Chocolate Almond Baklawa and Dine In Palestine

Dine In Palestine: An Authentic Taste of Palestine in 60 Recipes from My Family to Your Table, written by Heifa Odeh, features an incredible collection of vibrant, family-style recipes paired with beautiful photos and personal stories.

Highlights include Khaliat al Nahl (Honeycomb Bread Stuffed with Cheese), Imshat (Cauliflower Fritters), Za’atar Spiced Tilapia with Lentil Salad, Wart (Cream-Stuffed Phyllo Triangles), and Qamr El-Deen (Apricot Beverage). I will also be sharing her recipe for Chocolate Almond Baklawa following the review.

Disclosure: I received this book from Page Street Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and statements are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

Heifa Odeh

Heifa Odeh is a Palestinian American recipe developer and writer. Previously a teacher and cake decorator, she created the blog, Fufu’s Kitchen, to share her passion for cooking and baking with others.

She also teaches classic Arab cuisine and was the winner of Saveur magazine’s 2019 Best Food Culture Blog. Heifa is currently based in Chicago, Illinois with her family. This is her first cookbook.

Dine In Palestine

Before jumping into the recipes, Heifa begins Dine In Palestine with a short introduction, family memories, and how she developed a love for food.

Chapters are divided according to the following: An Authentic Breakfast, For the Love of Vegetables, The Land & Sea, Sweet Treats, and Classic Drinks. The contents have a list of the included recipes and page numbers for easy reference.

The photography is provided by Doaa Elkady. Every single recipe is paired with a beautifully styled full-page photo of the finished dish.

Measurements are listed in US Customary and Metric. Titles are written in romanized Arabic and English. Each recipe has a headnote with background information, personal stories, helpful tips, yield, and serving ideas.

Chocolate Almond Baklawa

Baklawa is a favorite of mine and I absolutely loved the combination of flavors in this Chocolate Almond Baklawa.

Layers of thin phyllo sheets are arranged in a 9×13 inch (23×33 centimeter) baking pan, then covered with a finely chopped chocolate almond mixture. Even more phyllo is arranged over the filling before cutting into diamonds and topping with melted butter.

After baking until lightly golden, the baklawa is soaked in a sweet coffee syrup and allowed to cool completely to room temperature.

It is such a fun dessert to assemble and perfect for celebrations and get-togethers since it is even better the next day.

A Few Tips

You can either finely chop the chocolate and almonds by hand or use a food processor. I went with Heifa’s suggestion of processing each ingredient individually until finely chopped, then mixing together before layering with the phyllo. This really helped with decreasing the prep time.

If using store-bought frozen phyllo, make sure it is completely thawed before removing from the package and unrolling.

I usually put the box in the refrigerator the night before or on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours. Don’t thaw the phyllo longer than a day or they will become too sticky to separate and handle.

If the phyllo sheets are larger than your pan, trim them to fit using a sharp knife. Save the best looking filo sheets for the top layer of the baklawa.

Prepare all the ingredients and the filling before removing the phyllo from the package. It dries out quickly.

Cut the Chocolate Almond Baklawa into diamonds or squares with a sharp knife before covering with the melted butter.

Other Dishes

I also made Qalayet Bandura (Tomato Garlic Skillet), Macarona bi’ Lahmeh (Pasta with Yogurt and Minced Meat), Awameh (Sweet Dumplings), and Qahweh Sadah (Arabic Coffee).

The Qalayet Bandura (Tomato Garlic Skillet) was such an amazing and easy addition to breakfast. I loved the combination of tomato and garlic with a little spice from the green chile. It was perfect for pairing with fresh pita bread.

The Macarona bi’ Lahmeh (Pasta with Yogurt and Minced Meat) was my personal favorite. Tender spaghetti noodles are tossed in a creamy garlic lemon yogurt sauce, then topped with seasoned ground beef and toasted pine nuts.

I made the Awameh (Sweet Dumplings) when a friend was visiting and they were a huge hit. The lightly sweetened yeast-based dough is fried until golden, then coated in an orange blossom sugar syrup.

The Qadweh Sadah (Arabic Coffee) is another quick and delicious recipe. Ground coffee is simmered in water with ground cardamom, strained, and served with a little sugar if desired.

Dine In Palestine is a fantastic pick for those interested in Palestinian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Heifa has included recipes for every occasion from quick and easy meals to dishes requiring longer baking times and more intricate desserts.

Most of the ingredients are readily available in larger American grocery stores. A few items that may require visiting a market with Palestinian ingredients include tahini, ghee, sumac, pomegranate molasses, halloumi, seven spice, bulgur, freekeh, golden raisins, vermicelli noodles, and kataifi dough.

Chocolate Almond Baklawa Recipe

Excerpt from Dine In Palestine

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5 from 3 votes

Chocolate Almond Baklawa

A recipe for Chocolate Almond Baklawa! Layers of phyllo are filled with a chocolate almond mixture and soaked in a sweet coffee syrup.

Course Dessert

Cuisine N/A

Keyword almond, baklava, baklawa, chocolate, dessert, filo, Palestine, phyllo

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

0 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 2 -3 Dozen Pieces

Ingredients

Chocolate Almond Baklawa:

• 6 ounces (175 grams) 70% dark chocolate finely chopped
• 14 ounces (397 grams) unsalted whole almonds finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 package (16 ounces, 454 grams) phyllo dough thawed
• 2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter melted

Syrup:

• 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (240 milliliters) water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (2 grams) instant coffee

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350˚F (177˚C).
• Mix together the chopped chocolate, almonds, and cinnamon. You can either chop each ingredient by hand or with a food processor one at a time and then combine everything.
• In a 9×13 inch (23×33 centimeter) baking pan, lay half of the phyllo sheets flat and evenly in the pan. Trim the edges if it does not fit exactly.
• Add the chocolate-almond mixture on top of the phyllo, spreading it out evenly.
• Place the rest of the phyllo sheets on top of the filling, and then with a sharp knife, slice across the shorter side and then slice diagonally to create diamond-looking pieces. You can also make square pieces. Either will be great!
• Pour the melted butter all over the top evenly.
• Bake for 35 minutes, until the baklawa is lightly browned on top.
• While the baklawa is baking, make the syrup by combining the ingredients in a small pot.
• Stir together on medium-high heat until it starts to boil, and then let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until it thickens slightly. Set this aside. You should taste some coffee flavor in the syrup. If you like it more pronounced, feel free to add more instant coffee and stir.
• After baking, pour the warm syrup immediately all over the top of the baklawa. Let the baklawa cool completely to room temperature to absorb the syrup. Baklawa is best the next day!