Being nuts about nuts, how about trying to make and bake a keto baklava? I've tried lots of versions of this sweet and nutty pastry traveling the world. I loved the pistachio version in Turkey the most. Anyhow, this is a walnut version. Of course, you can use any type of nuts.
Keto baklava. For real?
Let's clarify a couple of issues first. There is no such thing as a keto baklava. The phyllo dough used in the original thing makes all the difference. The dough is, naturally, full of carbs and contains plain flour (gluten), so that is not an option here. Moreover, the sugar and honey which we're not using here, do contribute to the real baklava texture and flavor. In fact, if you're a paleo-style consumer, do add some raw honey to the syrup, I won't blame you.
So, for now, this is as close to baklava as I could get without losing too much of the original shape and flavor. While the original recipe calls for lemon zest, I dared to use the orange zest as I love the walnut-orange combination. If I used pistachio, I'd go for lemon zest.
In fact, I can't wait to bake another baklava, using pistachio nuts, as this is such a lovely dessert in winter months!
By the way, I consider my secret ingredient in this recipe to be cocoa butter. I think it absolutely elevates the flavors in baklava. Will you give it a chance and let me know if you agree?
Keto Baklava
Ingredients
Dough
- 6 large egg whites
- 5 tablespoon erythritol - powdered
- 3 oz chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husks
Filling
- 5 oz walnuts - finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon - Ceylon
- 6 large egg yolks
- 2 oz coconut milk - full-fat
- 4 oz butter - melted (I used cocoa butter)
- 2 tablespoon erythritol - powdered
Syrup
- 6 tablespoon water
- 4 tablespoon IMO syrup
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- â…› teaspoon orange oil - optional
- 6 tablespoon erythritol
Instructions
Dough
- Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C). Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until fluffy. Slowly add in erythritol and keep beating until stiff and shiny. Add chia seeds, mixed with psyllium husks. Carefully mix with a hand whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the batter into the baking tray and flatten with a spatula. Bake for 10 minutes and let chill.
- When cooled, remove the parchment paper (try taking the paper off the dough rather than trying to get the dough off the paper) and cut into 3 equal rectangles that will fit a smaller baking dish.
Filling and layering
- Keep the oven heated to 325°F (170°C). Take a rectangle-shaped baking dish that is approximately ⅓ the size of the tray used for the dough. Grease with butter slightly.
- In a medium bowl, stir together finely chopped walnuts and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix egg yolks, coconut milk, melted butter, and 2 tbsp. erythritol.
- Place 1 third of dough at the bottom of the baking dish. Top it with 1 third of the egg yolk mixture. Top with ½ walnut mixture.
- Top the walnut mixture with another layer of dough (I had to cut mine in halves). Again, top with 1 third of egg yolk mixture and the rest of walnut mixture. In the end, top with the last layer of dough and finish brushing it with the remainder of the egg yolk mixture.
- Cut the unbaked baklava into wide strips, then cut diagonally, to form parallelogram shapes.
- Bake for 40 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the syrup.
Syrup
- In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients and bring to boil. Keep stirring. Reduce the heat to medium-low and keep heating for additional 4 minutes.
- When baklava is done baking, remove from the oven. Pour the syrup evenly over still hot baklava. Let it cool completely at room temperature and uncovered.
- Baklava is best served warm. Before warming up a piece (in a microwave if you wish), you can top it with some more butter.
Nutrition
Mea says
I followed the recipe exactly as it says and I was just surprised to see how nice it looks. Right on the biscuit I saw that it wasn’t that. In the end, I got fried eggs with nuts and sugar. Horror. I was so angry that I threw the whole cake in the trash.
Tisa says
I understand you were more than dissatisfied with how this recipe turned out for you, Mea. I am very sorry about it. It is hard to know why, but it seems like there are people who are very happy with it, and, on the other hand, some of you don't like how it turns out. First of all, no "ketoer" can ever expect a recipe that originally uses pastry or similar dough to turn out very close to the real thing, unfortunately. Lots of keto food is eggy by taste and texture, and it is something you get used to. Or not. Anyhow, it might be an ingredient variety problem. I plan to review the recipe asap, as it is an old one, to see if I can make some changes that could work for all.
