*Important! Follow the defrost instructions on the filo dough. You might need to defrost it overnight. This will prevent sticking.

For the filling, mix the nuts, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a bowl.

Cut your filo dough to the size of the pan you are using. 12 inch x 9 inch recommended, but you can use whatever size you have. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a towel while you are not working with it. This prevents it from drying out.

Brush the inside of the pan with oil/butter.

Place one sheet of filo dough in the pan. Oil the top of that sheet.

Repeat with 7 more sheets, bushing each one. Remember to save a nice sheet of filo dough (with no holes) for the very top layer at the end of the recipe.

Scoop half of the nuts mixture into the pan and spread evenly.

Place 8 more sheets of dough, brushing each one.

Scoop the second half of the nuts mixture into the pan and spread evenly.

Use 8 more sheets of filo dough, brushing each one, and bush the top layer extra!

Make 4 cuts down the pan, lengthwise. Then make diagonal cuts all the way across the pan. *Like in the video above.

Bake at 350℉/ 175℃ for 30-40 mins until top is golden.

During baking, make the syrup. Add the sugar, water, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon (you can use a cinnamon stick, but remember to remove it) to a small pot. Bring to high heat stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Then boil for 5 minutes until syrup is thick. Remove from heat and cool.

Pour syrup over baklava and let it rest for 4 hours to soak up the flavor. You can put it in the fridge after it cools to speed that up.