The mother-load of all desserts

Are you ready for this? I think you are, I believe in you. You CAN do this!

Baklava

You will need

• 1 lb. Filo Pastry Dough (Buy it in the frozen section at grocery store. Remember it needs to thaw for up to 8 hours or overnight, I have forgotten this once and believe me, microwave thawing it-doesn't work)
• 3/4 lb Sweet Butter (unsalted), melted
• 2 and 1/2 - 3 cups Walnuts and/or Almonds, finely chopped or ground
• 2 tbsp. Granulated Sugar
• 2 tsp. Cinnamon

Syrup Ingredients

• 2 cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 cup Water
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• Juice from 1 Lemon slice
• 1/2 cup Honey

In a saucepan, combine sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon juice over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add honey and return to boiling. Remove immediately from heat and set aside. Skim any foam off the top of the syrup if it's formed during heating.

In a small mixing bowl combine nuts with sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Look at this glorious picture! That my friends, is 3 sticks of butter. Take it all in....and yes, you will be using all of it:).

Side note: When you unroll your Filo(Phyllo) Dough you can't leave it uncovered or else it becomes brittle quickly. I lay mine out on plastic wrap and cover it with more plastic wrap and then put wrung out paper towels over top of the plastic wrap. Also, make sure the wet paper towels don't touch it because it also gets gooey quickly and will all stick together. I also cut the dough in half before I start. Usually the first few sheets are scored and tear but after that you'll get one really long sheet. Just cut them down the middle.

Butter a 9" by 13" oven proof baking dish. Place a sheet of dough on the bottom of the pan and brush with the melted butter. Fold over any excess dough. Repeat process for another 8 sheets, buttering each.

Sprinke about 1/4 cu of the nut mixture evenly over the Filo and cover with 2 more sheets, buttering each. Continue sprinkling nuts every 2-sheet layer for about 4-5 layers. Use up your remaining nut mixture on last layer.

Use 8 sheets for the top layer, buttering each. Before buttering the last sheet, tuck in all loose edges or trim neatly and press down the layers with the palm of your hands. Pour remaining butter over top. I didn't really trim mine, but it all works out in the end. My favorite part is the edges anyway because they are extra crispy!

Cut into 5 strips lengthwise, about 1/2 inch deep. (just don't hit the bottom) Bake at 350 degrees for about 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately pour cooled syrup over baklava. Allow to cool thoroughly. Cut strips diagonally to form diamond shapes and serve!

I may or may not have snuck a piece before realizing I didn't take a picture of it. Oops!

Enjoy!