Walnut Baklava

So the other day my mom and I got take out Afghani food, and they had baklava on the menu. If you don't know what baklava is, it's a Mediterranean dessert made with many layers of phyllo dough and pistachios* and a lemony honey syrup. As you may have noticed, I haven't been posting as many recipes recently because I have been wayyy too lazy to just recopy the recipes I use, but in this case, I combined two recipes and I need to write down what I did so I can remember!
The recipes I combined were Michael Symon's Baklava and The Kitchn's Baklava. I was originally going to use Michael Symon's, but when I was at the grocery store, I could not find the Zwieback crackers it called for. I decided to just use the alternate bread crumbs, but when I got home, I discovered that all I had were Italian seasoned breadcrumbs. My mom stopped me from using panko (probably not a good idea) and told me that her baklava recipe didn't use breadcrumbs. Sure enough, most of the baklava recipes I could find did not.
So, I turned to the Kitchn. I used their recipe for the most part, but changed the layering order and added lemon to the syrup. I also cut the baklava into the diamond shape from Symon's recipe. The end result was delicious and beautiful, and my family can't stop eating it.
Tips for using the phyllo dough:

• Defrost it completely in the fridge overnight. I was impatient and unrolled it as it was defrosting on the countertop, and it cracked.
• Cover the phyllo dough with a damp towel while you are not using it. Remove one sheet at a time and then recover it with the towel.
• Rips and tears are okay; they're just more difficult to work with!

*I used walnuts because I could not find unsalted pistachios at Safeway and I didn't want to go through the trouble of shelling them.

Amanda's Walnut Baklava

 Ingredients:

16 oz walnuts (coarsely ground)

1/4 cup sugar

1 t cinnamon

3 sticks unsalted butter

1 package 16 sheets frozen phyllo dough (thawed)

For the syrup:

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup of the mixture.
2. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter is mostly melted, remove it from the stove and let the residual heat finish melting it.
3. Carefully unroll the thawed phyllo dough, leaving the plastic sheet underneath the phyllo sheets. Cut the sheets in half lengthwise (make sure the phyllo matches the dimensions of your pan). Cover the sheets with a damp tea towel (not too wet!)
4. Using the pastry brush, brush a thin layer of butter all over a 13x9x2" pan. Make sure to get all of the bottom and the sides. Fold back the tea towel, carefully remove one sheet of phyllo dough and place it on the bottom of the pan. Butter the top of the phyllo lightly, making sure you are going out all the way to the edges. Repeat with layering 9 more sheets to total 10 sheets of phyllo, buttering the top of each sheet of phyllo before placing the next. Be sure to re-cover the remaining phyllo with the tea towel each time you remove a sheet.
5. Sprinkle a quarter of the nut mixture over the dough. Layer 4 pieces of phyllo on top, brushing each with butter before adding the next; sprinkle with another quarter of the nut mixture. Add 4 more phyllo pieces on top, brushing each with butter, then add another quarter of the nut mixture, 4 more pieces of phyllo with butter, and the remaining nuts.  
6. Place a phyllo sheet on top of the nuts and brush lightly with butter. Repeat, layering 9 more sheets of phyllo, with butter between each layer, to total 10 sheets.
7. Cut into the baklava to make strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Then make diagonal slices, about 1 1/2 inches apart, to create a diamond pattern.
8. Bake the baklava for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate the pan once while baking to ensure even browning.
9.  Remove the baklava from the oven to cool and recut the squares to make sure they are cut all the way through.
10. To make the syrup, combine the water, sugar, and honey in a sauce pan and stir to combine. Boil for 10 minutes and then add the lemon juice. Boil for two more minutes and remove from heat. Carefully pour over the baklava, making sure to coat each piece.
11. Sprinkle some of the reserved walnuts on each piece. Cover the baklava and let it sit for several hours or overnight at room temperature.
12. Eat.