Best baking with nuts recipes: Easy nut desserts

How to use nuts in baking

When it comes to incorporating nuts in baking, you have a few different options. Here's a run down of some of the most popular ways to include these nutrient-dense morsels in your baking:

Raw nuts

The simplest way to incorporate nuts in your baking is to finely chop them and simply fold them through your batters. Try adding walnuts to your favourite slice recipe, pecans to your biscuit dough or stir chopped almonds through your cake batters.

Toasted nuts

If you'd like to add extra flavour, texture and crunch to your baked treats, try toasting the nuts before incorporating them into your cooking. To do this simply preheat the oven to 180C, spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking tray and toast for 5-10 minutes or until fragrant and lightly coloured. Once done, remove from the tray to stop them from cooking. Once cool, use them as needed.

How to toast pine nuts

Nut flours and meals

Of all the ways to include nuts in your cooking, it's the versatility of nut flours and meals that makes the most impact. While you can easily pick up a bag of nut flours and meals, it's much cheaper – and the results are often of much better quality – to make them yourself. All you need if 100g of your choice of nuts, and a decent food processor. Follow our easy step-by-step in this guide to start making your own nut flours and meals at home:

How to make almond meal

Nut butters

If you think peanuts are the only nuts you can turn into butter, think again. Here you'll find three recipes for almond, roasted hazelnut and pecan and almond nut butters that are very simple to make and taste delicious. Use them to fill pastry cases, add to chocolates, or add to cake batters for extra flavour and density.

How to make nut butters

Best nut cakes

Discover a range of cake flavours, and feel free to swap these nuts to suit what you have on hand:

Best flourless nut cakes

The queen of dessert cakes, these treats are as elegant as they are delicious. Opt for classic flavours – like chocolate or orange – or try something new with this banana cake recipe.

Best nut slices

Nuts add an irresistible crunch to any slice. Here, you'll find some of our favourite nutty recipes that can be adapted to suit your favourite varieties.