How to Blanch Almonds
Blanched almonds are almonds with the brown skins removed and one of the ingredients in last week’s fall trail mix with pumpkin spiced pepitas. I prefer blanched almonds for texture reasons, but they also have a lot of other uses. Skinless almonds provide a smoother texture in baked goods, homemade almond butter and almond flour. Also when cooking with raw almonds, such as in a rice dish, the heat can cause the skins to fall off leaving them loose in your dish, but using blanched almonds solves this dilemma. I am constantly Googling kitchen tricks, tips and substitutes so I thought I would continue to share my favorites on Lemon & Mocha like I did with the homemade brown sugar.
Start with some skin-on almonds, usually called raw almonds. You don’t want roasted or salted almonds because you’re going to be removing the skins anyways.
Measure out however many blanched almonds you want or that your recipe calls for then bring a pot of water to a boil. Pour the raw almonds into the boiling water and let boil for one minute. Make sure they don’t boil any longer or they might start to get soft.
Immediately remove and drain in a colander before rinsing with cold water. You will notice that the skins are slightly shriveled.
Working on a clean surface, gently press on the almonds to pop them out of their skins.
I used my hand that wasn’t holding the almond to act as a barrier because sometimes the almonds get some force behind them as they’re being popped out of the skins and decide to go flying across your kitchen!
Now you have blanched almonds! They will be a little wet and will need to dry or be dried off before using in any recipes.
- Raw, skin-on almonds
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the raw almonds and boil for exactly 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and drain in a colander. Rinse with cold water.
- Working on a clean surface, press on the almonds to pop them out of their skins. Make sure they don't go flying across the kitchen!
- Let them dry before using.