Baklava Tarts

Submitted by evelynathens

"Delicately spiced nuts encased in tender, buttery pastry - even the burst of citrus from the lemon zest is authentic as you would normally find that in the syrup poured over the baklava. Easy to make and very good!"

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• Pastry

• 1⁄2 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup flour

• Walnut Filling

• 1 1⁄4 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 small lemon, zest of
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 dash salt

directions

1. To make pastry: Dump everything into a bowl, roll up your sleeves and get your hands right into it. Work the dough well and knead for a couple of minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or more) before proceeding with recipe.
2. Make 12 balls of equal size out of the dough and tamp a pastry ball down into each of 12 non-stick muffin cups, making sure pastry covers bottom and comes 3/4s of the way up sides.
3. To make filling: Mix all filling ingredients together well. Carefully distribute filling mixture into pastry-lined muffin cups.
4. Preheat oven to 375°F.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The pastry should be a light golden colour (loosely tent with aluminium foil if walnuts are browning too quickly, but the mixture will be dark – like a pecan or walnut pie). Wait 2 minutes after removing from oven and very carefully, using the tip of a thin, pointed knife, gently knudge each tart out of its cup and transfer to a rack to cool. Some tarts may be a little stuck, just run the tip of the knife around then knudge gently.

Reviews

[East Wind Goddess]

These reminded me of rugelach, and I enjoyed the filling, and the ease of making the tarts. I made a second batch of filling and used it in roll-up cinnamon rolls--another great use! Thanks for a great idea and a great recipe.

 

[Tea Jenny]

I just love this pie crust, it's so crispy and when you bite into these lovely nutty delights the taste is wonderful!!!! so so nice. My friend was in when they came out the oven so you can imagine they didn't last long, I had to hold her back till they cooled enough to eat, now I have to make them for her she can't bake. lovely lovely little bundles of yummm. I will be making them again often.Made for RSC#15

 

[Diana 2]

It's been a very long time since I've had Baklava. The only thing I really remember is that it was very, very sweet and sticky. That being said, I can't say how close this is to the 'original'. I can however tell you that these tarts are very good. For me, these are just like butter tarts (who doesn't like butter tarts?) made with walnuts and spices. Of course the cream cheese in the pastry is a wonderful bonus!!!! After pressing the pastry into the tins, I first added the walnuts, then spooned in the sugar/egg mixture. These baked up for me in 20 minutes. The pastry is very tender when warm, so I had to wait a little longer before taking them out of the tins. Worked perfectly for me, as I had no accidents. I must say, they were even tastier (if that's possible) the second and third day. Sooo good. Made for RSC #15. Thanks for sharing your recipe, and good luck in the contest.