A couple of months ago, a friend of mine asked me if I was interested in some black walnuts that his neighbor had growing on his property. As someone who forages and gardens, I said, of course I am interested. This was my first time opening, drying and preserving black walnuts. I decided it might be enjoyable to give it a shot. These walnuts are good to use in baked breads, eaten whole or covered in maple syrup. When I brought the basket of black walnuts home, my first though was,” This is going to take a while!”.
What are Black Walnuts?
They are similar to the milder-tasting English walnut. The black walnut kernel contains a high amount of both unsaturated fats and protein. The nut meat has a distinct taste. I find them a bit sweeter than English walnuts. Their primary native region is the Midwest and east-central United States. Europe first saw the introduction of the black walnut in 1629. It is cultivated in North America as a forest tree for its high-quality wood.
Black walnuts consist of two outer shells. One is a soft green shell that can be cut away using a utility knife. The other is a hard black shell that needs to be cracked with a hammer or vise grip.
The process for shelling, drying, cracking and preserving black walnuts
Step one
It’s time to remove the green outer shell. Make sure you use a good pair of gloves. If you don’t, your hands will be stained black which is very hard to remove. I wore two sets of gloves. I found that using a utility knife works best. Just score around the outer husk and rip off the green husk. Put on some tunes, have cup of tea and get shelling.
Step two
Once you have all the outer husks removed, it’s time to dry the nuts. Place the nuts on a try or in an onion sack and allow them to dry for at least two weeks in a dry place. I placed mine down in the basement next to my running heater. You can also place them in a sack and allow them to air dry outside. You need to allow the meat to dry in the shell, which gives the meat a much better flavor and helps in preserving the black walnuts.
Step three
It’s time to get cracking. You can use a vise grip or a hammer to crack the shell. Black walnuts have a much harder outer shell then English walnuts, so a nut cracker will not work. I used a hammer to crack the shell open and a pair of snips to cut the remainder for the shell to remove the meat. This can take some time. I did mine over a few weeks.
Step four
Here is where you have a choice of how you want to store your black walnuts. You can freeze them with a Food Saver or place them in a Ball jar and use them in your cooking and baking.
Here is what I made with my black walnuts:
Black Walnuts with Maple Syrup
Total time: 3 Minuets
- 2 cups black walnuts
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- a pinch of salt
Place walnuts in pan on medium heat. Add maple syrup, salt and cook for 2 min until glazed. Remove and allow cooling.
Cranberry Black Walnut Bread
Total Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, ruff chopped
- 1/2 cup black walnuts
Instructions
- Position the oven rack in the middle and preheat to 375 degrees.Lightly coat the bottom of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Combine orange juice, orange zest, buttermilk, butter, and egg in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a rubber spatula, gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Carefully fold in the cranberries and nuts.
- Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake for 20 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for at least an hour before serving. In the end, all the effort was truly rewarding. Both recipes were delicious! I hope you try harvesting and preserving black walnuts. Check out my other post and see how I foraged for the wild cranberries used in this recipe.
