This Gluten-Free Vegan Baklava has flaky layers filled with fragrant chopped pistachios, soaked in a sticky syrup. It's traditionally made with filo pastry, but rice paper spring roll wrappers make a great substitute in this gluten-free version. It's surprisingly easy to make, and is also refined sugar free too!
Baklava is a dessert that's traditionally made with layers of filo pastry and chopped nuts, baked in an oven, then soaked in a honey syrup.
It's debated which country the dish comes from, and the way it's made varies slightly based on the region.
- The nuts that are used in baklava vary depending on the region.
- Pistachios are most commonly used in Turkey.
- Almonds are most in common in southern Greece, while walnuts are used in northern Greece.
- In Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Serbia, walnuts are most common.
Baklava is not usually gluten-free, as it's made using filo pastry. It's not easy to make filo pastry at home so I haven't attempted to make a gluten-free one, and I've never seen gluten-free filo pastry being sold in supermarkets.
However, I was inspired by the recent TikTok trend of making gluten-free croissants using rice paper (raw spring roll wrappers) and thought it would be the perfect substitute for filo pastry when making baklava!
The rice paper I used in this recipe is the rice paper that's normally used as raw spring roll wrappers. The ones you soak in hot water and then fill with veggies and roll into spring rolls.
You can find rice paper spring roll wrappers in the Asian food sections of most supermarkets, Asian food stores, or online.
Tips for making this Gluten-Free Vegan Baklava
- Make sure to not over-blend the nut mixture, as otherwise you'll end up with a fine powder or a nut butter, neither of which you'll be able to use for this dish!
- When dipping the rice paper sheet triangles into the almond milk, make sure to not let them soak for too long as this will make them very soggy and difficult to handle.
- Make sure to only soak as many rice paper sheets as you need to use right away, otherwise if you leave them to soak for too long they'll be difficult to handle.
- You'll need to make sure that the top layer of the baklava is completely covered with the blended nuts mixture, otherwise having rice paper on the top layer of the baklava will not result in a good texture, as uncovered rice paper sheets become very hard when baked in the oven!
- Drizzle the syrup over the baklava as soon as it's out of the oven - the syrup will soak in better while the baklava is still hot from the oven.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Place the shelled pistachios and coconut sugar (and cinnamon if using) in a food processor.
- Blend until you get a relatively coarse powder.
Tip: Make sure to not over-blend, as otherwise you'll end up with a fine powder or a nut butter, neither of which you'll be able to use for this dish!
- Cut all of the rice paper sheets into eighths - cut into half, then half again, then half again.
Tip: You should end up with a total of 48 triangular-shaped rice paper sheet pieces.
- Place the almond milk and melted coconut oil in a wide, shallow bowl.
- Scatter 1 tablespoon of the blended nuts mixture across the bottom of a baking dish - I used a round baking dish measuring 17cm (6 ¾inch) diameter and 4cm (1 ½ inch) depth.
- Dip a few of the rice paper sheet triangles into the almond milk bowl.
Tip: Make sure to not let them soak for too long as this will make them very soggy and difficult to handle.
- Carefully place the soaked rice paper sheets flat across the top of the layer of blended nuts mixture at the bottom of the baking dish.
- Scatter another 1 tablespoon of the blended nuts mixture over the layer of soaked rice paper sheets.
- Soak a few more of the rice paper sheets and lay out another layer of them in the baking dish.
Tip: Make sure to only soak as many rice paper sheets as you need to use right away, otherwise if you leave them to soak for too long they'll be difficult to handle.
- Keep repeating these steps until you use up all of the rice paper sheets.
Tip: Make sure to use 1 tablespoon of blended nuts mixture per layer.
- Cover up the final layer of rice paper sheets with all of the remaining blended nuts mixture.
Tip: You'll need to make sure that the top layer of the baklava is completely covered with the blended nuts mixture, otherwise having rice paper on the top layer of the baklava will not result in a good texture, as uncovered rice paper sheets become very hard when baked in the oven!
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
- While the baklava is baking in the oven, mix together the agave syrup and hot water.
- Drizzle the syrup over the baklava as soon as it's out of the oven - the syrup will soak in better while the baklava is still hot from the oven.
Tips for serving this Gluten-Free Vegan Baklava
- Be sure to wait for the baklava to cool completely and for the syrup to have soaked in completely before slicing or eating.
- The rice paper sheets have a very gummy texture while they're still hot, so it'll be difficult to slice and the texture won't be as enjoyable to eat - the gumminess goes away as it cools down.
How long does this Baklava keep for?
