Bourekakia (Baklava 'cigars')

evelyn/athens's Note:

These are great and keep a long time. Not as sweet as traditional baklava as they are not soaked in syrup, merely dusted with powdered sugar. *Please note that a few of the ingredients are showing up incorrectly on the recipe page and is not fixable currently. The following amounts are what should appear: Syrup: 1 1/4 cups sugar 3/4 cup water 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon honey (preferably, Greek Thyme) 3 cinnamon sticks 3 whole cloves Filling: 3 cups ground walnuts 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 2 egg whites, room temperature, beaten to consistency of mayonnaise 1 lb phyllo pastry 1 cup butter, melted icing sugar

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 42 pieces

Syrup

• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• ¾ cup water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon honey (preferably, Greek Thyme)
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 3 whole cloves

Filling

• 3 cups ground walnuts
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 egg whites , room temperature, beaten to consistency of mayonnaise
• 1 lb phyllo pastry
• 1 cup butter , melted
• icing sugar

Directions:

1. For syrup: Cook all ingredients in saucepan over low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar dissolves, then boil 15 minutes.
2. Cool completely; strain.
3. For filling: Combine walnuts, cinnamon and cloves.
4. Blend in 1 cup syrup and whites (mixture should not be too stiff; add up to ¼ cup additional syrup, if necessary.).
5. To assemble: Preheat oven to 350°F.
6. Cut phyllo into 5 x 8 inch strips.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and a damp towel until ready to use.
8. Take a strip and brush it lightly with melted butter.
9. Spread 1 heaping teaspoon of filling along narrow edge.
10. Fold in sides ½ inch toward center; brush sides lightly with butter; roll up tightly.
11. Repeat with remaining strips.
12. Arrange seam side down on baking sheet.
13. Brush with remaining butter.
14. (They can be frozen at this point � increase baking time to 30-35 minutes if baking them frozen).
15. Bake until golden and crisp, 20-25 minutes.
16. Cool completely.
17. Dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Reviews

[UmmBinat]

Since I am gluten free I didn't actually get to try these but was told by my mother they are sooo good. Masha Allah. I did do a few trials rolling them, so some wern't exactly cigars, but it was easy once I got the hang of it. I dusted them with homemade powdered sugar which included tapioca starch. My oven seemed to cook these way faster the the amount of time specified. The bottoms got too brown so I will make these again only if I get a new oven.

[Dasha]

Absolutely Great! I mixed 1/2 the syrup with the nuts and filled inside. I cheated a bit and made mine huge (8 layers each), but they are still great. I used the rest of the syrup to pour on top. The Best!

[PanNan]

I've never worked with phyllo dough, and this was the perfect recipe to practice on. Because you roll them up, it's a very forgiving recipe. It does take some time to butter and roll each one, but the results were fantastic. The exterior is flaky and buttery, and the interior has a wonderful sweet nutty flavor. Bet you can't eat just one! I did have about half of the syrup left over, and next time will cut the amount I make. This is going right into my favorite desserts cookbook.