How to Blanch Hazelnuts for Easy Peeling

Want to learn how to blanch hazelnuts to peel them in the absolutely easiest way possible? Hazelnuts are an amazing nut, whether in your Thanksgiving stuffing or a homemade chocolate hazelnut spread. But removing hazelnut skins is a horrible kitchen task.

So read on to learn all the tips and tricks for this fool-proof kitchen hack and why it works. Or just grab your baking soda, hit that Jump to Recipe button, and let’s peel some blanched hazelnuts!

Ingredients

Hazelnuts have a rich, buttery flavor that complements both sweet and savory dishes, but those hazelnut skins can be bitter.

Baking soda, aka sodium bicarbonate, is key. Baking soda’s alkalinity breaks down pectin in the blanched hazelnut skins, making them super easy to remove.

Variations and substitutions

The traditional method for skinning hazelnuts is roasting. To roast hazelnuts, heat them in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes until they smell toasty. Let the roasted hazelnuts cool, then wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub them together vigorously. You’ll be able to remove much of the peel this way.

Recipe tips and tricks

Step 1: Create an ice bath by filling a large bowl with equal amounts of ice and cold water. Ice baths are great for quickly stopping the cooking process and preserving texture and color (e.g. for green vegetables).

Step 2: Fill a small pot halfway with water and bring it to a boil. Add the baking soda and hazelnuts and boil for about four to five minutes. Don’t be surprised when the water turns black!

Test a hazelnut after about four minutes by dropping it into the ice bath. If the peel doesn’t come off easily, keep blanching the hazelnuts for another minute and test again.

If the hazelnut peel comes off in a snap, drain the pot of blanched hazelnuts in a colander. Then immediately transfer the blanched hazelnuts to your ice bath.

Step 3: Peel any blanched hazelnuts that still have skin. You can do this one by one, or grab a handful and rub them together.

In one recipe test, I toasted the blanched hazelnuts without peeling them first and then tried to rub the skins off in a towel to see if I could avoid peeling each hazelnut individually. Don’t do this – it doesn’t work!

Step 4: If you taste the blanched hazelnuts at this point, they’ll be soft and bland. To bring out their flavor, toast the hazelnuts (AFTER you’ve peeled them) in a hot oven until they smell, well, toasty. I always recommend toasting nuts, whether you’re using them in a walnut loaf cake or adding pine nuts to a couscous salad.

Roast the blanched hazelnuts for 15 to 20 minutes. Toasting will take longer than usual because the hazelnuts have been blanched, but there’s no need to dry them first.

What to make with peeled hazelnuts

• Make Nutella!
• Use them in a homemade granola or mixed berry smoothie bowl.
• Add them to salads like this arugula spinach salad with goat cheese and strawberries.
• Use them to coat a Nutella truffle or Nutella thumbprint cookie.
• Mix chopped hazelnuts into Nutella blondies or Nutella banana bread. Or use them to coat the outside of a fudgy chocolate cake.
• Add them on top of a nutty fudge topped with chocolate ganache.

Recipe FAQs

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