In the Northern Hemisphere the official start of autumn is just 17 days away. With the new season comes the changing of the leaves, warm-soft scarves, soothing drinks made from apples and pears, comforting hot meals, and fresh nuts. Hazelnuts will soon fall from the trees ready to be roasted and enjoyed by many. Yes, those creamy nuts that compliment chocolate so well and that give a crunchiness to all sorts of sweets will soon be arriving.
My extended neighborhood is lined with hazelnut trees, I believe the Common Hazel and Filbert variety. I can’t tell you how many times, on late summer and early autumn days, I’ve walked those quiet streets and come across some strange looking nuts on the ground. I figured they were something native to the area and ones that I had never heard of. It wasn’t until I saw the same nuts at the green grocers with a sign saying hazelnuts that I learned what they were. I never realized that they were fresh, raw hazelnuts right from the tree; of course I had to buy a small bag and give them a taste.
The internet confirmed that they were indeed raw hazelnuts right from the tree. What a lucky find for me. Apparently most hazelnuts are not sold in this exact state, still encased in their green leaves. Hazelnut growers wait until the nuts have fallen from the trees on their own before being harvested. By this time the leaves and nut shell have turned brown and are ready to be eaten. Though hazelnuts may be eaten raw it is customary to roast them to bring out more flavour and their distinct aroma.
How I roasted the raw hazelnuts still in their shell:
I allowed my raw hazelnuts to sit for a few more days before roasting, so the leaves dried out a bit more. I then removed each nut from the inside the green leaf pockets. Since I wanted to roast in their shell I wanted to make sure they were clean, they were quickly rinsed under water. Then I pat dried them and left to sit and completely air dry before roasting. The oven was heated to 135C or 275F, the nuts where laid on a baking sheet in one layer. They roasted for 20 minutes, I then cracked one open to check on the colour. When they are ready to be removed from the oven the colour will be slightly golden, the shell will turn a dark brown like in these photos. I then poured the roasted hazelnuts onto a separate cool baking sheet to allow to cool before eating. Of course it goes without saying that they need to cool before handling. You’ll also want to rub off the brown skin from the nuts as it gives them a slight bitter taste. I did so by placing some nuts on a clean kitchen towel and rubbing together until the skin came off.
The smell of the hazelnuts roasting was incredible, and the taste doesn’t even compare to ready roasted store bought nuts. I hope to find them raw like this again this year. Though they are plenty around my neighborhood I just wouldn’t feel right taking food away from the local wild life. Regardless, I know I’ll definately be roasting hazelnuts again.
How about you, have you ever gone hazelnut picking or roasted your own raw hazelnuts?
Nice post! There are also some hazelnut trees in my neighborhood, so I should start picking those lovely nuts (they always seem to disappear before I get there, though)…
Cheers,
Rosa
You should, Rosa before the squirrels eat them all. Hehe:)
A couple of years ago I roasted my first chestnuts. They turned out quite good, but not perfect. Looks like this might be the year for hazelnuts. Thanks for the tutorial! It’s something I’ve never done before.
I hope you give it another try this year, MJ. My pleasure!
I ahve never seen a hazelnut in full garb.
HOW BEAUTIFUL!
Their frilly dresses are just gorgeous.
Thank you Monique!
Can’t take my eyes off the pictures, Nancy! That I forgot to read how you roasted them…lol ;)
Thank you Venisri!
Exquisite photos–good info. Thanks yet again.
Thank you Victoria!
What gorgeous looking hazelnuts!!!… Never seen them in this form with the green leaves… I adore the clicks too..
Too bad, but I hope you can find them sometime.:)
I have shared it on facebook :)
Thank you Shema!:)
OK this is really cool and so lucky for you to be surrounded by hazelnut trees. I have never seen a fresh one, just almonds. If the nuts are on the ground you are not robbing from the environment ;-)
What an incredibly helpful post. I still recall and use your “green potatoes” post!
Such useful tips, thanks for sharing! And how lucky are you to have hazelnuts trees around!
Nancy, I never seen hazelnut tree…your pictures are so beautiful.
Hope you are having a great week :D
Roasted hazelnuts but I’ve never seen them in the shell like this. Really gorgeous!
Thanks for sharing this process!
a tip for removing the skins: boil enough water to fully cover the nuts, add a couple tablespoons of baking soda, along with the nuts to the water. boil three minutes. rinse and the skins will come right off. then dry and roast.
a plus: with this method, the baking soda will spit everywhere. it looks like a mess, but with one wipe of a paper towel, you’ll reveal a brand-new looking stovetop.
