Whoa there, before you go make some amazing, homemade Nutella, you’re probably going to need to remove the skins from those hazelnuts. Hazelnut skins are supremely bitter, which in this case is not a good mix. America’s Test Kitchen shares two awesome tips to remove those bitter skins. While they mention toasting the nuts first and then rubbing the skins off with a dishtowel, there are some other methods that work a bit better without the mess. One method involves placing your hazelnuts on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath. Turn on your handy dandy oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and roast the nuts 10-15 minutes. Once you pull out the hazelnuts, allow them to cool, and rub them against the wire rack. The skins will fall right off—plus the baking sheet will catch the skins so it is mess-free nonetheless. The second method is similar to the first…actually, super similar. You toast the nuts as usual in your oven, and place the hazelnuts in a wired mesh strainer once they have cooled. Then, rub the hazelnuts in the strainer over a baking sheet. The third method actually comes from a comment from America’s Test Kitchen’s video. The user recommends boiling 4 cups of water and adding 3 tablespoons of baking soda. You add in your hazelnuts and simmer them for a few minutes. Then, rinse the nuts in cold water and all traces of skin are removed. It’s ok to be a little nutty sometimes. Go ahead and try these tips out and see which one works the best for you.
Photo by: Veganbaking.net
