Source: Bonnie White

Melt 2 sticks margarine; set aside. In a separate bowl:

Mix

• 16 ounces walnuts, ground fine
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of cloves

Unfold

• Defrosted phyllo dough sheets

Divide sheets into three approximately equal stacks. Cover the bottom of a 13″ x 9″ baking pan with margarine, spreading it around with a pastry brush for full coverage. Place the first stack of phyllo sheets in the pan, and press down at the corners so the edges go up the sides. Cut the remaining two stacks in half – you now have four piles of half sheets.

Start layering the baklava in this order:

1. Margarine (spread with pastry brush)
2. A rounded cup of the filling
3. Pile of half sheets

Repeat these layers four times. There should be just over four cups of filling and four piles of half sheets, so you will end up with phyllo on top.

Even if you spread the margarine generously on each pile (and you should) there will be a lot left after the last layer. Cut the baklava into trapezoid shapes almost to the bottom. Pour the remaining margarine over the whole thing and brush it evenly across the top – as it seeps down it will effectively coat every layer. With scissors, trim the overhanging phyllo around the edges.

Bake at 325° to 350° for 1 hour and 25 minutes, until baklava is golden brown. Remove from the oven.

Warm

• 8 ounces honey

Heat the honey in the microwave to hot, not boiling, so it is thin and pourable. Pour it over the entire baklava. Like the margarine, it will seep down the cuts.
Let cool to room temperature. Cut all the way through to serve.

Glenda’s Secrets of Success

1. I only use Fleishmann’s Original (unsalted) margarine. In the past I tried it with real butter and it seemed too rich to me. You can, of course, experiment with butter or margarine.
2. Don’t waste your time buttering each sheet of phyllo individually; just butter the top of the stack and the margarine will seep down.
3. Don’t worry at all about exact measurements when you put the layers together. No one can ever tell if there are more nuts in the top half or the piles of phyllo are not even. Once it bakes, it all seems to work out. The only important thing is to work fast once the phyllo is out. Classic recipes say to keep the unused portion covered with a damp towel. I have everything ready and put it together in just five minutes, so it doesn’t have time to dry out.
4. Before baking, slice the baklava partway-through into trapezoids by cutting parallel slices across the pan in the long direction, then parallel lines at a 45° angle across the short sides. Once the baklava has cooked and cooled down, cut all the way through to the bottom to separate the pieces. I generally cut the pieces in half again, as well.

“EFFICIENCY is intelligent LAZINESS.” – David Dunham