Baklava Fudge

This Baklava Fudge recipe puts a new spin on a Greek classic. A ribbon of spiced honey-nut filling runs through this salty-sweet candy.

Christmas is the perfect time to indulge in all things sweet and spiced. Like this baklava-inspired fudge. It is truly decadent with a creamy almond butter fudge base. A ribbon of salty-sweet spiced honey-nut filling runs throughout the candy.

First, the honey-nut filling!

Make the nut filling first, because it will need to cool. It’s made with toasted walnuts and roasted, salted pistachios. The formula is from my favorite baklava filling recipe. Honey syrup is boiled on the stovetop and poured over the ground nuts to give it true baklava flavor.

The nut mixture needs to be paste-like to hold its form in the chilled candy. Add a little almond flour and stir until a paste forms. Set aside to cool.

Microwave-friendly.

When the nut mixture is cool, begin cooking the fudge. It only takes three ingredients, and three minutes in the microwave. You’ll need sweetened condensed milk, natural almond butter (no salt or sugar added) and white almond bark or white chocolate. You can also melt the ingredients in a saucepan on the stovetop if you don’t have a microwave.

Heat and stir the fudge to a smooth consistency, then pour half of it in a prepared 8×8 inch pan. Top with half of the nut paste. Spread it out as best as you can. You won’t get it totally even, but that’s alright!

Work quickly!

Top with the remaining fudge. This mixture sets quickly, so if it isn’t spreadable, microwave it for 30 seconds to 1 minute more.

Swirl the remaining nut paste into the top of the fudge. This will look messy and your knife (or skewer) will leave trails, but keep going. When it’s well swirled, pick up and drop the pan several times on the countertop to even the surface. Most of those trails will disappear.

I couldn’t resist a few more roasted pistachios sprinkled on top, and the extra bit of saltiness is nice. Let the fudge firm in the refrigerator. Lift it out by the parchment liner and slice into pieces.

The salted nut mixture is such a nice foil for the sweet fudge candy. I can usually eat only a small piece of fudge and be done, because of its sweetness. But this one is a different story!

I’ve always loved baklava and I continue to be inspired by its flavors (see this Baklava Pull-Apart Bread). I also make the original recipe quite often. Baklava Fudge is perfect for holiday gifts and such a nice addition to any candy tray. Enjoy!

Baklava Fudge

Heather Baird

This Baklava Fudge recipe puts a new spin on a Greek classic. A ribbon of spiced honey-nut filling runs through this salty-sweet candy. This recipe uses sweetened condensed milk, which can be confused with evaporated milk. Be sure you get the right canned milk. Sweetened condensed milk is thick and sweet.

5 from 7 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 minutes mins

2 hours chill time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 18 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Greek, Greek-Inspired

Servings 32 pieces

Equipment

• 8×8 inch baking dish

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Cinnamon-honey syrup

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup honey I used wildflower honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or more to taste

Nut mixture

• 3 oz. walnut pieces raw
• 3 oz. shelled whole pistachios roasted and salted
• 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons almond flour plus 1-2 tablespoons more if needed

Fudge

• 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk 1 can
• 2/3 cup natural almond butter no salt and no sugar added
• 16 oz. vanilla almond bark 1 package, broken into pieces
• 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios roasted and salted for sprinkling on top

Instructions

 

Syrup

• Stir together the sugar, water, and honey in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and let cook until reduced and syrupy, about 10-15 minutes, or until the yield is a little less than 1/3 cup of syrup. Remove the syrup from heat and stir in cinnamon.
• Set aside to let cool completely.

Nut mixture

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 5-8 minutes in the oven. Let cool, then add them, along with the pistachios, to a food processor bowl and process in quick bursts until finely chopped. Transfer the nuts to a medium bowl and add the cooled syrup, the salt, and the cinnamon. Stir together.
• Add 2 tablespoons of the almond flour and stir well. The mixture should form a paste. If the mixture is still syrupy, stir in another 1-2 tablespoons of almond flour until a pasty consistency forms. See pictures in the blog post for visual of the correct consistency.

Fudge

• Line 8-inch square pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil that overhangs all four edges and spray it with cooking spray.
• Place the sweetened condensed milk, 2/3 cup almond butter and almond bark in a large microwavable bowl. Heat in the microwave uncovered on high (100% power) in 1-minute increments, stirring well between each heating. Allow the residual heat from the bowl to do most of the work melting the mixture. This will take about 3 minutes. Be careful; the bowl may get hot. Alternatively, you may heat this mixture together in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat.
• Immediately pour half of the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the nut mixture in clumps on top and spread out as best as you can. Pour in the remaining fudge and top with remaining nuts mixture; swirl using a butter knife. Pick up and drop the pan twice or until the surface becomes level. Sprinkle on the 2 tablespoons of chopped pistachios and transfer to the refrigerator. Let chill until set, about 2 hours.
• Lift the candy out of the pan by the overhanging foil; cut the candy slab into pieces with a large chef’s knife.
• The fudge may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

What to expect: Roasted, salted pistachios contribute the right amount of salt to balance this sweet confection. Natural almond butter with no salt or sugar added allows for the purest almond flavor. The honey syrup which coats the nuts gives this candy true baklava flavor.

You can usually find natural almond butter with no salt or sugar added in the produce department, or in the bulk nuts section. Shelf-stable creamy almond butter can also be used in this recipe.

Keyword almond butter, baklava filling, chopped pistachios, ground walnuts, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla almond bark

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!