MAGIC BAR INSPIRED BAKLAVA (MAGIC BAR-KLAVA)

Ok, so everybody is back to work and back to school.  That means, just around the corner is holiday season and it is never too early to start preparing.  This is a great recipe for a party or any get together.

Okay, but you’re probably all a little bit curious about this recipe so I’ll tell you about it. If you’ve never heard of baklava then don’t feel bad. It’s not the most common dessert to those who don’t avidly read food blogs. It’s a turkish dessert that is made throughout Southwest Asia and it’s traditionally done with honey and pistachios, but you know how bad I am about tweaking recipes. 

I’ve wanted to make baklava since I first heard of it but I didn’t decide to actually do it until Liv (my big sis) did nothing short of beg me to make it for her. After that I had to try it, you know, for mysister’s benefit. She made me do it. 

I knew it had to include chocolate and, even though pistachios are hard to get here in Chile (actually they are starting to show up more and more), I still wanted to include nuts of some kind and that’s when the idea hit me to make taste like one of my favorite cookie bars ever. Yep, magic bars. Those perfectly balanced treats that I used to love making for my daddy when I first started baking. I could never leave the recipe alone though, and I always changed something.  

And I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna lie to you. This recipe isn’t going to fit into a healthy category by anyone’s standards because it’s got tons of chocolate and lots of butter, and some more butter, and then there’s a little bit of butter, oh, and did I mention I put butter in it? Okay fine, it’s not really as bad as that. You just notice the butter more since you have to spread it layer by layer but it’s the same amount in a typical batch of cookies. and isn’t the overall mood of the health world shifting to “fat’s okay” and “sugar is what’s really bad”? Who can keep track anyway?   Either way, maybe you could just make that SALAD I posted a few days back.

What I can say for this recipe is that it is way easier than it looks. Almost as easy as regular magic bars because you’re pretty much just replacing the graham crust with lots of phyllo dough sheets. The only part that is just a little tricky is not tearing the phyllo sheets, but after you get the hang of it you can put this together really fast and throw it in the oven. Then after it bakes you pour the sweetened condensed milk all over it, let it cool, and then you’ve got yourself a dessert that will have everyone impressed thinking you slaved over it. 

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 16 - 18

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
• 1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate chunks (or chips)
• 1 cup coconut flakes (I use unsweetened but sweetened will work)
• 1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Optional topping:

• 1/2 cup chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(180 C) and grease a 9x13 inch pan very well.
2. Divide the phyllo sheets into fourths and layer 1/4 in pan, brushing each piece with a generous amount of butter in between each layer. Fold in any of the overhang from the sheets.
3. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the chocolate chunks, nuts, and coconut as evenly as possible over first layer of phyllo.
4. Repeat last 2 steps twice, layering another 1/4 of the phyllo sheets and brushing with butter then sprinkling chunks, until all the sheets have been added. Use a sharp knife to cut halfway through layers and cut into diamond shaped pieces (or squares if you prefer).
5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the top is nice and golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 3 to 4 minutes then pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over baklava and allow it to cool completely, at least 45 minutes.
6. Cut pieces apart and if desired melt chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler or microwave safe bowl and drizzle over pieces, then sprinkle with nuts and let chocolate set.

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Thanks for viewing my post.  As always, your questions and comments are greatly appreciated.  Many other photos and recipes available @gringalicious