No skilled home cook or chef worth his sea salt would ever throw nuts into a dish without toasting them first. When nuts are toasted, they go from a healthy snack to a crunchy, flavorful addition to a dish. Toasting takes so little time, and it doesn’t just bring out the flavor of the nut, it changes the flavor—for the better. Plus, toasted nuts are crunchier, and who doesn’t love crunch? The bottom line: Toast your nuts.
If you want to take your nuts to the next level, after toasting them, toss them in oil and season them with sea salt before eating them or adding them to a dish. Extra-virgin olive oil will highlight the flavor (not to mention the unique, bark-like color and texture) of any nut, but if you have them, toss walnuts in walnut oil and hazelnuts in hazelnut oil. I don’t recommend toasting nuts in a skillet on the stovetop. They don’t toast throughout, and more often than not, the exterior burns. Toast nuts in the oven. Here’s how:
Adjust the oven racks so one is in the middle position and preheat the oven to 325°F.
Scatter the nuts on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, shaking the pan once or twice so they toast all over and don’t burn. You’ll know they’re done when they’ve browned slightly and when you can smell the aroma of the nuts wafting from the oven.
Below is a rough estimate on times:
Almonds and Hazelnuts: 12 to 15 minutes
Walnuts and Pecans: 10 to 12 minutes
Pine Nuts and Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds): 8 to 10 minutes
Hazelnuts require one more step: you have to remove the skins after toasting them. To do this, after toasting the nuts, put them in a clean dishtowel, close the dishtowel to create a bundle, and roll the nuts around inside the towel. When you open up the bundle, the nuts will no longer be wearing their skins. Shake the skins out of the towel and send the nuts on to their destiny.
No matter how strongly you believe that you will remember something in the oven, on the stove, or in the freezer for just a few minutes, one of these times, you will forget, and your dinner or cookies or nuts will be ruined. Set a timer. The pros rely on timers. Why shouldn’t you?