Caramelized Black Walnut Bread Recipe
March 6th, 2009 by chuck
I was watching the food network and they were talking about walnuts. At one point they showed these interesting looking black walnuts and I thought they looked beautiful. I knew I wanted to use them in a recipe for the blog. You know me always looking for something a little different. Anyways, I opened my computer and headed straight to craigslist and searched for whole black walnuts. I found a farm in Iowa that was selling them unshelled. I ordered 5 pounds and it ended up costing me $32.00 including shipping. That’s ok it’s for the blog after all … right? 
When they finally came I couldn’t wait to open the box. They were stunning, with deep ridges and this adorable dark brown and charcoal color. I was inspired by a recipe by Michel Suas for a Caramelized Hazelnut bread. I combined a bread recipe of mine with his method of caramelizing the nuts.
Well, the real fun began when I tried to crack the darn things. I pulled out my nut cracker and tried to break them open. I don’t think superman could have broken these thing. So, now I’m thinking what am I going to do … hmmm, hammer where is the hammer! Finally found the hammer, placed one nut on the counter ( not thinking ) and hit the nut with some power. Well, I almost broke the counter and not even a dent on the shell of the nut. My wife would have killed me if I had broken the counter. So, I headed outside onto the concrete porch with hammer in hand. I was going to crack these things no matter what. I’m sitting on the porch and I’m sure the neighbors were wondering what I was doing. I start hitting the nut with the hammer. Shells went flying and I almost took out my eye. There were little pieces of shell mixed in with the nuts. I knew I couldn’t use them in the recipe. It would have been awful to bite into the bread and break a tooth on a piece of rock hard shell.
Then I decided to get my protective eye glasses and a screw driver … maybe this will work. Needless to say, I broke the handle on the screw driver, but did manage to crack the shell in half. Out of frustration I took the bag of black walnuts and threw them in the garbage. I headed to my computer again and found some shelled black walnuts at Nutsonline.com and ordered a pound and paid another $38.00 including shipping. The things I do for this blog, lol. If anything, I was helping the economy! As this bread is very expensive … anyone want to buy a loaf of bread for $70.00 dollars lol!!!!
Finally, they came about a week later. I still didn’t even know how they tasted or if they would work in this recipe. I opened the bag and tasted them. They had a bold rustic flavor, a lot stronger than the walnuts or pecans I was used to. I didn’t really care for them. However, I was into it for some serious money at this point! Still, going forward, I continued with the recipe. The bread came out of the oven and looked amazing! With the caramelized black walnuts jutting out of a beautiful copper colored crust.
After we took the photos, we had to try the bread. The bread itself was tasty and full of flavor. The black walnuts were a little to strong for my wife and I. My sister liked the bold flavor. I think, if I was to make this bread again I would definitely use the same recipe, but I would replace the black walnuts for some other nut like regular walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, sliced almonds or perhaps chopped peanuts. Unless you know, or think you’d like the bold rustic flavor of black walnuts.
Don’t get me wrong, this recipe is well worth making … just use a different nut!
For a step by step class for this great bread recipe Caramelized Black Walnut Bread click here
Well, you ended up with a great story! Black walnuts grow in Illinois, and my grandmother used to bake with them. They were always too strongly flavored for my taste as well. But, your bread looks beautiful!
That bread is fantastic! So attractive…. A great story too ;-P!
Cheers,
Rosa
Wish I could get my hands on that slice now!:)
Hilarious. Thanks for the tip on never buying black walnuts in their shells.
This looks delicious. I love to make walnut bread by adding coarsely chopped walnuts to the no-knead recipe.
LOL!! what all do we do for our blog!!
Lovely recipe, if im gonna try think i think i will also go for hazelnuts or almonds 
thanks for the fun read..
That is by far one of the most expensive loaves of bread I’ve heard of! Man, the things we go through to satisfy a craving, right? Looks like it was ultimately worth all of the hassle though- It’s some lovely bread!
That’s lovely, although pricey, bread. Snaps to you for perseverance!
I am so tickled to find your web site. I’ve made white bread for years but I’ve always wanted to try (what I call) old world breads.
Caramelized walnuts!!! Not only do they have to be great in this bread, but they’ve got to be great in anything.
What a small World. I’ve been following your blog and did not even know you were from BC. Great discovery. Love your $70 bread.
This looks soooo delicious! Worth all the nut cracking hassle!
Craig, your story about shelling the walnuts is hilarious.
I grew up in the south and we had pecan trees. Each year we picked up pecans (stoop labor unless you were a child and close to the ground) then my parents cracked them. Only one difference…..they had a nut cracker. Not one of those light weight, flimsy metal things you see in the gadgets department. It was a big heavy contraption and was kept on the floor unless it was in use. There was a place to put the nut, then you pulled a lever and a cracked nut came out. Those freshly cracked nuts tasted, well for lack of a better word, fresh and nutty, nothing like what you find in stores that have been sitting around.
Sorry I rambled on…..but I love your blog and your walnut bread would fast become one of my favorites.
Sam
Hi Chuck,
Looks like you are quite a baker! Do you want to swap a link? I like the name of you blog too!
A very sincere and funny story of black walnuts. Most probobly I’d do the same. I’ve never heard about those black walnuts, and I think I’ll go on not trying it after this post. The bread looks fabulous. And almond is a great idea for this kind of bread.
