Real numbers · USDA-cited this time

Calories in baklava: unlike its cousin kunafa, this one made the database

A small miracle of food bureaucracy: its cousin kunafa has no entry anywhere — we checked, and had to build the estimate from ingredients. Baklava made the database. USDA FoodData Central carries Baklava, FDC 2708044: 440 kcal per 100 g (6.6 g protein / 37.6 g carbs / 29.3 g fat). So this page gets to do what the kunafa page couldn't — scale one real citation by piece weight, no decomposition needed.

What a piece actually weighs — and costs

Piece	Weight	Math (440 kcal/100 g)	kcal
Small square (home cut)	~25 g	0.25 × 440	≈110
Diamond (the classic cut)	~30–40 g	0.30–0.40 × 440	≈130–175
Big bakery rectangle	~60 g	0.60 × 440	≈265

So a "just two pieces with coffee" sitting is 260–350 kcal — a fair dessert, not a crisis, when the day knows about it. The per-piece numbers above are the one USDA entry scaled by weight; weigh your piece once and you'll know your bakery's cut forever.

The two levers — the same family kunafa has: the syrup soak and the butter brushed between the phyllo layers. Together they're the difference between a 400 and a 480 kcal/100 g tray (typical spread, labeled typical — the USDA 440 sits mid-range). Decided in the kitchen, invisible on the plate.

The glucose picture (estimated, not measured)

Sugar syrup over refined pastry: expect a high glucose band for the sitting. That's an estimate from composition, not a measurement — nobody has trialed your grandmother's tray. Pairing with protein softens it slightly: yogurt alongside helps, and the walnuts or pistachios already inside are doing quiet work.

Enjoy it properly

Baklava is an occasion food; a 300-kcal coffee sitting fits a normal day when the day knows about it. That's the whole trick: log it without ceremony, no red numbers, no penance — the method treats dessert as data, not sin.

Scan your piece — free, 3 scans/day

Source: USDA FoodData Central, Baklava, FDC ID 2708044 — 440 kcal, 6.6 g protein, 37.6 g carbohydrate, 29.3 g fat per 100 g. Retrieved 2026-07-28. Per-piece figures scale that single entry by weight; the 400–480 tray spread is a typical range, labeled as such, not a citation.