This recipe was awesome! So easy and SOOOOOO yummy!
These are easy to make, and perfect for a fancy dessert in a hurry. My in-laws came over for dinner last week, and they were supposed to be here at 6. I started these at 5:00pm, and they were done in plenty of time. Also, we don’t like pistachios, (well I don’t , Joe does but I was making these, not him!) so I substituted walnuts in their place. They turned out really well and are addictive. Watch out!
Baklava Cigars
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup orange blossom honey
FOR FILLING:
2 cups shelled pistachios or walnuts
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 TBSP sugar
1 16oz package frozen phyllo, thawed
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
2-3 TBSP powdered sugar, for dusting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make simple syrup: Add water, lemon juice, lemon zest and honey to a small saucepan. Set over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes until slightly syrupy. Shut off heat and set aside to cool. Finely chop pistachios. Mix them with allspice, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl and set aside. Cut stack of thawed phyllo sheets into 4-equal width strips. Brush each strip with butter and stack them up 2 strips per stack. Place 1 TBSP of seasoned pistachios at one end. Roll over the end of the pastry then fold in the sides so it is enclosed. Roll up the filling (like a cigar) ensuring it is tight and secure. Place seam side down on a baking sheet try and repeat with the remaining sheets and filling. Brush tops of cigars with melted butter and bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and brush hot cigars liberally with syrup. The hot pastry will soak up the sweet syrup. All to cool and dust with powdered sugar.
