We’ve collaborated again with one of our favorite meal delivery services – HelloFresh – and this time, we’re bringing you a delicious holiday dessert. HelloFresh’s in-house chef Freida created this amazing orange and date baklava recipe that uses the Yoffi date spread from the Holiday Box: Michelin Edition.
Makes: About 35 squares | Time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus 4 hours cooling
Ingredients For Filling
- 1 ½ cups dates, pitted
- 1 ½ cups walnuts, toasted
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ cup orange juice
Ingredients For Syrup
- 1 orange
- 1 jar Yoffi date spread
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Ingredients For Cinnamon Sugar
- ⅓ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Ingredients For Assembly
- 2 sticks salted butter, melted
- 22 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted
- candied orange peel, for garnish
Directions
- Make the filling: In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together all filling ingredients until finely chopped. The mixture should hold together when pressed between your fingers.
- Make the date syrup: Using a vegetable peeler, peel off 4 wide strips of peel from the orange. Place the orange peels and remaining syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce to a low simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat to cool. Note: this makes more syrup than you need for this recipe. See below for how to use it!
- Make the cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
- Assemble: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9”x13” baking dish. Cut the phyllo dough into 9”x13” rectangles. Lay two sheets of phyllo dough in the bottom of the baking dish. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Repeat for 4 additional layers. Evenly sprinkle half the filling on top. Lay 2 more sheets of phyllo on top of the filling. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Evenly sprinkle the remaining filling on top. Lay two more sheets of phyllo dough on top. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Repeat for 4 additional layers. Using a sharp knife, score the top layers of phyllo dough in a crosshatch pattern to form 1-inch x 2-inch diamonds (you can make them bigger or smaller depending on preference).
- Bake: Bake the baklava until flaky and very golden brown on top, about 45 minutes. Pour ½ cup syrup over the hot baklava. Cover and let sit at least 4 hours or overnight. Cut into slices and serve.
Leftover Syrup Idea:
Use up the leftover date syrup and make a whisky sour! In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine ¾ oz date syrup, ¾ oz lemon juice, and 1 ½ oz bourbon. Shake and strain into a glass filled with ice. Cheers!
