Choclava {Chocolate Baklava}

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Are you a fan of Baklava? If you are, then I have an amazing surprise for you today…Choclava! That’s right, a delicious chocolate version of Baklava that is perfect for the holidays. Wait, scratch that. Choclava is perfect anytime of the year, but it wouldn’t be the holidays at our house without it…..

I have another surprise for you, today is my 3rd Blogiversary!!! Can you believe it? The past three years have flown by so quickly. I can’t wait to see what happens in year 4!

But first, a quick tutorial on how to deal with phyllo pastry sheets so you can make your own Choclava for the holidays. 🙂

How to make Baklava with chocolate

Defrost your phyllo pastry sheets in the refrigerator 24 hours before you need them. Pull one of the rolls out of the box and unroll it on the counter. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap…..

Then cover with a damp towel so the sheets do not dry out…..

Phyllo pastry sheets are very fragile, so you need to handle them as gently as possible. 😉 Depending on which brand of phyllo dough sheets that you buy, they may not cover the whole pan. “Fillo” dough sheets will not, so just cut and paste them together to fill the pan as you go…..

Don’t worry, it won’t effect how they turn out. The syrup holds everything together. 🙂

In a large bowl, mix together pecans, chocolate chips, sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside…..

I pulse my pecans in a food processor, but you can chop them by hand if you prefer.

Brush a 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking sheet lightly with melted butter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Layer 8 sheets of phyllo dough on the bottom of the baking sheet brushing each sheet with butter…..

Sprinkle 2 cups of filling mixture over the buttered sheets…..

I guess I actually have another surprise, I make half of the pan Choclava and the other half Baklava. This is completely optional, but I will explain how as we go along just in case you would like to do the same.

Top with 4 more sheets of phyllo brushing each sheet with butter. This is a little bit tricky because there is nothing to keep the phyllo sheet in place, it’s sitting on top of nuts and sugar. Just drizzle the butter on and brush the best that you can….it will work, I promise!

Sprinkle with remaining filling mixture and top with remaining phyllo sheets/butter…..

Now grab a ruler and some toothpicks. Place toothpicks along the side of baking sheet every 2 1/2 inches…..

Lightly cut across at at an angle between toothpicks forming a diamond pattern…..

You don’t want to cut all the way through the Choclava, you just want to go down about a 1/4 inch through the top layers…..

Don’t worry if your “diamonds” are not perfect, mine never are!! Place in the oven and bake for one hour…..

See how light and flaky those layers are? While the Choclava is baking make the Syrup by adding orange juice, water, sugar, honey, and lemon juice to a medium saucepan…..

Stir together, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the Choclava from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then pour hot syrup evenly over the top…..

Allow the syrup to soak into the Choclava, and to cool slightly, then cut through all of the layers to separate…..

The house smells sooooo incredibly amazing!! Orange, honey, cinnamon, chocolate, and pecans are an amazing combination. The flaky layers of phyllo take this dessert over the top! Did I mention the butter? Ahhh, pure heaven. 🙂

How to make half Baklava and half Choclava

If you would like to make yours 1/2 and 1/2 as well, simply put 1/2 of the chopped pecans, 6 Tablespoons of sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon in two separate bowls. Add 6 ounces of miniature chocolate chips to one of the bowls, then spread half of each mixtures over the buttered phyllo sheets. Just make sure you are adding them to the same half of the pan. Just lift up a corner to see which side is which if you forget. 😉

Yes, this process is time consuming, I will not lie about that. When my daughter was about 11 years old I was too sick to make the Choclava, but that did not stop my daughter from making it on her own with me yelling out the directions from the other room, LOL. Not rocket science!

More baklava inspired recipes:

• Baklava Cookies
• Baklava Honey-Glazed Walnuts
• Pistachio Baklava Oatmeal
• Baklava Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

Enjoy!!

Choclava - Chocolate Baklava

Thin flaky layers of pastry filled with pecans, cinnamon, and chocolate make this Choclava version of Baklava completely irresistible!

5 from 4 votes

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Keyword: phyllo, recipe, syrup, chocolate, pecans

Prep Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 42 Servings

Calories: 234kcal

Author: Lisa Johnson

1/21x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 pound package phyllo dough sheets about 22 sheets
• 1 pound pecans finely chopped
• 12 ounces mini chocolate chips
• ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter melted

Syrup

• ¾ cups orange juice
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup honey
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

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Instructions

• In a large bowl, mix together pecans, chocolate chips, sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.
• Brush a 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking sheet lightly with melted butter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Layer 8 sheets of phyllo dough on the bottom of the baking sheet brushing each sheet with butter.
• Sprinkle 2 cups of filling mixture over the buttered sheets.
• Top with 4 more sheets of phyllo brushing each sheet with butter.
• Sprinkle with remaining filling mixture and top with remaining phyllo sheets/butter.
• Place toothpicks along the side of baking sheet every 2 1/2 inches.
• Lightly cut across at at an angle between toothpicks forming a diamond pattern.
• Bake for one hour.

To make the Syrup

• In a medium sauce pan, stir together orange juice, water, sugar, honey, and lemon juice.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Remove Choclava from oven and pour syrup over.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut choclava all the way down to the pan to separate.

Notes

To make Choclava and Baklava in the same pan:

• Mix 1/2 pound of pecans, 6 Tablespoons sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon in separate bowls.
• Add 6 ounces of mini chocolate chips to one of the bowls.
• Follow the instructions, only spreading 1/2 of each mixture over the phyllo sheets in the pan.

Nutrition

Calories: 234kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 59mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 202IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg