If you are an avid baker, you would have realized by now that a lot of recipes actually use nuts in them. The kind of nut you use will help dictate the flavor and texture of your finished product, so it is important that you know what nut to add to your baked goodies. You should also know how to prepare these nuts for baking, and what kinds of prep work are best for each option.
To help you out, here is a list of nuts commonly used in baking and how these are usually prepared before these are added to your batter, dough, or whatnot.
Walnuts – probably one of the more popular nuts to use in baking, these have that distinctive shape that makes it easy to distinguish among all the nuts. These nuts have a rather mild bitterness, with a buttery flavor and texture. Since these have quite a bit of oil content, it is best that you bake these into your cookies and cakes in a raw state to prevent burning.
Almonds – this is another one of the more popular nuts used in baking, and is considered a great nut to cook with because of its rich and mild flavor. This makes it very versatile in terms of usage. This versatility has actually made this nut a multi-purpose nut, with people using almond flour, almond milk, and the whole nut itself, being used in baking and cooking. To use, blanch the nut to remove the brown outer skin. You can also use the whole nut with the skin on for added texture and aesthetic appeal to your baked goodies.
Cashews – these are not easy to miss due to the fact that these have a distinct crescent shape. These nuts have a buttery, rich flavor that makes it great for use in cookies and pastries. Before using, toast these whole to bring out their rich flavor before chopping or slicing.
Hazelnuts – these nuts are small and round, and can be easily mistaken for some of its similarly shaped cousins (macadamia is similarly shaped). The sweet and mild flavor of this nut makes it a great choice for baked items that are not too sweet since these adds a natural sugariness to the product.
Peanuts – probably the most commonly used, and the most affordable of all the nuts used in baking, is actually not a nut. This is actually a legume, but this does not stop people from wanting to use it in their baked goodies for that added crunch, flavor, and texture to their products. Roast these peanuts whole before using them to give you the rich, buttery flavor that this nut provides.
