How to Forage Hazelnuts | Wild + Whole

Hazelnuts are such a coveted food that we’re all showing up at once to make our claim. It always feels so tenuous, like it could turn into a blood sport at any moment, but we all just pick and look at each other sideways, in a surreal sort of interspecies truce. I’m still an outsider, but I manage to sneak away with a basket full of years. Here are a few tricks I’ve learned if you dare enter the arena.

North America is home to two species of native hazelnuts, both of which are abundant in their range and equally delicious. Drawing a line from North Florida across the United States to Oregon, Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) exists in almost every state northeast of that line and all the way up to Canada, while the American Hazel reigns over the entire eastern half of the US, meaning you’ll have Hazel around unless you’re in the Southwest quadrant of the country you.

I find hazelnuts thriving on the sunny edges of a variety of disturbed habitats, including but not limited to hiking trails, trails, utility lines, fields, railroads, burn sites, logging operations, lumber yards, fence lines, river valleys, and the like. especially in the presence of oak/pine/hickory forests. Reputable sources tell me that in the West, hazelnuts are also often found near birches and aspens.

The thing about hazel bushes, though, is that they’re kind of a wallflower—a little shy. Even for me, someone who has spent most of my life observing plants closely, they still blend into that ubiquitous “green wall” that many people struggle to see when they click on one look out over a field or a forest. Nothing about them really catches the eye until that brief window when they’re loaded with nuts, then everyone gapes.

The bushes of the American hazelnut and hazelnut are almost identical in appearance, the only obvious difference being the shells of the nuts. The shell (a modified leaf or Covering) the beak hazelnut is long, tubular (hence “beak”) and covered with tiny spines, while the American hazelnut husk is short, ruffled, and slightly sticky. Both nut species are said to be born in groups of up to 15, but I almost always see beaked hazelnuts born singly or in pairs, rarely triplets, while Americans usually come in groups of up to 10.

Aside from these striking differences, both species are remarkably similar, being small to medium-sized, multi-stemmed, thicket-forming shrubs. They have a smooth, grey-brown bark and leaves are green, somewhat fuzzy, ovate, deciduous, simple and irregularly toothed, arranged alternately on zigzagging branches. Like the shells, the branches of the American hazel are covered with tiny, sticky hairs.

Hazelnuts have both male and female flowers that appear before the leaves in early spring. The male flowers are catkins that remain on the branches for many months before elongating and shedding pollen when the smallest, red female flowers open. They are wind pollinated and produce many more flowers in sunny spots. Although you can see hazel bushes scattered in the undergrowth of some wooded areas, they will not form thriving thickets there and are unlikely to bear nuts unless they are on the edge or in an opening where they get good sun exposure.

This makes them convenient to find, as they tend to grow on the edges of places where we’re more likely to walk than far out in the thick, dark woods or on a mountaintop. So next time you go for a walk, instead of looking straight ahead or looking up or down, try looking from side to side at about eye level, and you might be surprised what’s hiding in plain sight.

Now the fun part. You’ve found and identified your hazel bushes and their branches are laden with big, fat tufts of nuts – that’s more than half the battle. If clusters of nuts are present, the shells are likely still green, which leads many people to believe the nuts are not yet ripe, but this is not always the case. You can peel off the shell to take a look at the nut inside, and when the shell is tan or brown inside, they’re ready to be picked.

In a world with no other hungry animals trying to fill their fat stores with hazelnuts, we could leave the nuts on the bushes until the shells and shells turn completely brown and dry, but that’s not this world, so let’s pick for a moment previously. Beaked hazelnuts should wear gloves due to the sharp hairs on the shells, which can irritate the skin, even if only temporarily. If one of the tufts doesn’t come off the branch easily, rotate it a little as you pick to avoid damaging the bush.

Once you have your bounty at home, there are a few options to make shelling easier. I like to place American hazelnuts on colander drying racks in a dry and rodent-proof location for a few weeks until the shells are dried and crisp. This helps ripen any immature nuts, ripening them for storage and allowing them to fall freely from the shells. I used to just hand peel them at this point, but thanks to the brilliance of Sam Thayer, I’ve sped up that process immeasurably by tossing them off the drying racks into half a barrel and crushing them with my feet like stomping grapes that squeezing the nuts right out of the shells where they fall to the bottom of the barrel.

After quickly inspecting the shells for buildup, I set the shells aside and pour the nuts into jars where they will be stored for many months and even years. For beaked hazelnuts, which I’ve never collected in large enough quantities to warrant bulk processing, Sam likes to remove the prickly shells by burying the nuts in the mud for a month and praying the rodents won’t find them, which he apparently does tut had no problem with. After a month, the shells have dissolved fairly well and the nuts are perfectly intact, just needing a good rinse before going to the pantry.

I honestly can’t tell any difference in taste between the two types and use them interchangeably in the kitchen. They’re both sweet, toasty, rich, and crunchy and can be used in any recipe that calls for store-bought hazelnuts or hazelnuts. They can be mixed with water and simmered with warm spices and a little maple syrup for the most luxurious nut milk you ever dreamed of.

They can be toasted and mixed into granola, cookie dough, cake batter, or ice cream. They can be made into savory dips and sweet, creamy spreads; You’ve probably heard of Nutella? This flavor bomb is all hazelnut. They can be snacked on with fruit, cured meats and cheese. They can be shredded and sprinkled over salads, roasted vegetables, wildfowl and fish.

I dabble in all of these and enjoy them all, but the majority of my hazel harvest each year is enjoyed straight from the hand. I like having a bowl full on the table just to sit and crack on those long winter nights and think about how much fun it was finding them.