With store-bought mini phyllo cups and a short video, making my mini baklava tarts recipe is faster than traditional baklava, less messy too!
Mini Baklava Bites
New recipes often come about out of necessity, you know… the ‘mother of invention’!
I was asked to make 100 pieces of dessert for a ladies gathering and that was when these perfect party dessert hors d’oeuvres came into my head.
The hot syrup was flavored with a sprinkle of rose water and served with a chiffonade chop of fresh roses.
Purchasing the mini phyllo shells sold in most grocery stores in the freezer section, makes this a simple recipe with spectacular results.
And yes, I made them for the event and they were a hit.
Mini Tart Shells
The creation of these mini tart shells, made from phyllo dough, was an absolute brilliant idea!
For many years I have found these convenient tart shells the perfect base for savory appetizers.
Since the mini tart shell holds only about 1.5 tablespoons of filling, it is easy to make fillings in advance, pour the fillings into the shells and bake to perfection in about 10-minutes.
Just about any filling you might make for a quiche or pie can be baked in these tart shells for a variety of options on a brunch spread or dessert table.
- Spanakopita Tarts – Made with olive oil, instead of butter, makes this fresh spinach, lemon and feta phyllo pastry tart, healthier.
- Savory Quail Eggs and Bacon Tart Appetizers – with 2-ingredients in mini tart shells, are easy, impressive and delicious appetizers or brunch nibbles.
- Herb Quiche – An herb and egg filling with a half slice of cherry tomatoes on top before baking.
- Or perhaps just a simple Pecan Pie filling with pecans baked on top of the tart shells would suit your southern style gathering.
Why We Love A Traditional Baklava Recipe
The syrupy-sweet deliciousness of traditional baklava has been around for a very long time and it brings a smile to everyone who has ever indulged in this sweet pastry.
Since I was a kid, my sisters and I have made traditional baklava around the holiday season, using a variety of different nuts and a simple homemade honey syrup.
But then our mom was of Syrian heritage and this just felt like the norm for us.
I’m not sure if what we love about traditional baklava is the sweetness of the honey, the crunch of the phyllo dough, the nuts or just the fact that this sweet treat was part of our heritage.
When cooking for PBS on the Great American Recipe, the first challenge was to make ‘Me On A Plate’, so for sure Baklava (Baklawa in Arabic), is what I made!
However, for sure, what we did not love about it, was the laborious work, working with one sheet of phyllo dough at a time until a mound had been buttered, stacked and ready to fill!
How To Make Traditional Baklava
While I can quickly revert you over to my traditional baklava, recipe, I think a quick explanation of how traditional baklava is made will encourage you to the ease with which bite-sized mini baklava cups are made.
Finely chopped nuts, along with a small amount of sugar and spices is what traditionally is used as the baklava filling.
This is baked between layers upon layers of phyllo sheets that have been liberally brushed with melted butter.
Once baked, a heavy pour of hot syrup goes over the baked pastry which is where the sweetness comes from and the syrup helps hold the pastry together.
Being a health minded dessert person, over the years I have cut back on the heavy syrup pour, and found adding an egg to my baklava filling helped hold the pastry together, enabling me to cut way back on the heavy syrup.
This in turn, inspired turning this nut batter into many other recipes, like my fantastic Leftover Phyllo Dough Baklava Tart, because when making traditional baklava, there is always ripped, torn, leftover, unusable phyllo dough!
Mini Baklava Recipe For The Easy Baklava
To make this mini dessert, we first need to decide which nut filling we want to use.
Growing up, pistachios were usually the nuts of choice however more often than not I love the deep rich flavor of walnuts.
A batter is quickly made of crushed nuts, crushed to a flour consistency, a sprinkle of sugar, a fragrant spice of choice and eggs to hold it together.
A tart shell is placed in a mini size muffin tin to keep the mini tart shells from falling over, and baked for about 8-10 minutes.
Once baked, a drizzle of homemade hot syrup finishes off this decadent dessert with sweetness and a glaze.
How To Make Hot Syrup
As tradition has it, the hot syrup varies from one Mediterranean recipe to another.
For example, the Greek tradition of baklava hot syrup is to place white sugar or brown sugar in a small saucepan, a little lemon juice, lemon zest, and a splash of water.
This simmers on low for about 5-10 minutes until the sugar dissolves. At this time a little honey can be added and the hot syrup is kept warm until ready to use.
In more recent years I have seen the lemon juice and zest exchanged for Orange zest, orange juice, and a splash of orange blossom water.
Sometimes, simply honey is warmed and drizzled on the baked dessert.
Any leftover syrup can be stored in an airtight container and used next time.
What To Do With Leftover Baklava Filling
Invariably, I have leftover baklava filling. When making my traditional recipe for Middle Eastern Baklava, leftover filling inspired my recipe for Baklava Muffins, a recipe you won’t find anywhere else, unless my recipe has been copied (wink).
However, while making these mini baklava tarts, the leftover filling worked wonderfully to simply pipe onto a baking tray with a walnut on top, and bake for 10-minutes as a tart without the shell!
Equipment Needed
- Non-stick mini muffin tin or small baking sheet with sides
- Small piping bag with wide nozzle or a cup with a pouring spout
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients Needed
- Walnuts
- Egg
- Cinnamon and Cloves
- Sugar
- Mini Phyllo Tart Shells
- Orange or Lemon
- Honey
Mini Baklava Tarts Recipe
Equipment
- non-stick mini muffin tin or baking sheet with sides
- small piping bag with wide nozzle or cup with pouring spout
- Food processor or blender
- stove top and oven
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Walnuts
- 1 Egg lightly whisked
- pinch Cinnamon and cloves
- pinch Salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 10 Mini tart shells
- 1/4 cup Hot syrup
- Hot Syrup
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 tbsp Fresh orange or lemon rind
- 1 tbsp Orange or lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325.
- In a mini muffin tin, or parchment paper lined small baking sheet with sides, place the mini tart shells. If using a baking sheet, place the tart shells close together to aid in support from tipping over.
- In a small saucepan, place the sugar, water, citrus rind and juice, and place over high heat just long enough to bring to a bubble, lower and simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and whisk in the honey. Leave the saucepan on the stove to reheat when tarts are baked. This can be done in advance and simply reheated as needed.
- In the food processor or blender, grind 1/2 cup of the walnuts to a flour. Add the sugar, spices and lightly whisked eggs. Puree to a batter.
- Carefully pour, spoon or pipe the nut mixture into each mini tart shell. Most phyllo mini tart shells hold about 1.5 tablespoons of filling, so adjust accordingly. With the remaining walnuts, slightly broken, place on top of the tart batter.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until the center filling and crust looks a light golden brown. Baking in an oven of medium heat is important since these tart shells can burn quickly and we are looking to bake the filling, since the shells are already baked.
- While the tarts bake, reheat the syrup. Remove the baked tarts from the oven and place on a cooling rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath. Remove the rinds from the syrup and carefully spoon the hot syrup over each tart. The tarts are now ready to serve.
Video
Notes
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.