar. Mix well. Sprinkle 1 cup evenly over the pastry in the pan. Drizzle with some melted butter.
• 4. Top with 4 sheets of phyllo, brushing each with butter. Sprinkle another cup of nut-bacon mixture, drizzle butter.
• 5. Repeat the 4-sheet / nut mixture / drizzle routine 4 more times. Place the remaining 8 sheets of pastry on top, brushing each with melted butter.
• 6. With a sharp knife, cut diagonally, cutting to but not through the bottom layer. Continue cutting at about 1-inch spacing until you have approximately 48 diamond-shaped pieces.
• 7. Bake 1 hour at 325º. Remove from oven; finish cutting diamonds; cool thoroughly.
• 8. When pastry is cooled, prepare the syrup in a saucepan, combining the 2 cups sugar, the water, honey, lemon juice and cinnamon sticks. Boil gently for 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon, stir well.
• 9. Pour warm syrup evenly over cooled pastry. Cool completely. Store loosely covered at room temperature.