Walnut Baklava Rolls

5 from 6 votes

Here's how to make baklava rolls using phyllo dough, ghee, and crushed walnuts. This Middle Eastern dessert is popular and for good reason!

Servings: servings

Ingredients

Baklava Rolls

15 sheets phyllo dough
⅔ cup melted ghee or butter
1½ cup raw walnuts
⅓ cup sugar
1 tablespoon orange blossom water optional
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon orange blossom water optional
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place the walnuts in the food processor and chop up into tiny pieces, then place in a large bowl. Mix the crushed walnuts with the sugar, cinnamon, and orange blossom water and set aside.
Melt the ghee in the microwave and set up your work station.
Lay one phyllo sheet flat out in front of you and brush with melted ghee. Repeat until you have 3 layers of phyllo with ghee in between. Spread the walnut mixture very thinly but evenly onto the entire layered sheet, then roll into a log. Repeat until you’re done.
Grease a baking tray with some more ghee and place the baklava rolls tightly next to one another. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 ℉ (190 ℃) for 25-30 minutes or until golden and crispy.
While the baklava rolls are baking in the oven, make the sugar syrup. Mix all of the ingredients together in a small pan, bring to a boil, then let simmer until it has thickened. Pour the syrup onto the rolls as soon as they’re out of the oven and let cool completely before serving.

Notes

Butter is an appropriate substitution for ghee.
Storage: You can keep these baklava rolls out at room temperature for a couple of days. Just make sure you cover them loosely with a towel to keep them from getting soggy. If you want to store them for longer (up to 2 weeks), keep them in an airtight container in the fridge and re-bake them for a couple of minutes to get them crispy again.
Ingredient Notes:
1. Phyllo Dough: You'll find these ready-made phyllo sheets in the frozen section of your local grocery store, and they usually come in a standard square size. You can also make them yourself, but it's really tricky to get them as thin as they should be.
2. Ghee or Melted Butter: Baklava loves fat. Each phyllo sheet is brushed with melted ghee or butter. Traditionally, you'd use ghee, but if it's unavailable where you live, you can use melted butter instead.
3. Walnuts: You can use any of your favorite nuts, but for this recipe, I'll be showing you how to make my favorite walnut cinnamon filling. Substitute hazelnuts, pistachios, peanuts, cashews, pine nuts, or a mix. Just make sure they are raw and unsalted.
4. Sugar: Use regular white sugar for both the walnut filling and the simple syrup. You can also use honey for the walnut filling instead of sugar.
5. Lemon Juice: Always use fresh lemon juice, and not the fake-tasting store-bought kind. It will help thicken your syrup and intensify the flavor.
6. Orange Blossom Water (Optional): The secret ingredient to Arab simple syrup. A tablespoon goes a long way and will leave your syrup tasting fresh.
7. Pistachios (Optional): Crushed pistachios add a pop of color and make the baklava rolls look pretty.

Nutrition