Wild Black Walnut Cookies are earthy, bittersweet and somewhat exotic tasting, but definitely not just for grandma’s recipes!
Walnuts and Black Walnuts
One of the most unusual tasting nuts, and not very often shared in recipes, is the Black Walnut. There is an almost smoky, earthy flavor to them, and they lend themselves beautifully to the richness of a shortbread type of cookie.
My Swedish grandmother couldn’t cook the way my Syrian mom could, which I am sure was what first snagged my dad, but at Christmas each year, she made Black Walnut Cookies.
Since I was a little girl and only tasted this unusual nut around the holidays, I came to think of it as exotic and for special occasions.
Wild Black Walnuts
What makes black walnuts wild? Well, unless a nut is a ground nut, like peanuts, they are most often found in trees.
Black walnuts are native to America and grow wild throughout the central and eastern regions.
Slightly smokey and definitely earthy, the black walnut tastes nothing like the mild and gentle flavor of the English walnut. It’s flavor has an almost wild taste to it; exotic, if you will.
Cooking With Wild Black Walnuts
Did you know that nuts are not just for sweets or baking recipes? That’s right! Having grown up in a Mediterranean influenced home, many of the dishes used nuts in place of meats.
Furthermore, nuts were used in meat dishes to contribute to a thicker texture to the broth or gravy of a dish.
For instance, a popular Iranian dish, called Fesenjan, a chicken stew, uses ground walnuts to add texture to the stew. Black walnuts would make for the perfect exotic tasting nut to use in this dish.
On a lighter note, and definitely American, black walnuts pair perfectly in Autumn’s Fancy Apple Cabbage Bowls. Toss some leftover turkey in that salad, and you’ve got a complete meal!
Wild Black Walnut Cookies
Not sweet like almonds or peanuts, not meaty tasting like regular walnuts, these exotic tasting nuts make for the most amazing cookies ever.
Made with a shortbread type of recipe, dusted slightly with confection sugar, they aren’t fancy looking but they sure are fancy tasting.
I hope you enjoy this cookie recipe from my Swedish grandmother, one of the few recipes I have from her.
Walnut Cookies and Other Nuts
If you love cookies, like I do, you know how much texture, taste and crunch nuts add to cookies. The oils from the nuts we love to cook with, enable us to use less butter in a cookie, and rely more on the natural oils in nuts.
Having grown up with a Syrian mom, most of our desserts were made with nuts, and so I am delighted to share some of my favorite cookies with nuts!
- Pistachio and Ouzo Cookies – it doesn’t get more Greek than these
- Guilt-free Almond Cookies – no dairy, no gluten and no processed sugar
- Chestnut Cranberry Linzer Cookies – it doesn’t get more festive than these
Ingredients Needed
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Flour
- Black walnuts
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Rum, bourbon or vanilla extract
- Confection sugar
Equipment Needed
- Food processor
- Baking sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Knife
- Oven
Wild Black Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
- Butter – 1 cup (2 sticks), softened
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Egg – 1
- Flour – 2 cups
- Black Walnuts – 1 cup crushed to a powder/flour
- Baking powder – 2 tsp
- Salt – ½ tsp
- Essence – 1 tsp rum or bourbon, or ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Confectionery sugar – for dusting
Instructions
- Blend softened butter and sugar until creamy.
- Add the egg, and essence and blend.
- Add flour, crushed nuts, baking powder, and salt, and blend until all ingredients come together into a dough ball.
- On a sheet of wax paper, or parchment paper, place dough on top, and roll into a log. Place the wrapped log into the fridge, and chill for an hour or so.
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Slice cookies about ¼ inch thick. Place cookies on nonstick baking sheet, or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Leave about ½ inch between them. They will not all run together, but they will puff up just a bit.
- Bake 13 – 15 minutes until pale golden. Cool. Dust powdered confectionery sugar on top.
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
