Roasted Hazelnuts

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During my childhood, I was raised on a hazelnut farm.  We also had peaches and cherries, but the main crop was nuts.  So, as a result, I got the opportunity to enjoy them many ways.  One of my favorites was to eat roasted filberts, as we called them.  My mom made them during holidays roasted with salt and butter.

Now that I’m grown, I still like roasting them.  My mom still has “connections” and gives me many pounds of the shelled nuts each fall. Hazelnuts are harvested in the fall and then taken to the hazelnut plant.  When they fall from the trees, they are considered “green.”  The nuts I work with have been dried and shelled, but are still considered “raw.”   This morning, I decided to roast a cookie sheet full of them since it’s been a while since we’ve enjoyed the salty, crunchy treat.

First, I preheated the oven to 250 degrees.  I poured raw hazelnuts on a cookie tray, 1 layer deep.  I then lightly sprinkled olive oil and a little salt onto them and stirred them.   I roasted them for 1 hour, stirring them every 15 minutes.   More salt was added, as needed.  When they were done, they were crisp, and turning slightly brown in the center.

We enjoyed munching on them all afternoon with our oldest daughter and her husband.  There are a few left for tomorrow, and then I’ll have make another batch.  Nuts are great for you, and fill my need for a salty, crunch treat without a lot of carbs.  Hazelnuts are another wonderful benefit of living in the Pacific Northwest. I feel blessed to live in an area that has so many unique, delicious foods that are so abundantly growing all around me, ready to be harvested and enjoyed by my family.

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4 thoughts on “Roasted Hazelnuts”

  1. Those look delicious! You are really lucky to get them for free. Nuts are very expensive to buy in our area.

    1. Rhonda,
      Yes, I am very fortunate. They are very expensive here too, if I had to buy them. Clearly, they are the nut of choice around here, for both economic reasons and taste:)

      Say, do you have a blog? I thought I had seen one before, but I am unable to find it now.

      1. No I’m not a blogger, but I did come across someone named Rhonda who had a frugal blog. It was just recent that I found it through Pinterest, but can’t recall the name of the blog. Rhonda is not an overly popular name, so I usually take notice when someone else shares the same name as myself.

        1. Thanks! I’ve never had a blog before, so am learning something new almost daily. It took my 21 year-old niece to get me started. When you don’t grow up in the computer age, it’s a challenge!

          It’s interesting, I actually have a close friend named Rhonda, know a lady from our former church named Rhonda, and have a piano student whose mother’s name is Rhonda. Before that, in my life, I’ve rarely seen the name:)

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