So. I kinda sorta trashed the living ish outta this baklava, but I’m not sure anyone will be too upset about it.
I remember the first time I tried Greek food. I was dating this guy — we’ll call him A — and he and his family lived in downtown Sacramento in this gorgeous 40’s-era mansion. ‘A’ and his folks were really liberal and artsy and totally not at all like what I was used to, growing up in a pretty conservative-dominant neighborhood. They shopped at farmer’s markets and liked thrifting; they listened to obscure jazz musicians, traveled the world, and used organic soap. Like, totally hippie-dippie-complete-opposite of everything I’ve ever known.
BUT. Because of this, I got a couple of odd (but good-odd) dates with A. Like, one time we went to a lecture for this supposedly-famous psychologist. And another time we went to a really nice restaurant two hours away from home, just because. But my favorite date had to be the time his parents gave us tickets to a Greek Food Festival.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but dude – Greeks are awesome. And their food is ridiculously good. As a girl who grew up on Taco Bell and Twinkies, pastitsio, dolmas and moussaka were a whole new world for me. And don’t eeeeven get me started on baklava. One bite of that heavenly, sticky-sweet confection and I was sold… and I don’t even really like honey all that much. It’s just something magical that the Greeks do to make phyllo and nuts taste like heaven. I’m convinced they have voodoo powers or something.
ANYWHO. Despite attending this food festival over 10 years ago (wait, omg.), IÂ still had yet to make baklava. There was just something so …Â annoying? with all the preparation required in making it, and again – honey gives me the shivers. But I decided to get over my weird honey-phobia and stick it to baklava by making it my own unique way — trashed up beyond recognition with chocolate chip cookie dough and a gooey brown sugar & vanilla simple syrup.
Oh honnnnaaayy. This is the ultimate.
Y’all ready to get baklava crunk?
*inspired from Tieghan’s recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Baklava
Ingredients
- 1 pkg phyllo dough thawed
- 1 stick butter melted
- FOR COOKIE DOUGH:
- 1 & 1/2 sticks butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp salt
- About 3 cups flour
- 1 & 1/2 cups miniature chocolate chips
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 2 squares Chocolate CandiQuik
- FOR VANILLA & BROWN SUGAR SYRUP:
- 1 cup water
- 1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar I used dark, but light works too
- 2 Tbsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease a 13x9" pan with cooking spray; set aside. Meanwhile, make your cookie dough: in a large bowl with a stand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar & sugar with a paddle attachment until creamy. Add in milk and vanilla, beat to combine. Lastly, add in the salt, flour, walnuts and chocolate chips until a soft dough has formed. Set aside.
- Begin layering your phyllo in the pan. Place one sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the pan and brush it with melted butter. Top with another piece of phyllo, brush it with butter, and repeat the process until you've stacked 10 pieces of phyllo on top of one another. *NOTE: while you work, be sure to keep the rest of the phyllo dough covered with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out.*
- Carefully press HALF of the chocolate chip cookie dough on top of the bottom phyllo layer. You may want to take chunks of cookie dough, flatten them in your hand, and kind of form them into a layer by hand to prevent ripping the phyllo underneath.
- Repeat by adding TEN (10) more layers of buttered phyllo (buttering each sheet of phyllo after laying it), then top with the remaining cookie dough. Lastly, add the remaining phyllo dough, buttering each sheet as you layer. Cut the baklava with a very sharp knife in square or diamond pattern.
- Bake for approx. 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Remove from the oven and immediately pour the vanilla & brown sugar simple syrup over top. Allow the baklava to set for at LEAST 6 hours, preferably overnight* before cutting completely into squares or diamonds and serving.
- If desired, feel free to drizzle on melted CandiQuik for an added chocolate drizzle garnish, as I did. Store leftovers airtight, at room temperature, for a couple days.
- *TO MAKE THE SIMPLE SYRUP: Bring the water, brown sugar and vanilla to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
This stuff is damn good, people. The buttery cookie dough, crispy phyllo, crunchy walnuts and chocolate chips, and the drizzle of chocolate on top makes for such an indulgent, badass dessert. If you don’t like walnuts, feel free to leave them out – I liked adding them for crunch and to keep one traditional component to this baklava. You could also use pistachios, pecans or peanuts, or swap the cookie dough for a peanut butter, butterscotch or sugar cookie dough!
…Just invite me over if you make those changes 🙂
Happy Baking!
xo, Hayley
Stephanie @ Plain Chicken says
Freakin genius!
thedomesticrebel says
Thanks a million, Stephanie! 🙂
Lisa | Sweet 2 Eat Baking says
Oh gosh, don’t even get me started on Greek food, it really is awesome. Growing up, I was lucky enough to go to Greece on our holidays (vacation) each and every.single.year. As I kid, I was pretty fussy and I’d only eat a salad. Now I’m all grown up with a grown-up palette to match, I love Greek food with a passion. My faves are Moussaka and Gyros is pretty awesome too, with Tzatziki!
But you know what? I’ve never ever tried Baklava, which is weird with all the Greek holidays n’ all. Yours looks amazing and totally not wrecked at all. And girl, chocolate chip Baklava is definitely where it’s at! Definitely going to try this and see what I’ve been missing all these years.
thedomesticrebel says
Lisa, it’s definitely a must-try AND you should have all the ingredients on hand, yeah? Sub chocolate chips for the drizzle on top if you can’t get baking chocolate. Easy peasy! And I am SO jelly that you regularly vacationed in Greece… I want to live close enough to hop on over to those pristine beaches and amazing food!
Stacey says
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought I was the only person who gets the honey shivers…ewwww! I’ve been searching for a ‘baklavaish’ recipe without all that (gulp) honey! Can’t wait to give this a go, tomorrow I have a date with phyllo :))
thedomesticrebel says
Stacey! OMG, my honey shivers TWIN. I’m so glad to meet you! This recipe is totally awesome and sans honey. I promise, it’s worth every calorie because of that fact 🙂 Enjoy!
Ashley says
Hi Hayley!
This looks AMAZING and I want to try it this weekend! One question…is it ABSOLUTELY necessary to let it set for 6 hours? I was thinking this could be delicious warm out of the oven with a side of vanilla ice cream.
Thanks!
thedomesticrebel says
It isn’t absolutely necessary to have it sit for six hours, but it will produce a crisper, cleaner cut if you do. I’m sure it’d work if you scooped it warm with ice cream!
Dragonphile says
What a fabulous variation on traditional baklava! It sounds completely decadent! When you pour the syrup on the hot-from-the-oven baklava, is the syrup hot too, or is it at room temperature? Also, how much cookie dough does this recipe make? If I decide to sub another kind of cookie, I need to know how much dough to make. Thanks for the inspiration!
Rina says
Great recipe. Was worried because there was no egg and bake time of 45 minutes seemed long, but turned out great and received rave reviews.