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In recent weeks, I have become reobsessed with Nutella which prompted me purchase a bag of hazelnuts (aka filberts) which had their skins intact. One of the recipes that I was playing around with called for peeled hazelnuts, but I figured they would be a cinch to remove – however, I quickly realized that was not the case. Hazelnut skins are stubborn – mighty stubborn.

Since picking papery peels off of 1 cup of hazelnuts sounded less than awesome, I did a little research and decided to use the roast and rub method. Essentially you roast the hazelnuts at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the nuts have darkened a bit and you can smell the nutty goodness wafting through your kitchen. Next, you place the hot nuts into a slightly dampened kitchen towel and rub the skins off using the towel. Apparently the combination of moisture and heat helps to loosen the skins. Well, this worked – sort of.

After rubbing and rubbing and rubbing, many of the hazelnuts were still flecked with pieces of brown skin which pretty much annoyed the heck out of me. I knew there had to be a better way. Again, I turned to Google and happened to stumble upon a method from Alice Medrich.

Basically you boil the hazelnuts in baking soda and water for a few minutes then immerse them in cold water before you peel the skins away. This technique enabled my perfectionist self to easily remove every single piece of hazelnut skin with ease! Now don’t get me wrong, this is still a bit of process, so don’t expect the skins to magically disappear, but I will tell you it works like a charm and is actually kind of fun!

Alice Medrich demonstrated this method to Julia Child while making Hazelnut Biscotti – you catch the entire process and Julia’s reaction to this method by watching the YouTube video below.

How To Peel Hazelnuts

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 3 tablespoons baking soda
  • 1 cup hazelnuts

Directions:

  1. In a medium saucepan with high sides, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add 3 tablespoons of baking soda to the water – the water will foam up.
  2. Add the nuts to the boiling water and boil for about 3 minutes. The water will turn black – don’t be alarmed. While the hazelnuts are boiling, prepare a medium bowl of ice cold water. After three minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove one test nut, placing the nut into the prepared bowl of ice water. Use your fingers to remove the skin, if the skin doesn’t come off easily, boil the nuts 1-2 minutes longer and try another test nut.
  3. When a test skin rubs right off, add the rest of the nuts to the ice water and peel them with ease.
  4. Place peeled nuts into a kitchen towel or paper towels and dry them thoroughly.
  5. If desired, toast the peeled and dried hazelnuts at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes - trust me it's so worth it!
  • Method from Alice Medrich
All images and text ©

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104 Comments

  1. Elizabeth says:

    Works great! So much easier and faster and most importantly TASTIER than the roast + towel method. Also less messy (no little flakes of hazelnut skin everywhere). I’ve done this twice now and the first time the nuts were still a little soft after the roasting step, so the second time, I let the branched nuts dry on a towel for a few hours before roasting and that gave me the tastiest, crispy hazelnuts ever. Thanks for sharing this method!

  2. Liisa says:

    This is so amazing! I just tried it out and it was so easy! The skins just fell off. Thank you! โ˜บ๏ธ

    1. Jamie says:

      So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback.
      -Jamie

  3. Sheena says:

    This worked really well for me. It was still effort, of course, but at least at the end of it all my hazelnuts were completely skin-free. I’ll never waste effort with a towel again. Thank you!!

    1. Jamie says:

      So glad it worked for you! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and share your feedback. Happy baking!
      -Jamie

  4. Carl Peters says:

    Peeling and getting rid of the skins is more difficult than described here. I put the nuts in a towel, rub them to thoroughly break the skins off, then return them to water bath. The loosened skins, being denser, sink to the bottom while the nuts float. Then you can skim off the nuts completely free of the skin junk.

    1. Jamie says:

      Great tip, Carl! Thanks for stopping by.
      -Jamie

  5. Evelyn Clark says:

    Oh my heavens. This technique is perfect. I let the remaining hazelnuts sit in the ice bath as I was removing the skins under running water. And I noticed that I had to let the beautiful and perfectly shelled hazelnuts (yes!) brown a few minutes longer in the oven- about 19 minutes. Probably because they were a bit water logged from all that soaking in ice water. No burned hands, no frustration. It was still a chore but a productive one. The old oven and towel method is horrible work and is not successful. This technique is a pleasure. You are a gem for bringing this forward.

  6. Carol Polacek says:

    Thank you this was most helpful.

    1. Jamie says:

      Thanks so much for stopping by, Carol! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Happy Baking!
      -Jamie

  7. bobgoehring says:

    Waste of time. Roast ’em, rub ’em with a towel, use ’em.ย 

  8. Mery! says:

    I’ve made it following the exact recipe andthe result was awesome. In no time the hazelnut skins came off so fast. Although making homemaฤe nutella is a labour of love as the skins does not get rid of your hands as easy as you think. But It’s totally worth it!

  9. Mary says:

    Holy COW, this worked beautifully. Tried baking for a bit in the past and what a pain in the butt to try and take the skins off. This will be my go to from now on. Thank you

    1. Jamie says:

      You’re so welcome, Mary. I’m glad it worked out for you!

  10. Olgaaaaa says:

    Worked great! It was still a lot a lot of work though… Ahhh, these clingy hazelnuts…

    1. Jamie says:

      I’m glad it helped even a bit, Olga!