How to Make Roasted Walnuts
Roasted walnuts can be found in a variety of recipes when an extra crunch is required.
Roasting can also enhance the flavor of the nuts giving them additional appeal especially when in salads or desserts.
Walnuts are believed to be the earliest tree food known to humans making their history long and storied.
Walnuts were first brought to England from Persia and reserved just for royalty.
Today California holds the mantle for best walnuts in the world, deserved or not they grow a lot of them.
California produces about three quarters of the global supply of walnuts, and 99 percent of the US market.
What are Roasted Walnuts?
Roasted walnuts are shelled walnuts that have been toasted either in the oven or on the stovetop in a pan.
Sometimes raw walnuts will be a little bitter and after toasting will lose any unpleasant flavor.
Roasted walnuts will be richer in flavor and maintain a certain robustness allowing them to hold up in certain dishes.
These nuts are filled to the brim with good nutrition, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and fiber.
Full of antioxidants, and a really good source for Omega-3 which can help avoid heart disease.
Low saturated fat in walnuts can help protect arteries as well.
Other than being a healthy snack it is believed that eating walnuts can help reduce cravings for less healthy foods.
Health benefits aside, these nuts are also very flavorful, gluten free and easy to include in a daily diet.
Are Nuts Good for You?
Nuts have gone from being a welcome meal for humans who would come across them.
At a time when humans spent most of their days hunting and gathering food.
To something that many people would regard as a snack today.
Created as little packages consisting of high calories, good fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein.
That is a lot to fit into one little nut, just showing us how amazing the natural world is.
So the short answer to this question is yes, nuts are good for you, but like everything else, in moderation.
These days most of us have many supplemental pathways of calories from other foods we rely on.
Whereas in early human existence nuts would be a whole meal because so little else was available.
Nowadays we are inundated with other foods, combinations of foods and plenty of additives.
Including nuts in your daily diet is definitely a good and healthy addition to your eating plan.
How Do You Roast Walnuts?
There are two good methods, toast walnuts in the oven or toast the walnuts on the stove.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add the walnuts to a prepared baking sheet in a single layer and place in the oven
A rimmed baking sheet is preferable so you can shake the nuts around mid-roast.
This will allow them to brown a bit more uniformly.
Bake them in the oven until they brown and you can see the outer skin begins to appear a bit harder.
The other method to toast nuts is on the stovetop in a frying pan, cast iron is best.
Place the pan over medium heat and add the walnuts allowing them to turn golden brown.
Stir regularly with a wooden spoon so as not to allow the nuts to burn.
With either of these walnut recipes allow the nuts to cool completely after roasting.
Then store in an airtight container at room temperature.
How to Use Roasted Walnuts
Roasted almonds, full of flavor, are great to eat just the way they are as a snack.
But they can also be included in other recipes, enhancing them as well.
Roasted walnuts ground with spices can make a really good crust for meats that are then baked in the oven.
They are also nice to include in salads, stuffings and even as a topping on ice cream.
They will brighten any easy recipe with an equally easy addition.
Tips for Making
- When roasting on the stovetop make sure to stir regularly so the nuts don’t burn.
- Don’t over brown or you will end up with a less flavorful nut.
- To keep fresh, store in an airtight container after cooling to room temperature.
Roasted Walnuts Recipe
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC).
- Spread a single layer of peeled walnuts onto a rimmed baking tray.
- Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until nuts are golden brown.
- Shake the nuts on the tray half way through roasting, just to move them around a bit.
- Remove nuts and cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.
Roasting them didn’t remove the bitter taste but it did give them a nice toasty flavor.
Thanks for your message. Sometimes the walnut skins are slightly bitter, but the nut itself should be mild and earthy. If the nut is bitter that is usually a sign that they may be old, or not stored well. But toasting walnuts will always enhance the flavor in a nice way.