How to Toast Walnuts

Toasted walnuts are fantastic both in recipes, or just on their own.  Like just about all nuts, toasting them (either in the oven or on the range) brings out additional flavor by "exciting" the essential oils in the nut, and creates a more powerful aroma.  As a side benefit, once the walnuts cool off a bit, they also have crunchier, more appealing texture.  The cooking technique that I show you in this video is how to toast them via oven roasting.  You can accomplish the same thing by toasting the walnuts in a dry pan, right on the stove top, but that technique requires a bit more attention.  Here, I don’t add any additional spices to the nuts, as I want the natural walnut flavor, pure and simple, but it’s easy to add some cumin, chili pepper…really whatever you’d like to make spiced nuts.  Hope you enjoy. 

How to Toast Walnuts

• Place the walnuts in a single layer on an oven proof pan, dish, or tray
• Put them into a 250 degree oven for about 10 minutes – although it may take a bit longer
• Your looking to have the nuts heated all the way through, and the skin slightly darkened.  They may also hiss or pop just a little bit
• Remove the nuts from the oven, and spread them out to cool
• After about 10 minutes, or once they are back to room temperature they’ll be ready to

When you toast the walnuts,  you’ll find that they have a stronger flavor, as the heat brings out the natural oils and makes them more fragrant.  And while they are still warm, you may find they are a bit soft, but once cooled, they’ll be even crunchier than they were before toasting them.  Hope you enjoy…and leave me a comment to let me know how it goes.