Bake

How to Skin Nuts

April 29, 2014

Inspired by conversations on the Food52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun.

Today: Nuts are pretty comfortable in their own skin, but we can help you to do a bit of cajoling to get them out. 

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There are a whole lot of things we can justify splurging on at the grocery store. Skinned nuts, however, are not at the top of the list. Maybe you've found yourself at the store, staring at a bag of bald hazelnuts or almonds and wondering why they are twice the price of their sheathed brothers. The answer? 

Well, nuts are pretty comfortable in their own skin -- you'll have to do a bit of cajoling to get them out. But if you don't want to shell out (pun intended) the extra bucks for pre-skinned nuts, we've got a couple of easy methods for skinning hazelnuts and almonds at home. 

More: Put your skinned nuts to good use in this chocolate hazelnut brittle recipe.

Before you get started, consider if you really need to skin the nuts at all. Hazelnut skins are usually removed in baked goods due to their color, texture, and taste -- a triple whammy. Blanched almonds are useful in finicky desserts, like macarons; when grinding your own almond flour, some cooks say that skinned almonds make for a lighter crumb and fairer baked goods.

If those reasons apply to you, here's how to skin nuts with as little trouble as possible: 

Hazelnuts

Blanching

  

For every cup of nuts, bring two cups of water to a boil and add 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Do not be alarmed whe the water foams up -- your fifth grade science education has prepared you for this moment.

Add the nuts to the boiling water and let them bob around in there for about 3 minutes. 

While the nuts boil, make an ice bath. Use a slotted spoon to remove a test nut. Submerge the nut in the ice water and see if the skin comes off easily. If not, boil the nuts for another minute or so, then take another nut captive. When the skin comes off your test nut easily, add the rest of the nuts to the ice bath and peel with your hands.

Dry the nuts using a paper towel or a kitchen cloth. If you want to toast the nuts, heat the oven to 350° F and cook for about 15 minutes.

Toasting

Preheat the oven to about 350° F and spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring or shaking every five minutes, until the nuts are fragrant and brown with papery skins.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the nuts sit until they’re cool enough to handle.

Rub the nuts between two sacrificial kitchen towels. The skins will come off with the friction of the towels, leaving clean, toasted nuts (and blackened towels). Try to turn down any obessive compulsive tendencies at this point: It’s normal for a small amount of skin to remain.

Almonds

To blanch whole almonds, bring a pot of water to a boil. Let the water boil for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the raw almonds and boil for one minute (no longer or your almonds will start to cook and soften!).

Drain the almonds immediately and rinse with cold water. Blot the nuts dry with a paper towel -- their skins should be shrively. Use your fingers to squeeze and loosen the skin, just like you did with the hazelnuts.

Photos by James Ransom

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • BEVERLY CHAN
    BEVERLY CHAN
  • Dawn Lamm
    Dawn Lamm
  • George R Hooper, Jr
    George R Hooper, Jr
  • Priscilla Martel
    Priscilla Martel
  • Kate | Veggie Desserts
    Kate | Veggie Desserts
I used to work at Food52. I'm probably the person who picked all of the cookie dough out of the cookie dough ice cream.

10 Comments

BEVERLY C. November 12, 2015
Using the microwave oven, place a bowl of water with the desired
amount of nuts(almonds/walnuts/etc.) and cook for 2 minutes on
"high". Remove from oven, place nuts in a strainer/collander and
rense with cold water. Wash out bowl and return nuts to it. The skins
of the almonds will blow up, making it easy to remove the skins; the
walnuts skins will also blow up, making it easy to remove. Afterward, you can either store the nuts "as is" or proceed to bake them for further
processing.
 
Dawn L. September 17, 2014
What about walnuts????
 
George R. May 2, 2014
Interesting - some years ago I was told by the Greek wife of an USAF member to skin/peel garbanzo beans prior to making hummus. I find the results to be a smoother, more desirable product. I find hummus made w/un-skinned garbanzos have an undesirable, almost powdery component.
 
Priscilla M. April 30, 2014
You can judge an almond or hazelnut's freshness by how easy they are to skin. I've found all you need to do is cover almonds with hot tap water. Let sit for as little as 15 minutes (usually more like an hour) and they pop out of their skins. Hazelnuts skins are stubborn. I use the Antonia James tea towel trick.
 
Kate |. April 30, 2014
I skinned a load of hazelnuts recently for a beet nutella. My method was microfiber cloths, hot nuts and loud 1980s hip hop.
 
Sarah J. April 30, 2014
The 1980s hip hop is definitely the key to success.
 
Andrew T. April 29, 2014
It's easier and faster to just rollerblade without pants on.
 
CarlaCooks April 30, 2014
Oh my gods, that is funny! Took a minute for me to get it... :)
 
AntoniaJames April 29, 2014
Hazelnut skins come off much more easily if you wrap the nuts in the tea towel the minute you remove them from the oven; letting them cool in the towel creates steam that loosens the skins, allowing them to slip off with so little effort! ;o)
 
Sarah J. April 29, 2014
Thank you for sharing that great tip!