What a gorgeous bread…sounds delicious.
Thanks for the introduction to black walnut.
this is sooo coincidental–not one hour ago, my mom was telling me that she was considering harvesting the copious black walnuts that’re apparently located around my house. i’ll be sure to tell her to hang on to some so i can make a batch of this yummy bread.
I’m a walnut fan myself. I’ve never tried black walnuts … a little hesitant now to.
The bread looks excellent though. Good with a little goat cheese and honey, I’m sure.
Good laugh! We had a similar experience with black walnuts when we bought property covered with black walnuts trees…until the nun who came with the property showed up. She carefully swept the driveway, rolled out the nuts, and proceeded to drive her car up and down the drive. there ya go…instant shelled walnuts!
Wow! This is crazy good! I have got to try this bread! I agree with Claire, goat cheese and honey would be great!
Dana Zia
http://danazia.wordpress.com/
Looks wonderful, and thanks for stopping by!
U re really lifting the economy with ur black walnuts
I am really pleased that I landed in ur page. Unique bread recipe!
What beautiful pictures! The walnuts are lovely and I bet they were tasty in your bread. The crumb, studded with the nuts, is mouthwatering!
What a beautiful rustic round of bread! And a great entertaining story too! You have such a fabulous delicious blog.
Gorgeous, unfortunately I’d have to eat the whole thing myself cos my husband doesn’t eat nuts…………………but would that be a bad thing?!?!?!?
I do enjoy black walnuts but they do have a very in your face flavor. Regular walnuts would be excellent in this bread OR how about some black walnuts and some regular.
Your bread looks delightful.
Nut cracking . . . it’s tough!
I have never heard of black walnuts before! That bread looks so TASTY!!! MMMMMM….I just discoverd your blok & I love it!!!
I remember aquiring some black walnuts from a lady here in the Okanagan, but they werer alreasdy shelled, so I had no idea of the work involved.They would really add a special flavour to your bread Chuck.
What an expensive loaf of bread! It looks beautiful either way. Thanks for sharing!
Chuck, that bread looks delicious! I have also been staggered by the cost of nuts…(almond meal comes to mind, for a big batch of Christmas baking I did a few years ago). And all that shelling…wow. Truly, a labour of love. But walnut bread is sooo good!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I adore breadbaking so I’ll definitely check back here.
Hi Chuck,
Thanks for stopping by my website. I’ve been looking through all of your posts, and there are many things I’d like to make. I’ll be back. Have a great day!
I’ve heard that using a vice, the kind that clamps to a hardware workstation, can be used to shell black walnuts. You spent so much money on it–please tell me they’re still lurking around somewhere!
You had me at caramelized walnuts! Love your site – the pictures are gorgeous and everything looks so delicious. I’m lazy about baking bread because we have a great little bread shop right across the street from us, but I may just have to dust off my yeast and try some of your recipes!
Put some ads on the site–it’ll help you cover some of your costs. The bread looks great, though.
Man the things you do for this blog! This was too funny! The bread looks amazing, I love walnuts in bread, I’m tempted to make it usung regular ones!
I did some Googling and several people suggest soaking the unshelled black walnuts in hot water for ~24 hours before cracking them open – maybe that would have helped? What an adventure!
You know, though, that loaf looks like it’s worth every penny of the $70.00.
I will never look at a black walnut the same, nor a loaf of Caramelized Black Walnut Bread. All the frustration and $$ you went through—now that’s determination! The bread, regardless of how the nuts tasted, looks divine.
I’ve done black walnuts outside with a hammer. However, I’m told that the best way to deal with them is to use a bench vise, if you’ve got one. Soaking them in hot water sounds like a good idea, too.
When I was 10 years old I lived in southern Maryland where our neighbor had a black walnut tree. The neighborhood kids would gather the nuts, crack them open with very large rocks and pick out the meat. When there was enough nut meat the neighbor would make a black walnut cake. I don’t remember eating the cake though so I can’t tell you how it tasted but, yes the nuts do have a very strong taste.
Love your site!
Well done for attempting the black walnut! I’m quite lucky – my best friend’s family runs and peach and walnut farm. I get ziploc bags full of walnuts (shelled!) every winter! Lovely pictures.
oh boy, your story makes me chuckle
The photos themselves are gorgeous enough to worth USD 70 … times 10!
HA! Sure, blogs have expenses!
Anyway, the bread is an absolute inspiration and worth the journey, by the looks of it!
Chuck, your story with the walnuts is hilarious!!! Don’t you have that little wooden walnut opener? He, he, I guess not ;D.
I’m thinking about buying one of this little bread machines, I can’t wait to start baking my own bread.
Too bad that the taste didn’t reward you for the effort of hunting these black walnuts down. However, it is always nice to learn about new ingredients =)
Hahahaha! Chuck, youre story reminded me of a cartoon where a squirrel is going after bigger and bigger nuts and finally gets a coconut, but doesn’t know how to crack it, and ends up cracking the sidewalk instead! Awesome and hilarious. Thanks for the laugh, I needed it this morning! The bread looks wonderful, you always tempt me with your creations.
Hi Chuck,
Thank you for calling by my blog and I am so glad to have found your site!
What a gorgeous bread it looks and sounds delicious.
Rosie x
Looks great. I like the crust heavily studded with walnuts.