Recipe: Hot Honey Baklava

I grew up making baklava with my bonus grandma, Hermine.

During the holidays, we’d gather around her kitchen table and she’d teach us how to make her Armerian-style baklava with delicate layers of phyllo and crushed walnuts.

“More butter!” she’d proclaim. “You gotta do it like this,” and showed us how to expertly brush the dough with clarified butter while simultaneously spreading generous handfuls of crushed walnuts.

My bonus grandma was a bossy broad with a spicy attitude. During one of our baklava-making sessions, she handed me a photocopied recipe from a magazine because she knew I liked making it. Or maybe her intuition knew that even as a young child, I had a penchant for baking.

Sadly, Hermine passed away last year before we could make baklava together again. She lived a long and vivacious life surrounded by those who loved her. Her granddaughters and I continue to make her recipe though oftentimes met with the loving criticism of a sharp-tongued nonagenarian. 

This cannabis-infused hot honey baklava is in memory of a spicy lady. She was a bold, outspoken woman who had a profound impact on my life and love for cooking. Hermine, may we meet again to gossip over tea and baklava in another life. 

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Hot Honey Baklava Recipe

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This is not a traditional baklava. The traditional cloyingly sweet confection is a teeth-clattering sugar bomb for my taste, so this recipe reduces the sugar by half for those who like our desserts less sweet.  

DOSING:

Makes ~50 servings. Double-check the math if your % THC is different. 

• Low Dose // ~5mg THC per serving: You’ll need a total of 250mg THC in the entire recipe. Approximately 3.2 grams of ~20% THC cannabis flower.* 

• High Dose // ~100mg THC per serving: You’ll need a total of 5,000mg THC in the entire recipe. Approximately 9 grams of ~80% cannabis concentrate, such as kief or rosin.* 

DIY Edibles // How to Make Cannabis Honey

To make this recipe with infused ghee (clarified butter), scroll to the bottom.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 sticks (226g / 16oz.) ghee, clarified unsalted butter

• 4½ cups (450g) shelled nuts, choice of unsalted walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pistachios

• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

• ½ tablespoon salt

• 1 16-oz. package of phyllo dough, thawed

Honey syrup

• 1 cup infused hot honey*

• ½ cup water

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons orange blossom water

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Decarb + activate*: Preheat the oven to 240°F. Place coarsely ground cannabis flower or concentrate into a small one-pint 16 oz. mason jar, seal with the lid to reduce smell, and heat for 40 minutes in the oven to decarb, which activates the THC. Remove from the oven and let cool until the mason jar is safe to touch. The ground flower will look lightly toasted. 

2. Infuse cannabis honey: In a glass jar, combine the cannabis and hot honey, using a small spatula stir the cannabis and honey together. If using:  

• Concentrates: Warm the honey, stir together, and set aside.  

• Ground Flower: Reduce oven temperature to 140 degrees F (or as low as your oven will go), and place the jar into the oven for 2 hours. Strain out the ground flower through a fine mesh sieve into another small glass jar, reserving the honey. Discard the grounds and store the infused honey at room temp until ready to use.

3. Prep ingredients: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet or pan (about 9”x13”x2” or larger) with parchment paper. In a food processor, chop the nuts, sugar, and salt until finely ground. Set aside. 

Unwrap and unroll the thawed phyllo dough onto a clean surface and cover with a clean damp kitchen towel to keep the delicate sheets from drying out. 

In a small saucepan or the microwave, melt the ghee. If you’re starting with sticks of butter, melt the butter over medium heat, skim off the foam, and discard the solids at the bottom while saving the clarified butter. 

4. Layer the phyllo dough and filling: Uncover the phyllo dough and carefully separate one delicate, thin sheet of phyllo from the stack and place into the prepared baking dish. To prevent drying, quickly cover the phyllo dough stack again with the damp kitchen towel. Overhang any excess dough over the sides of the pan, you can trim before baking. Depending on the size of your pan, you can cut the stack of phyllo dough in half to fit inside the baking sheet. The phyllo dough should cover the entire length of the pan. 

Using a silicone or pastry brush, brush some of the melted ghee across the dough, and lay a second layer of phyllo on top. Repeat this layering process with 10-12 sheets to create the base. It’s okay if the delicate sheets tear, the butter will keep it together. 

5. Add nut filling: Gently sprinkle a generous layer of nut filling evenly over the butter phyllo. Place a sheet of phyllo on top and brush with more ghee. Continue layering with nut filling, phyllo dough, and melted butter until the nut filling is gone, or at least 3-5 sheets of phyllo remain. Layer remaining sheets of phyllo brushed with ghee, and brush the remaining butter on the top. 

6. Slice and bake: Using a sharp knife, trim any overhanging phyllo dough. Cut the unbaked baklava diagonally at 2” intervals in a diamond pattern down to the bottom of the dish. Place into the oven and bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. 

7. Make the honey syrup: While the baklava bakes combine 1 cup cannabis honey and ½ cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 5-10 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and add lemon juice and orange flower water. 

8. Pour the honey syrup: Remove the baklava from the oven when golden brown and immediately pour the hot honey syrup evenly over the entire surface, as it sizzles and oozes into the hot baklava. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Garnish with chopped nuts (optional). Cover and store at room temperature or in the fridge. 

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With Infused Ghee (Butter), Instead of Honey

Infusing cannabis into ghee is more efficient than honey. Assume 70% efficiency for oils, rather than 40% for honey. Adjust dosing amounts accordingly and check the math

• Low Dose // ~5mg THC per serving: You’ll need a total of 250mg THC in the entire recipe. Approximately 1.8 grams of ~20% THC cannabis flower.* 

• High Dose // ~100mg THC per serving: You’ll need a total of 5,000mg THC in the entire recipe. Approximately 9 grams of ~80% cannabis concentrate, such as kief or rosin* 

DIY Edibles // How to infuse cannabis into oil 

Adjust baking temperature and time: Reduce oven temperature to 340 degrees F, and bake for ~50 minutes until golden brown. 

I wish I had a photo to show you of us making baklava together. But I don’t know where I find one. One most likely exists scattered somewhere between old dusty photo albums, forgotten hard drives, or floating somewhere in the cloud.

XOXO, Christina W.