Once again, we're sorry to have caused you anger and waste of ingredients!
Crazylady49 says
There are just the two of us these days. Can this baklava be frozen or do I need to just adjust the servings.
Tisa says
I am so sorry for the late reply! You can always freeze the baklava and unfreeze it anytime.
Alli says
This actually turned out! I couldn’t find psyllium powder or husk, they were all out, so I used an egg substitute powder that has psyllium in it. I was unsure but it looks great! A bit more like French Toast than baklava, but it still tastes amazing I used a small amount of honey in the syrup for flavor but I’m not keto just low carb and I definitely brushed the layers with lots of butter! Thanks you, this recipe made me think outside the box.
Tisa says
Wow, I'm so glad to hear the recipe worked for you, Alli! Thank you for commenting!
Susan says
IMO syrup is definitely Not Keto Friendly.
https://ketobakingco.com/blog/2017/12/25/prebiotic-fiber-syrups-keto-friend-or-foe
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Susan. Thank you for the comment. I am familiar with the article and the findings. As I write all over my blog when it comes to IMO syrup, it doesn't affect my glucose/insulin levels if I use a tad of it every so often is some special baked goods. There are people out there who are sensitive to it, though. Everybody should, therefore, decide for themselves whether to use it or not and whether to have a cookie or a piece of baklava that contains like 1/2 tsp. of this highly processed fiber syrup or not.
Bonita Duquette says
Walden Farms is the best syurp and they have lots of flavors! 0 across the board on ingredients too
Joelle O Dunklin says
Going to surprise my mom with this as a treat next weekend. Love, love, love traditional baklava! Thank you
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Joelle!
I honestly hope you will like this version because, as you can imagine, it is significantly different from the traditional baklava. The keto pastry dough can never be the same, unfortunately. Make sure it doesn't dry out too much while baking (happened to me once) - butter is key. 🙂
Amber says
Well unfortunately this recipe did not turn out anything like yours. It went all wrong and taste like egg and chia seed.
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Amber. I am so sorry to hear this.:/ Unfortunately, without some more information, I cannot guess what might have gone wrong. Did you use all the same ingredients and follow the steps to the detail?
Jake says
Just a quick question what size sheet pan do you use for the first baking of the dough. Is it a full industrial standard sheet pan 18x26 or is it the half size most people have at home
My Sweet Keto says
Yeah, that would be the full industrial standard sheet pan. Thanks for questioning, I should add the size info to the instructions!
jennifer B says
At the top of your recipe you say that cocoa butter really makes this recipe yet I didnt see it in the ingredients? Am I missing it? Thanks
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Jennifer! I mention that cocoa butter is my secret ingredient. Yet, I realize that not everybody wants to use it (it's more expensive and a bit harder to get than ordinary butter). So, in the list of ingredients, I mention that instead of 4 oz. butter, I use cocoa butter. Didn't want to not give people a choice. Original baklava uses dairy butter.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Jas says
This looks amazing! The is now a new sweetener called Allulose. It has has honey flavor. Apparently it browns and melts like sugar. Maybe worth a try here. 🙂
Marija says
Hello, this look like a great recipe, I would like to try it. I have two questions. First, how much psyllium husk (or powder) should I use in the dough, it is not stated. Second, is IMO absolutely necessary? There is no way I can find it here and almost nobody ships in my country 🙂 I have some Sf syrups though
Thanks in advance
Marija
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Marija!
To be honest, I can't tell you from my experience what to use instead of IMO syrup. What I like about it (and comes in especially handy in this recipe) is that it adds to crunchiness once "baklava" cools down. On the other hand, this recipe is highly improvised and "improvisable," which means I still see a lot of room for changes and/or improvements. I'd say you can try using whatever SF syrup you think might resemble the texture and character of honey.
Thank you for noticing the psyllium missing in the ingredients section. It is there now (roughly 1 Tbsp).
Good luck to you and let me know how it goes.
Tisa