Hazelnut Bread

This is an oldie but a goodie, a great festive season standby.

Today I used hazelnuts, but you can use pistachios, almonds or walnuts, or you can use a mixture of nuts. The trick to great nut bread is to cut it finely from the loaf before crisping in the oven. In professional kitchens they use a deli meat slicer, some cooks recommend an electric knife, but I rely on my razor sharp thin bladed slicing knife. The nut
bread, still in loaf form can be wrapped in foil and kept refrigerated for weeks. Once sliced and oven dried, almond bread is fragile and needs to be kept in a solid sided container with an airtight lid.

3 egg whites at room temperature

1/2 cup castor sugar

250 g raw hazelnuts

1 cup plain flour

Step 1

Pre heat oven to 170C. Grease a loaf tin and line with baking paper. Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks, then beat in the sugar slowly one spoonful at a time. Fold in the sifted flour and the nuts. Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin, spread to the edges and smooth the surface. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaf is firm to the touch. Tip onto a wire rack to cool. Wrap the loaf in foil and refrigerate for a couple of days.

Step 2

Cut the loaf into very thin slices. Lay the slices in a single layer on an oven tray and bake in a moderate oven until lightly coloured and crisp. Cool on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container.

About ladyredspecs

I live in sunny Brisbane, Australia. My love of good food drives me as a cook, a reader, a traveller, an artist and but mostly as an eater. I cooked professionally for many years but have no formal training. Simply guided by a love of eating good food, respect for ingredients and an abhorrence of artificial additives, I cook instinctively applying the technical know how acquired by experience. I hope you enjoy what I share Sandra AKA ladyredspecs

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