What Are Nuts and How Can I Use Them?

If nuts have turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use them with confidence and how to choose them, cook them, store them, what to substitute, and 1,254 recipes to try them in.

Key Points

Nuts are oily seeds prized for crunch and toasty richness in both baking and savory cooking.
Always toast before using; raw nuts taste flat and toasting drives the oils to the surface.
Their high fat goes rancid in warmth and light, so store cold and taste before using.
Most nuts swap cup for cup in baking; toasted seeds cover crunch for nut allergies.

What are nuts?

Nuts are the high-fat, high-protein seeds we cook with for crunch and a toasty richness no other ingredient quite delivers. Botanically the group is a mess. Almonds and walnuts are tree seeds, while peanuts are actually legumes and cashews grow off the bottom of a tropical fruit.

In the kitchen none of that matters. They behave the same way: oily and dense, and much better toasted than raw.

What they share is fat. That fat is what makes a handful of walnuts rich in banana bread, and it is also what makes the same walnuts go rancid in a warm cupboard. Almost everything about cooking with nuts comes back to managing that fat.

Toasting Brings Them Alive

Raw nuts taste flat. Toasting wakes them up, and skipping it is the most common mistake home cooks make. Heat drives off moisture and pushes the oils to the surface, which is where the flavor lives.

In the oven, spread them in one layer and roast at 350°F (175°C). Sliced almonds and pine nuts need about 5 to 8 minutes. Bigger whole nuts like walnuts and hazelnuts want 8 to 12.

Pull them when they smell nutty and look one shade darker than you think they should, because they keep cooking on the hot pan after they come out.

On the stovetop, a dry skillet over medium heat works for small batches. Shake constantly. Nuts go from golden to burnt in under a minute, and scorched nuts taste bitter all the way through.

Toast before you chop, not after. Whole nuts brown evenly, while chopped pieces have exposed edges that burn before the centers cook. Let them cool fully before they go into a batter, or residual heat starts melting the butter and chocolate around them.

Cooking and Pairing

Nuts pull double duty. Whole or chopped, they add crunch, the way they do in this five-star Chocolate Chip Carrot Cake or scattered over Apple-Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake. Ground fine, they become structure, standing in for some of the flour in tortes and macaroons.

They lean sweet and savory equally. Walnuts and apples are a classic, which is why they turn up together across so many of the apple cakes and pies here. Pine nuts go into pesto and cashews thicken curries.

Watch your salt. Salted cocktail nuts thrown into a sweet batter will throw off the whole recipe, so use unsalted nuts for baking and season the dish yourself.

The other trap is texture. Nuts folded into a wet batter too early can soften and lose their snap by the time the dish is done, so a topping is often better added partway through baking.

Swapping One Nut for Another

Most nuts substitute for each other by volume in baking, cup for cup, as long as you respect their flavor weight. Pecans and walnuts trade almost invisibly, since both are soft and slightly bitter. Almonds are firmer and milder, so they read as more crunch and less richness.

Toasted hazelnuts bring the strongest flavor of the common nuts, so use a little less if a recipe is built around a milder one. Cashews are the soft, buttery option and the worst choice when you want a defined crunch, because they go pasty.

For a true nut allergy, toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds give you similar crunch with no tree nut or peanut in them. Rolled oats toasted in a dry pan cover the texture in a streusel or crumble.

None of these seed swaps match the fat content, so a batter built on ground nuts won't behave the same, but for topping and crunch they hold up fine.

One real warning. Nut allergies are among the most serious food allergies, and cross-contact matters, so if the same scoop or board touched nuts earlier, swapping the nut out of the recipe is not enough.

Buying and Storing

Buy nuts whole when you can. Whole nuts have less surface area exposed to air, so they keep their fat from spoiling far longer than pre-chopped or sliced ones.

The enemy is rancidity. The oils oxidize in warmth and light, and a rancid nut tastes sharp, like old paint. Once it turns it is done, so taste a nut before you commit a batch to a recipe. One rancid handful ruins everything it goes into.

Store nuts in an airtight container. In a dark pantry most last 1 to 3 months, in the fridge about 6 months, and in the freezer up to a year or more.