It tastes best eaten on the day it's made, as the rice paper sheets do get quite hard when left overnight.
Substitutions you can make to this recipe
- You can replace the pistachios with walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts, or use a mixture of any or all of these nuts.
- You can replace the coconut sugar with normal cane sugar.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: rice milk, almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, coconut milk, soy milk etc.
- You can replace the coconut oil with vegetable oil, olive oil or another relatively flavourless oil.
More vegan desserts recipes
- Brownie Cookies
- Pecan Pie Bars
- Churros
- Lemon Cheesecake Crumble Bars
- Chocolate Mousse Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- Blondies
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Baklava
Ingredients
For the nuts:
- 150 g (1 cup) shelled pistachios (or sub walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts - or use a mixture of any or all of these)
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar (or sub normal cane sugar)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
For the rice paper sheets:
- 6 rice paper sheets (also known as rice paper raw spring roll wrappers)
- 90 ml (⅓ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil , melted (or sub vegetable oil, olive oil or another relatively flavourless oil)
For the syrup:
- 2 tablespoons agave syrup (or sub maple syrup, or any other sweetener)
- 3 tablespoons boiling hot water
Instructions
For the nuts:
- Place the shelled pistachios and coconut sugar (and cinnamon if using) in a food processor.
- Blend until you get a relatively coarse powder - make sure to not over-blend, as otherwise you'll end up with a fine powder or a nut butter, neither of which you'll be able to use for this dish!
For the rice paper sheets:
- Cut all of the rice paper sheets into eighths - cut into half, then half again, then half again. You should end up with a total of 48 triangular-shaped rice paper sheet pieces.
- Place the almond milk and melted coconut oil in a wide, shallow bowl.
To assemble:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Scatter 1 tablespoon of the blended nuts mixture across the bottom of a baking dish - I used a round baking dish measuring 17cm (6 ¾inch) diameter and 4cm (1 ½ inch) depth.
- Dip a few of the rice paper sheet triangles into the almond milk bowl - make sure to not let them soak for too long, as this will make them very soggy and difficult to handle.
- Carefully place the soaked rice paper sheets flat across the top of the layer of blended nuts mixture at the bottom of the baking dish.
- Scatter another 1 tablespoon of the blended nuts mixture over the layer of soaked rice paper sheets.
- Soak a few more of the rice paper sheets and lay out another layer of them in the baking dish - make sure to only soak as many rice paper sheets as you need to use right away, otherwise if you leave them to soak for too long, they'll be difficult to handle.
- Keep repeating these steps until you use up all of the rice paper sheets - make sure to use 1 tablespoon of blended nuts mixture per layer.
- Cover up the final layer of rice paper sheets with all of the remaining blended nuts mixture - you'll need to make sure that the top layer of the baklava is completely covered with the blended nuts mixture, otherwise having rice paper on the top layer of the baklava will not result in a good texture, as uncovered rice paper sheets become very hard when baked in the oven!
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
For the syrup:
- While the baklava is baking in the oven, mix together the agave syrup and hot water.
- Drizzle the syrup over the baklava as soon as it's out of the oven - the syrup will soak in better while the baklava is still hot from the oven.
- Be sure to wait for the baklava to cool completely and for the syrup to have soaked in completely before slicing and eating - the rice paper sheets have a very gummy texture while they're still hot, so it'll be difficult to slice and the texture won't be as enjoyable to eat. The gumminess goes away as it cools down.
- Tastes best eaten on the day it's made, as the rice paper sheets do get quite hard when left overnight.
Notes
- Make sure to not over-blend the nut mixture, as otherwise you'll end up with a fine powder or a nut butter, neither of which you'll be able to use for this dish!
- When dipping the rice paper sheet triangles into the almond milk, make sure to not let them soak for too long as this will make them very soggy and difficult to handle.
- Make sure to only soak as many rice paper sheets as you need to use right away, otherwise if you leave them to soak for too long they'll be difficult to handle.
- You'll need to make sure that the top layer of the baklava is completely covered with the blended nuts mixture, otherwise having rice paper on the top layer of the baklava will not result in a good texture, as uncovered rice paper sheets become very hard when baked in the oven!
- Drizzle the syrup over the baklava as soon as it's out of the oven - the syrup will soak in better while the baklava is still hot from the oven.
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Anonymous
What a great idea! Can't wait to try this!
Rhian Williams
Thank you!
Maria
HI
Is the point of cutting the rice paper sheets into triangles to allow the syrup to soak through the layers more easily?
Thanks!
Rhian Williams
Hi! Yes it is! And they're easier to handle in smaller pieces too!