Gluten-Free Vegan Baklava

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.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Greek, Turkish

Keyword dairy-free baklava, gluten-free baklava, gluten-free vegan baklava, vegan baklava

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Total Time 45

Servings slices

Calories 197kcal

Author Rhian Williams

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 (3 tablespoons) coconut sugar (or sub normal cane sugar)
½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) ground cinnamon (optional)

For the rice paper sheets:

6 (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 (1 tablespoon) coconut oil , melted (or sub vegetable oil, olive oil or another relatively flavourless oil)

For the syrup:

2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) agave syrup (or sub maple syrup, or any other sweetener)
3 tablespoons (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

Tips for making this recipe:

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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