Can you see how decadent and delicious these chocolate hazelnut baklava rolls? I bet you wouldn't even believe me when I say these are actually pretty simple to make! They are simple, buttery, crispy phyllo rolls filled with chocolate hazelnut spread and chopped nuts then sweetened with a sweet syrup! So good!!

Plus since this baklava is a roll, it is actually so easy to serve. There is no cutting involved! Just plate these baklava rolls and watch them disappear.

What is baklava made of?

This popular Ottoman Turkish dessert is layered pastry, made of phyllo (or filo) pastry sheets. Chopped nuts are layered between butter sheets of phyllo and then drizzled with a sweet syrup. Baklava is usually prepared in a large rectangular pan, with the sheets of phyllo dough laid flat, separated with melted butter and a mixture of chopped nuts. Pistachios, walnuts, and hazelnuts are the most commonly used nuts. The layered dessert is then cut into diamonds or rectangles and then baked. As soon a it comes out of the oven, the prepared sweet syrup (a simple syrup flavored with honey, rosewater or orange/lemon juice) is drizzled over the entire dish. The syrup soaks into the crisp baklava, which is then served at room temperature.

How do you make a chocolate hazelnut baklava?

The addition of chocolate to baklava is definitely not traditional but adding chocolate to any dessert certainly is! Since chopped hazelnuts are common in baklava, adding a layer of chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella) seems like a no-brainer!

What ingredients do you need for chocolate hazelnut baklava rolls?

chocolate hazelnut spread - I used this one and it is delicious! Organic ingredients with no refined sugar
phyllo dough sheets - I love this brand for phyllo dough sheets, super easy to work with and always light and crisp!
melted butter - to separate the layer of phyllo dough
pistachios - chopped, or any combination of mixed nuts
hazelnuts - chopped, or any combination of mixed nuts
sugar - sweeten the simple syrup
water - to make the simple syrup
orange juice - to cut through the sweetness of the entire dish, you can also use lemon juice

How do you make the syrup for baklava?

Baklava is known for being soaked in sweet syrup. Though it may seem complicated, it is actually just a simple syrup (I mean literally, simple syrup = water + sugar!).

For this recipe it is also flavored with orange juice because chocolate and orange really pair well together. Though there is just a smallest amount of orange juice in the syrup, when everything comes together that orange juice helps to cut through the sweetness!

baklava roll ups with chopped nuts and chocolate

How do you make baklava rolls?

These baklava rolls definitely do not look like the traditional layered pastry dish (even they do have all of the flavors and more!!) Instead they're roll ups or cigars.

You just take a sheet of phyllo dough, cut it in half horizontal so you have 2 squares. Spread melted butter on one sheet, top that with another phyllo sheet and melted butter on top of that one too. Then add a spoonful of chocolate hazelnut spread towards the bottom of one edge, top with some chopped nuts, fold the sides of the phyllo dough in to cover and enclose the filling. Then just roll up the sheet to form a cylinder. The melted butter that is spread on the entire sheet will help to seal the edge.

Just place each baklava roll up in a baking pan and repeat the filling and rolling step for all of the rolls. Bake and drizzle the syrup over the rolls as soon as they come out of the oven. Top with more chopped nuts if desired!

buttery baked phyllo nutella cigars in baking pan

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pistachios and hazelnut phyllo layered cigars

📖 Recipe