Baklava

My partner and I don't really celebrate Christmas, so we're usually quite bored on the 25th of December as we have no friends or family around. A few years ago we started making this on Christmas Day and has become a tradition for us. We would serve it to friends for New Years or colleagues when going back to work. So good!

Ingredients

• 1 (16 oz.) package phyllo dough
• 1 lb. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 tsp, ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.

Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Source: This is a recipe from allrecipes.com