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In recent weeks, I have become reobsessed with Nutella which prompted me purchase a bag of hazelnuts (aka filberts) which had their skins intact. One of the recipes that I was playing around with called for peeled hazelnuts, but I figured they would be a cinch to remove – however, I quickly realized that was not the case. Hazelnut skins are stubborn – mighty stubborn.
Since picking papery peels off of 1 cup of hazelnuts sounded less than awesome, I did a little research and decided to use the roast and rub method. Essentially you roast the hazelnuts at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the nuts have darkened a bit and you can smell the nutty goodness wafting through your kitchen. Next, you place the hot nuts into a slightly dampened kitchen towel and rub the skins off using the towel. Apparently the combination of moisture and heat helps to loosen the skins. Well, this worked – sort of.
After rubbing and rubbing and rubbing, many of the hazelnuts were still flecked with pieces of brown skin which pretty much annoyed the heck out of me. I knew there had to be a better way. Again, I turned to Google and happened to stumble upon a method from Alice Medrich.
Basically you boil the hazelnuts in baking soda and water for a few minutes then immerse them in cold water before you peel the skins away. This technique enabled my perfectionist self to easily remove every single piece of hazelnut skin with ease! Now don’t get me wrong, this is still a bit of process, so don’t expect the skins to magically disappear, but I will tell you it works like a charm and is actually kind of fun!
Alice Medrich demonstrated this method to Julia Child while making Hazelnut Biscotti – you catch the entire process and Julia’s reaction to this method by watching the YouTube video below.
How To Peel Hazelnuts
Ingredients:
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3 tablespoons baking soda
- 1 cup hazelnuts
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan with high sides, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add 3 tablespoons of baking soda to the water – the water will foam up.
- Add the nuts to the boiling water and boil for about 3 minutes. The water will turn black – don’t be alarmed. While the hazelnuts are boiling, prepare a medium bowl of ice cold water. After three minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove one test nut, placing the nut into the prepared bowl of ice water. Use your fingers to remove the skin, if the skin doesn’t come off easily, boil the nuts 1-2 minutes longer and try another test nut.
- When a test skin rubs right off, add the rest of the nuts to the ice water and peel them with ease.
- Place peeled nuts into a kitchen towel or paper towels and dry them thoroughly.
- If desired, toast the peeled and dried hazelnuts at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes - trust me it's so worth it!
- Method from Alice Medrich
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I am so happy you wrote down the process. I have tried so many methods to remove the skin, but didn’t work. I will try yours. I hope this will work on chestnuts too.
Awesome, this will really help, time to get back to the kitchen!
I just blanched a bunch of hazelnuts today by letting them sit in boiling hot water for 5 minutes and then rubbing the skins off one by one with a towel for necessary friction. What a pain. I will try this tomorrow. I don’t like the prospect of the baking soda taste or possible high sodium but it sure looks like a fast and easy way to do this annoying task. Thanks for bringing this method to light. BTW I plan to make hazelnut gelato, which is my favorite flavor. I have made it in the past with the skins on and, though the flavor was there, the texture was unacceptably gritty and woody, so blanching is essential.
awesome!!!!! thank you – found this tip while making your nutella truffles!!!!!!
20 years ago my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I peeled a bazillion hazelnuts for a tart I *had* to make. We used the roast method and, as you mentioned, it was less than satisfactory. I haven’t touched a hazelnut since then, but MAYBE I’ll give it a try. It was a really good tart…
I love this method! I love how easy the skins come off. Especially if you let them sit in the water for a while. It’s still a bit of work but I think it’s much better than the rubbing them together with a kitchen towel. Thank you so much! I go through a LOT of hazelnuts and this has helped me save a lot of time and frustration.
I tried peeling hazelnuts with the baking soda & water method (as described above), and yes, it is easier to peel them this way; but I found the hazelnuts picked up a noticeably strong “baking soda flavour” after being boiled in the mixture…. even after rinsing them well and then toasting them for 15 minutes, and then making them into biscotti! Didn’t anyone else notice the nuts tasted of baking soda?
I also noticed the strong baking soda taste after roasting. Another concern is if the nuts would have absorbed too much sodium from the baking soda! This would not be good for anyone on a low sodium diet.
Yes I tasted the baking soda. I am upset that I wrecked over a pound of organic hazelnuts using this method! Several of us tried them, and we all had a burning baking soda taste in our throats afterwards. Yuk! In the compost they go.
Great tip, thanks a bunch! Btw, would boiling take away any of the nutrients in the nuts?
Trish-
Thanks for stopping by. Ya know, I really have no idea if the nuts lose their nutrients, but it’s a great question. If you research it, let me know what you find.
-Jamie
Thank you ! It worked out great. I used to do it with almonds , I just put them in a bowl of water in the microwave. But it wasn’t working with hazelnuts. Baking soda was the key secret ingredient !!!
Works like a charm. If it didn’t work for you, go back and reread it or look at the video again. This is basically fool-proof.