The oiliest nuts spoil fastest, so keep walnuts and pine nuts cold. Buy them in amounts you will use within a season rather than a warehouse bag that goes off before you reach the bottom.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cup (137g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 813Calories from Fat 634

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 70.5g 108%

Saturated Fat 9.5g 47%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 16mg 1%

Total Carbohydrate 34.7g 12%

Dietary Fiber 12g 49%

Sugars ~

Protein 23.7g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 1%

Calcium 10% • Iron 28%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find nuts: Nuts are usually found in the snacks section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Nuts are a member of the Nut and Seed Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 坚果
British (UK) term: Nuts
en français: noix
en español: nueces

How much do nuts weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 cup	137 grams
1 ounce	28 grams

Nut and Seed Products

Sesame seeds 663 Sunflower seeds 181 Almonds 1782 Almond paste 61 Cashew nuts 213 Water chestnuts 309 Coconut 947 Coconut, shredded, unsweetened (desiccated) 58 Coconut, shredded (desiccated) 158 Coconut cream 46

Recipes using nuts

There are 1254 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Quickand Easy Fudgey Brownies

Quick fudgy brownies made with unsweetened chocolate and butter melted in the microwave, with optional marshmallow chocolate frosting. The classic from-scratch fudgy brownie in one bowl.

Cinnamon Brownies

Cinnamon-spiked fudgy brownies with cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and a cinnamon cocoa frosting on top. Mexican chocolate-inspired warm-spiced treat.

Josh's Chocolate Chiperoo Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies made with butter and shortening for soft centers and crisp golden edges. Loaded with semi-sweet chips and chopped nuts. Big-batch classic.

Very Yummy Brownies

Fudgy chocolate brownies: dense, rich brownies built on six squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and real butter. The bake-sale champion that crackles on top and stays gooey inside.

Chewy Coco brownies

Chewy cocoa brownies made from scratch with a sugar substitute, so they're lower in sugar but still rich, fudgy, and chocolatey. A simple one-bowl brownie built on cocoa powder, no melting.

Dad's Chocolate Nut Brownies

Old-school sugar-free chocolate nut brownies sweetened with liquid artificial sweetener instead of sugar, made with unsweetened chocolate, butter, eggs, and chopped nuts. A low-carb take on a classic brownie.

Karen Butler's Banana Bread

Banana bread loaded with chocolate chips, raisins, and chopped nuts in a moist oil-based loaf. A retro family recipe stuffed with extras, perfect for breakfast or dessert.

Ravine Brownies

Ravine brownies are old-fashioned, fudgy chocolate brownies made with melted unsweetened chocolate, butter, eggs, and chopped nuts. Classic seven-ingredient recipe in 40 minutes.

Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Double chocolate chocolate chip cookies with rich cocoa dough and semi-sweet chips folded throughout. Soft fudgy centers, crisp edges, and an option to add chopped nuts for crunch.

Best Chocolate Chip Brownies

Fudgy cocoa brownies loaded with chocolate chips and nuts, baked in a sheet pan for 48 generous squares. Rich chocolate batter topped with melty chips creates chewy-crisp perfection.

Super Fudge Cupcakes

Super fudge cupcakes soak chopped dates in boiling water before folding into a chocolate batter studded with chips and nuts. Date-sweetened, intensely fudgy cupcakes with a tender crumb.

Holiday Chocolate Chip Cookies

Holiday chocolate chip cookies follow the classic Toll House blueprint: butter, brown sugar, semisweet chips, and a fistful of chopped nuts. Crisp at the edges, soft in the middle, ready in 30 minutes. The cookie tin standard.

Saucepan Fudge Brownies

Saucepan fudge brownies come together in one pot, with no mixer and barely any cleanup. Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate, stir in the rest right in the pan, and bake fudgy, nutty squares from scratch.

Basic Hamburgers

Classic American hamburger patties seasoned with Worcestershire, onion and pepper, then broiled or grilled to your preferred doneness. Mix-in variations included.

Moghul Style Mixed Vegetables with Paneer

Mughlai-style mixed vegetable curry with paneer, cream, pineapple, and golden raisins. A rich, mildly spiced North Indian dish that finishes with a sprinkle of fried nuts for royal-court flair.

