Making Baklava with Kids

Making Baklava is easier than you think. Here’s a fun way to explore the world with food with your child and a yummy baklava recipe from Greece.

I wish we had enough money to take our children to Greece, but let’s be honest with 3 kids, one in college and the others 2 and 6 years old add to that a Hardworking Dad and a Stay at Home Mom we’ll probably never get the chance to afford that trip.

So we decided on the next best thing… we packed up our bags and headed to a local town that is known for its Greek Culture. We took a trip to Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Tarpon Springs has the largest population of Greek and Greek-Americans in the U.S. The city is home to the World Famous Sponge Docks, which are still an active working waterfront as they have been since the 1800s.

Take a peek at this video to learn more about Tarpon Springs – A Taste of Greece in Florida.

We discovered this adorable town full of delicious restaurants and a working sponge dock that attracts tourists from all over. I was so surprised when we got out of the car the air was filled with the smell of homemade soap. Quite a special smell right next to the sea.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to make my own soap, a local friend Vanessa at The Crafty Gemini always shares the best ideas she has a tutorial on how to make your own soap, even a video!.

While we were there we had to stop at a local Restaurant that everyone recommends called Hella’s.  It did not disappoint it was so much fun with our girls! With a beautifully designed Greek interior, Greek music, and Greek food that was amazing!

Our trip was not complete without a stop at the Bakery when we were done. We bought a small box of Baklava. We encourage you to check out your area and see if you have any Greek Communities or Restaurants, exploring them with children can be a tiny mini vacation and exposure to world culture.

We have fond memories of trips to the San Francisco Greek Food Festival and Detroit Greek Community and the local restaurants and Greek communities we discovered there.

Have you looked for special Greek events in your community?

Making Baklava with Kids

Once we arrived at home, I asked my daughter which was her favorite from the trip and Baklava was the first thing that came out of her mouth. We decided to try our own attempt at making it.  I thought you could join me in helping kids learn how to make baklava. Are you ready for this tasty treat?

Baklava is a layered dessert made from phyllo dough, nuts, and sweetened with honey or syrup. It’s a traditional Mediterranean and Middle Eastern pastry that’s popular in many Greek and Lebanese restaurants. Every culture adds different things to it, we’re going to focus on learning to make authentic Greek Baklava.

First, we gathered our ingredients together after printing the recipe.

Baklava Recipe for Kids

There are many recipes available to Baklava. Just pick your favorite…

• All Recipes
• My Greek Dish
• House of Nash Eats
• Silk Road Recipes

Then we watched a video of how to make it. 

Videos for how to make Baklava

• Greek Food About
• What’s This Food
• Baklava Recipe
• Elizabeth’s Greek Kitchen
• Alexanders’ Greek Kitchen

Ingredients for Baklava

• phyllo pastry dough
• butter
• walnuts
• pistachios
• water
• sugar
• vanilla
• honey
• cinnamon

It’s simple process that truthfully my 6 year old was able to do most of the tasks herself. It’s such a confidence boost to as she creates her own dishes. Plus the whole time she’s reading and practicing math with measurements, LOVE IT.

The steps were simple… dough, butter, dough, butter, then nuts, and again dough, butter, just follow the recipe. She even used the mixer to chop the nuts and I removed them so she would avoid the sharp edges.

I had three adult jobs to lay down the dough sheets, cut the diagonal lines to form the pieces and cook & pour the syrup with her assistance.

Want to keep it even more simple? Make Mini Baklava! This easy baklava recipe takes just a few minutes to make and no effort to put together.

While it was baking we mixed together sugar, honey and vanilla to make the syrup that you pour over the pastry once it’s cooked. You can see from the image above she couldn’t wait to pour the syrup over the baklava, it smelled so good!

This turned out to be a big hit at our house and was absolutely delicious.

Truthfully I can’t wait to explore making more Greek Recipes with her. We love making our own hummus together, again she helps with the blender. The next one we want to try is this recipe for Feta and Spinach Couscous Patties.

What Greek dish is your favorite?

Greece: Around the World in 12 Dishes

Around the World in 12 Dishes! We started our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK, and now are arriving in Athens, capital of Greece!

Check out where we’ve traveled so far on our Cooking Around the World.

United Kingdom ~ Sweden ~ Russia ~ India ~ Japan ~ Australia ~ French Polynesia ~ Mexico

The world is such a wonderfully diverse and colorful place. Our children see maps, flags and books. They see postcards and maybe they see films about the world.. but let’s bring it to life through food! Taste and smell don’t often get explored, we think this would be wonderfully fun and interesting for you and your children.  

Not only is it an exciting and different way to learn about cultures, but cooking with children brings a host of benefits – from numeracy to science. How can you beat that?

Books About Greece

While our Baklava was baking we read a few books about Greece too. Here’s our top picks of Books about Greece.

• Our World: Greece by Agatha Rodi
• A Kid’s Guide to Greece by Jack L Roberts
• Eyewitness Ancient Greece (DK Eyewitness) by DK
• See Inside Ancient Greece by Rob Lloyd Jones
• Good Night Greece by Adam Gamble
• My First Book – Greece: All About Greece For Kids by Jonathan Day

Greek Recipe Books

• My Greek Table: Authentic Flavors and Modern Home Cooking from My Kitchen to Yours by Diane Kochilas
• The Food of the Greek Islands: Cooking and Culture at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean by Aglaia Kremezi
• The Complete Book of Greek Cooking by The Recipe Club of St. Paul’s Orthodox Cathedral
• Vefa’s Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou

Greek Recipes for Kids

Many parenting bloggers have come together in our Around the World in 12 Dishes Series about Greece to help you on your food journey and will each cook a dish with our children and share about it – to help inspire you to have a go!

• Gyro Bar from Adventures In Mommydom
• Greek Salad Bites from Creative Family Fun
• How to Make Baklava from Domestic Goddesque
• Moussaka from Here Come The Girls
• Moussaka from Kid World Citizen
• Spanakopita from Kitchen Counter Chronicles
• Stuffed Tomatoes from Mermaids’ Makings
• Lamb and Feta Burgers from Mummymummymum 

How to join the fun!

• Cook a dish from Greece: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savory) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!
  
  Typical dishes: Gyros, Souvlaki, Spanakopita, Baklava.

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