Oh. Em. Gee. It’s been forever!!!! I can’t remember the last time I took such a long blogging break – I have missed you all!
Of course I haven’t disappeared entirely. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen me traveling around the country on my book tour, and it’s been quite a journey. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet so many of you in person, to share my love of food, family and tradition to a range of audiences, and to be going into the third printing of Millennial Kosher with almost 20,000 copies sold! Pinch me!!
Thanksgiving is all about showing thanks and boy am I grateful. Grateful for this platform. Grateful to see my dreams come true and grateful that somethow, someway, in between all this running around, I still love what I do SO. VERY. MUCH.
Truth be told I hit a bit of a creative slump but I am back and I couldn’t be more excited about it!! This baklava pumpkin pie came to me along with a bunch of other exciting ideas that I can’t wait to share, and I am so glad I was able to get into the kitchen and behind the camera to share it with you all. I thought it might be too complicated to execute but I got so much amazing feedback on it and I’m so pleasantly surprised that y’all are ready to tackle layers and layers of buttered fillo dough – not the easiest feat!
I actually tested this recipe with melted coconut oil and I was so happy to see that I could avoid the dreaded margarine route while still keeping it pareve. Just make sure to go for refined coconut oil otherwise you’ll be left with baklava COCONUT pumpkin pie and no one wants that, amiright?!
The diagonal slits are probably the hardest part about this – and I watched a whole lot of YouTube videos until I figured it out – but you can feel free to make this a la the traditional route in a rectangular dish and forgo the difficulty.
Wishing you a delicious and Happy Thanksgiving. We truly have so much to be thankful for!
Baklava Pumpkin Pie
1 box fillo dough, thawed
1 cup melted butter, margarine or refined coconut oil
Pumpkin Filling:
1 14.5oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
Pecan Filling:
7 oz. pecans, chopped
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Maple Syrup:
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 c water
2 tbsp brown sugar
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine the pumpkin filling. In a second bowl, combine the pecan filling.
Remove the fillo dough from the package and cut the stack into a square, the same width as your pie dish. Place a damp paper towel over the stack of dough as you assemble the baklava.
Grease the pie dish. Place the first sheet of fillo dough into the pie dish. Brush with butter. Repeat with 9 more layers, placing each one at a bit of an angle from the previous one. Top the 10th layer with half of the pumpkin mixture and top with half of the chopped pecan mixture.
Place another 6 sheets of fillo dough on top of the first layer of filling, buttering it between each layer. Spread another layer of pumpkin and pecans on top and repeat with 10 more layers of fillo, buttering between each sheet and placing each one at a bit of angle from the previous one (see photo).
Using a sharp knife, slice the baklava into diamonds shapes. Fold the fillo dough over itself around the pie, creating a crust.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until browned and crisp.
While the baklava is baking, mix the maple syrup, brown sugar, water and salt in a small saucepan. Heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is thickened. Cool completely.
When the baklava comes out of the oven, drizzle the maple syrup over the pie.
VARIATION:
For easier assembly, use a rectangular shaped dish instead of a pie dish.
Related Recipes:
baklava hamantaschen
mini pumpkin pies for a crowd
Whole30 pumpkin banana souffle’