Wow, never seen hazelnuts in their birth form. You are seriously lucky to have a hazelnut tree around. Love those nuts and your pictures are so beautiful.
I’ve never gone hazelnut picking but I love hazelnuts and just added some to my batch of granola. I can only imagine the wonderful smell!
I am always late for chestnut, hazelnut–picking…whenever I remember it, they were all gone.
I’ve been harvesting wild fruit and vegetables since I was a small child but never picked or roasted hazelnuts! Yours look delicious! I’m feeling a little envious of the roasting aroma, so will have to find some at the market to roast for myself. Your photos are simply stunning! I’m in awe! Thanks for sharing the tutorial and your lovely pics!
What a wonderful experience it must be to go hazelnut picking! Fun. Love the scent of roasted nuts, especially hazelnuts!
I grew up with a lot of wild hazelnut trees on my family’s farm–on hikes we would find some and bash them between rocks to crack them open! How rustic, right?
I have never seen them like that with their leaves around them. You are very lucky to have a line of such trees down your road.
What a find! Your hazelnuts with the leaf covering are just beautiful. And how wonderful to have freshly roasted nuts to use :) Happy weekend, Nancy!
How lucky are you to have these lovely nuts available for the picking!
Thanks for the recipe! This year I beat the squirrels, filbert worms and bluejays to the Duchillys in our declining filbert orchard by picking them straight off the tree. I picked and shelled a quart in mid August, which I froze and use in stir frys. They’re tender after cooking, similar to peas or boiled peanuts. Today September 7 I picked more, but this time only shelled half of them. They’re almost mature and within 2 weeks of falling, but the various critters have begun their annual attack, and if I wait any longer there will be nothing left. I’ll try your 275F – 20 min approach for the ones in the shell, but will pull back to 10 minutes for the shelled ones. I’ll let them dry out for a couple days before roasting, as they were wet inside the shells.
I have never seen hazelnuts in their natural state… how beautiful. :)
These are my favorite especially combined with dark or white chocolate.
Hi Nancy! I am a little confused by your post, and its something that has been echoed again and again in any post I find about roasting hazelnuts. It seems like the steps go straight from roasting the hazelnuts in their shells to rubbing the skin off. I am assuming you had to individually crack each hazelnut open? Thanks so much for the post – it’s been really helpful!
Hi Jayme,
Yes, that is correct we must crack the shell off then rub the skins off. Enjoy your hazelnuts!:)
Hi, Thanks for your info! I’ve just followed all the steps but thought it would be easy to open them but alas they are still hard as a rock. Once they’ve been cooked, should they be easier to open?
Hi Wendos,
I left mine in the shells before roasting. Like all nuts they can be hard to crack but I wouldn’t say they were more difficult to do so before or after. Perhaps your chestnuts were too old or dry?
What did you do about the shell?
You skipped right from roasting to skinning.
Any easy suggestions?
Hi Peter,
I just crack the hazelnuts and discard the shells. However, I know people break them down further and use them in composts or in gardens. Good luck, hope you find a fun way to recycle them.
A dear friend of mine just bought 8 1/2 acres in West Virginia and we found these funny looking nut trees this past weekend. They are hazelnut trees. Also found chestnut and black walnut trees. Can’t wait for the harvest!!!
Wow, how lucky for you all! Enjoy those hazelnuts — maybe some homemade Nutella will be in your future?!:)
Going to try this with Cob nuts, these are a member of the hazelnut family.
grown here in Kent SE UK, sweeter in taste and no brown skin.
Have fun Peter and enjoy!
Once the hazelnuts are roasted in the shell is it better to store them in the shell or crack them first?
I suggest shelling them and storing in an airtight container and dark place, so you can prevent them from going rancind. Thanks!
Many of the comments reflect that it may be hard to find hazelnuts to pick and that you are lucky to have them available. Hazelnuts are easy to grow and the bushes are typically productive after only four years. They produce for many years so well worth the effort to grow your own if you have the space available. I planted four bushes five years ago and now have plenty every year for me and the critters.
My previous comment related to the native American hazelnuts. This variety has nuts that are smaller than the commercial type found in stores around Christmas time, and they have a harder shell. There are varieties available from nurseries that produce larger nuts with thinner shells. I have begun to plant some of these as well and expect nuts in a couple years from them also. Most hazelnuts available in stores have historically come from Europe or the west coast of the US. It was not feasible to grow these larger nuts in the eastern US due to the Eastern Filbert Blight; but now varieties have been introduced that are resistant to this disease. I look forward to enjoying these nuts as well.