Go gaga over hybrid treats? If so, you’ll adore this baklava pull-apart bread, featuring a sweet yeast dough, spiced nut filling and sticky honey syrup. But be warned: It’s dangerously addictive, just like the Middle Eastern dessert from which the baked good was inspired.
Baklava pull-apart bread requires some patience to put together, but the process is straightforward. First, make the dough. While it’s rising, prepare the filling and finish. Next, roll out, slice, stack and arrange the components in a pan. Once the loaf doubles in size, pop it in the oven.
When the baklava pull-apart bread is golden brown, it’s nearly done. Douse the round in syrup and then wait at least a half hour. (You need to let the layers of dough soak up the honey mixture and set or you’ll end up with a mess on your hands and kitchen counter.)
Baklava pull-apart bread is best eaten warm alongside coffee, tea or vanilla ice cream. If you happen to have leftovers, revive them in the microwave.
Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes.
- ⅓ cup almond milk
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ¼ cup sugar, divided
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- 1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup pistachios
- ½ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup almonds
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup water
- pinch of salt
- In a large bowl, heat milk and water until warm - about 30 seconds in the microwave should do. Add the yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar. Whisk together until thoroughly combined and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining sugar and the rest of the dough ingredients (butter through eggs) to the milk mixture, stirring everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Then knead the dough by hand (or with a dough hook attachment) until it’s smooth and elastic - this will take about 10 minutes (or less if using a stand mixer). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.
- While the dough rises, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the pistachios, walnuts, almonds, lemon zest and salt in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. Add the vanilla extract and pulse a few times until well combined.
- In a small sauce pan, combine the syrup ingredients. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by half, 5-10 minutes.
- Lightly grease a 9" springform pan.
- After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough to a 24"x12" rectangle.
- Spread the butter over the dough in an even layer. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the butter. Sprinkle the nut mixture over the sugar mixture.
- Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut dough crosswise into 12 equal-sized strips. Stack four strips on top of one another and cut each stack into 5 equal-sized pieces.
- Layer the dough stacks, cut sides up, in the pan. It's OK if some stacks stick up higher than others. If the dough doesn't fill the space, remove one or two stacks, cut them in half and nestle them back in the pan.
- Cover loaf with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- About 15 minutes before dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove pan from the oven and drizzle syrup over the loaf.
- Let the loaf cool for 30 minutes and then remove ring and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm.
I’m speechless, this looks so delicious. I can only have a tiny bit of baklava because it is so sweet, but this is very very tempting.
Thanks so much, Mary! This bread isn’t quite as sweet as the real thing. 😉
This looks amazing! Do you think you could make this ahead of time and freeze it, then just warm it up before serving?
Thank you, Rhonda! Yes – I do that all the time, especially if I’m the only one eating the bread. I’ll enjoy some while it’s fresh and freeze the rest for later.