Amy's Baklava

These went like wildfire at our ward's Christmas party - A Night in Bethlehem. Kind of tricky to make if you've never used phyllo dough. Consider using a titch more honey to help them stick together better.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
• 1 pound chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¾ cup honey
  

1. Boil sugar and water until sugar is dissolved. Turn heat down and add honey and vanilla. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of a half sheet pan.
3. Chop pecans and cinnamon in food processor. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut as needed so it will fit in the pan. Place two sheets of dough side by side in the pan (to cover the bottom of the pan). Brush with butter. Repeat until you have 8 layers of phyllo. Sprinkle ¼ of the nut mixture on top. Top with two layers of dough (butter between the layers.) Continue layering until you have four layers of nuts. Layer the remaining dough on top, buttering between each of the layers (the top should be about 6-8 sheets thick). Brush the top layer with butter for nice browning.
4. Use a sharp knife to cut the baklava (usually into squares or diamonds.) Be careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes (until the top is a nice golden brown). Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup over the top. Let cool, then cut through.