This is the archived version of the Milk Street website and is no longer up to date.

Please visit 177milkstreet.com to see the current website with all of the latest recipes!

ADVERTISEMENT

This is the archived version of the Milk Street website and is no longer up to date.

Please visit 177milkstreet.com to see the current website with all of the latest recipes!

Turkish Pistachio Baklava

Makes 28 pieces

1¼ hours 50 minutes active, plus cooling

Made This Recipe? Write a Review.
Thank you for submitting your review! A member of our team is confirming the review meets our site's Community Guidelines. It will be posted on the site shortly.

In Gaziantep, a city in southern Türkiye that is considered the home of baklava, the syrup-soaked treat always is made with pistachios, but it comes in numerous forms. Of the many we tasted, the old-fashioned, fıstıkzade-style was our favorite; it puts the focus on the nuts more than the phyllo. We learned our version from Musrur Bakar at Ozikizner, a commercial baklava bakery. He used a blend of coarsely ground pistachios on the first layer and finely ground pistachios in the upper layers to create a cohesive structure. Our a daptation also borrows his use of a hot oven and brief cooking time, which keeps the baklava moist and helps preserve the color of the nuts. We do use whole butter, not clarified as is customary for baklava. We found the water and milk solids in whole butter helped compensate for the relatively dry phyllo we get in the U.S. (in Tükiye, the phyllo is made fresh). Flicking water onto the surface of the baklava just before baking also helped. Be sure to allow the baklava to cool completely before serving. Covered tightly, it keeps up to five days at room temperature.

Makes

28 pieces

Tip

Don’t use a nonstick cake pan. The baklava is cut into pieces before baking, directly in the pan, so it’s best to use a conventional (that is, not nonstick) pan because nonstick surfaces are easily scratched with metal implements. Also, make sure to pour the warm syrup onto the baklava as soon as it comes out of oven. This is important for even and thorough saturation of the many layers.

1¼ hours

50 minutes active, plus cooling

Ingredients

  • 226

    grams (16 tablespoons) salted butter, cut into a few chunks

  • 360

    grams (2½ cups) raw pistachios, divided

Directions

Reviews
CHRISSIE K.
November 30, 2025
Good but fussy
This recipe was just fine but really laborious/fussy on the prep/assembly. Having made a number of baklava recipes, I didn't feel that the extra labor (e. g. the 3 different formats of pistachios) produced a better end result. Also if using store-bought phyllo, which comes in rectangles, cutting it all into a 9-inch round didn't feel necessary. However, everyone happily ate the entire pan so just the cook's notes!

ADVERTISEMENT