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Saragli or Baklava cigars are a traditional Greek syrup soaked dessert make with phyllo dough and nuts
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5 from 1 vote

Saragli or Baklava cigars

Saragli or Baklava cigars are a traditional Greek syrup soaked dessert make with phyllo dough and nuts
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Greek
Servings: 27 saragli
Author: Mia Kouppa

Equipment

  • Pastry brush
  • Mini food processor (optional but helpful)
  • Large baking pan (we use a 4.5 L glass rectangular baking pan)

Ingredients

For the syrup

  • 1 ¼ cup (250 grams) granulated white sugar
  • 1 ¼ cup (310 mL) water
  • ¾ cup (180 mL) honey
  • 1 tsp (4 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 slice lemon
  • 1 - 2 cinnamon sticks

For the saragli

  • 1 ¼ cup (140 grams) crushed almonds
  • 3 cups (420 grams) crushed walnuts
  • ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup (125 mL) melted butter, unsalted for the nut mixture
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup (180 mL) melted butter, unsalted for brushing onto the phyllo layers
  • 1 pound phyllo dough

Instructions

Prepare the syrup

  • Bring to a boil the sugar, water, honey, lemon juice, lemon slice and cinnamon stick.  Lower heat and cook just until sugar melts, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Prepare the saragli

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Prepare your baking pan by brushing the bottom and side with some butter.
  • In a medium sized bowl combine the crushed almonds and walnuts, breadcrumbs, the ½ cup (125 mL) of melted butter, the cinnamon and the salt. Mix well until combined.
  • Carefully unwrap your phyllo dough and open the sheets completely. Cut your phyllo into strips which are approximately 13 cm or 5 inches wide. Keep one of the strip layers out to work with and wrap the rest in a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap until ready to use (to keep the phyllo from drying out).
  • Take one phyllo strip and brush with melted butter. Top it with another phyllo strip and brush that with butter as well.
    You can watch Billie here, folding the saragli.
  • Take 1 tablespoon of filling and place it at the bottom of your phyllo strip, about ½ inch from the bottom.
  • Fold the bottom of the phyllo strip over the filling (you may not cover all the filling - that is fine). Next, fold in the sides by about 1 centimeter or enough so that the folded phyllo stays in place and you have secured the filling in place.
  • Next, carefully roll your filling all the way until you have made a cigar shape. Do so carefully as you want to be sure that the sides remain tucked in and you don't see any of the nut filling peaking through.
  • Transfer the baklava cigar to the baking pan, seam side down.
  • Repeat until all of the filling and phyllo have been used up; you should be able to get between 25 - 27 saragli from this recipe.
  • Brush melted butter over the top of your saragli rolls. Then, using your fingers drizzle water over the top.
  • Bake in the middle rack of your oven for approximately 30 - 40 minutes until the top is golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup over top. Decorate with the cinnamon sticks and lemon slice if desired.
  • Saragli can be kept at room temperature for several days.  Do not cover it tightly with plastic wrap, as this will cause your phyllo to get soggy. Instead, when it has cooled completely, use a clean tea towel or piece of cheesecloth to cover your saragli.  This will keep it fresh and crispy.
  • Enjoy

Notes

Crushed walnuts and almonds:
We prefer to crush our own nuts (as opposed to purchasing them this way).  Place walnut halves and whole almonds in a food processor and grind them until they reach a consistency where you have finely ground nuts mixed in with some larger, coarser pieces. If you don't have a food processor, you can do this with a sharp knife.
Size of saragli:
We like to make our saragli this size, each one is a good portion.  You can follow the instructions however but use phyllo strips which are wider, or not as wide to make either larger or smaller saragli.
Baking pan:
If you don't have a pan the size that we indicate, you can use a smaller rectangular baking pan - but you may need to bake the saragli in two batches. The important thing is to be sure that the baklava cigars fit into the pan snugly.  This will allow them to bake perfectly and for the syrup to be properly absorbed.