Toasting Almonds

I like topping my oatmeal with rough chopped toasted almonds or hazelnuts. They also make great, satisfying and healthy snacks by themselves. A few may substitute for chips which I don’t keep in the house because I will eat too many too fast. Nuts also add protein to salads or to yogurt with fruit as well as a dimension of flavor and texture to almost anything.

Toasting nuts, especially almonds, is very easy. Put them in a pan, then into an oven. Take them out.

There are a couple of factors that complicate this plan. The first is finding good raw almonds. I buy them in bulk from Andronicos or the Berkeley Bowl. When I lived in OC, I bought them at Trader Joe’s. You want a good fresh product and buying from a bulk source where you scoop them out is usually a good sign if the store has enough turnover to keep the nuts fresh. Whole Foods in Tustin when I was in OC didn’t pass this test. Stores don’t encourage sampling, but it is the best way to judge the freshness.

You might try a local health food store (I found good nuts in a quaint place in Fort Smith, Arkansas) or an ethnic market. Little packages of nuts sealed in cellophane will not have much flavor and will be much more costly.

The next complication is timing. You put your almonds into a pan in one layer. They need a little room so don’t jam them in. Put the pan in the oven and turn it on to 350 degrees or lower. If your oven beeps to let you know when it is hot, you can check the nuts then.

You check them by opening the door and smelling the aroma and seeing if they have begun to brown. If it doesn’t smell nutty, close the door let them toast another 2 or 3 minutes. This process will teach you two things. The first is how thoroughly cooked you like the nuts. Eventually you will also develop a sense of timing so you don’t have to check them as often. This subconscious sense of time will help you to become a better cook for most things you prepare.

When you think they might be done, take one out. Let it cool a little and try it. Is it delicious? By experimenting you will decide how darkly toasted you prefer your almonds.

You can use this method for most nuts, pine nuts and pistachios need less time so you have to watch them closely to be sure they don’t burn.

Hazelnuts or filberts are my favorite, but need one more step. When they are done you put them into a clean kitchen towel immediately after taking them from the oven. Then you create a bag from the towel and roll the hazelnuts between your hands in the bag to remove the skins as much as possible. The skins crisp in the oven and will come off easily although probably not completely.

Enjoy.