Ann's Chocolate & Nut Brownies

Old-fashioned chocolate nut brownies built on melted unsweetened chocolate, butter, and a single bowl. Dense, fudgy bars dusted with powdered sugar, no cocoa powder shortcuts.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies pack quick oats, hearty whole wheat flour, chocolate chunks, and nuts into a chewy lunchbox cookie. Wholesome enough for breakfast, sweet enough for dessert.

Rum Truffles

Rum truffles are classic chocolate ganache truffles flavored with rum extract and rolled in cocoa-sugar. A 30-piece batch of giftable, no-bake holiday confections.

Uncle Ben's Best Brownies

Uncle Ben's best brownies: one-bowl cocoa brownies with a fudgy, glossy crumb. Butter melted right in the mixing bowl, four eggs for that classic shiny crackle top, and a deep cocoa hit.

Mary's Fudgey Brownies

Fudgey brownies recipe with melted unsweetened chocolate, butter, and chopped nuts baked into rich, chewy squares with a glossy crackle top.

Roni's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies you can bake chewy or crunchy just by watching the clock. Two cups of rolled oats give them real heft while shortening keeps them tender. Pull them early for chew, longer for crunch.

Very Moist Brownies

Ultra-fudgy brownies made with real melted chocolate and butter, packed with chopped nuts and just enough flour to hold their dense, truffle-like texture.

Baker's Truffles

Baker's truffles roll melted semi-sweet chocolate with creamed butter, egg yolk, powdered sugar, and vanilla into 1-inch chilled candy balls coated in chopped nuts or coconut. Old-school no-cream truffles with deep cocoa richness.

Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with cinnamon and a tender, cake-like crumb. A fall favorite that turns one cup of pumpkin puree into 36 chewy, spiced cookies.

Chocolately Brownies

Chocolate brownies made with a can of chocolate syrup for that fudgy old-school texture. Six ingredients, one bowl, sliced into thin sheet-pan squares. A nostalgic American treat.

Classic Banana & Chocolate Chip Bread

Full of delicious banana flavor, accented with chocolate.

Nutty Cocoa Brownies

Chewy cocoa brownies studded with crunchy nuts combine fudgy chocolate flavor with textural contrast in every bite.

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies

These delicious cookies are a breeze to clean up after because they use only one bowl!

Classic Fudge Brownies

Bakery-style fudge brownies with melted unsweetened chocolate, brown and white sugar, corn syrup for chew, and a generous handful of toasted nuts. A big-batch 9x13 pan that yields 24 dense, glossy squares.

Classic Double-Loaf Banana Bread

Classic large-batch banana bread with up to six mashed bananas, butter, eggs, and chopped nuts. A double-loaf recipe that bakes one big bread or two smaller loaves with extra batter for muffins.

Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake

Cranberry swirl coffee cake layered with whole berry cranberry sauce in a tube pan, topped with nuts and almond icing. A buttery, yogurt-tender brunch cake with ruby-red cranberry ribbons.

Whole Grain Spice Pumpkin Muffins

Whole grain spice pumpkin muffins with whole wheat pastry flour, bran, honey, dates, and raisins. Naturally sweetened, fiber-rich fall muffins with warm spices and orange zest.

Yummy Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Chocolate chip pudding cookies stay soft and chewy for days thanks to a secret box of instant chocolate pudding mix folded right into the dough. Loaded with chips and optional nuts.

Double Chocolate Fudgey Brownies with Walnuts

Double Chocolate Fudgey Brownies with Walnuts recipe

Super Yummy Fudgey Brownies

The kids will love these scrumptious brownies that even they can help make!

Branicot Banana Bread

Banana bread with bran cereal and chewy dried apricots, baked into a hearty fiber-rich loaf with brown sugar warmth and a tender crumb. A wholesome breakfast quickbread.

Granny's Thumbprint Cookies

Granny's Thumbprint Cookies are a classic, melt-in-your-mouth treat with a nutty coating and a vibrant jelly center. These cookies are simple to prepare, making them ideal for holiday baking, tea parties, or a cozy family dessert. The combination of tender cookie dough and sweet jelly creates a delightful balance of textures and flavors.

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