If there is one ingredient that screams west African cuisine, that will be peanuts. Our well-known West African Peanut stew, commonly called groundnut soup. They can be featured in basically every meal and enjoyed in all its forms. Fresh, roasted , boiled, you name it.
Crunchy Oven Roasted Peanuts
One of my favorite ways to enjoy peanuts is by roasting it. I remember growing up and snacking on these amazingly delicious and crunchy roasted peanuts. The vendors will have roasted peanuts and corn in these little carts they roll down busy streets and markets. Corn and Groundnut. Those who grew up in Cameroon will understand how treasured this snack was. They don’t peel the peanuts until a customers orders. They put on quite the show let me tell ya. Once you order, they scoop up the roasted peanuts into a bowl. Next thing you see is the guy throwing peanuts in the air and catching with the bowl like its a circus. Oh and not one single gain of peanut is lost. Yes I said guy because all the times I bought this, the vendor was male. During the final two or three air toss, you see peels flying and a clear catch of peeled peanuts. I swear its magical you’ll have to see it.
I love making these at home because I can control the salt and crunch. A great snack to have around and super easy to make. First off you have to use the right peanuts. After trying a few other kinds, Spanish style peanuts are my favorite. You can buy the raw peanuts online or from your local grocery store. Once you’ve don’t this once at home , you’ll seriously reconsider ever buying salted peanuts from the store. No more “Lightly Salted” for one person and “Too much salt” for another. Eliminate that confusion and decide whether to salt or add other flavors to you fancy.
BRINING
As previously mentioned , we are stating with some raw Spanish peanuts. Soak in some salted water overnight. Its just like brining your turkey for thanksgiving. The peanuts soak up the salted water. Taste the raw peanuts, they already are delicious even before roasting. This gives you an idea to how salty they’ll be. If they taste too salty, soak them again for a few hours in plain water. This should help somewhat unless you really over did it with the salt.
ROASTING
Oven temperature and time will determine how crunchy they get. I’m at home with my little one all day so no rush. It took about an hour and a half for this batch. Starting with 250 then increasing to 300 degrees. You can definitely go for a shorter time and higher oven temperature. You might the ge With the overnight soak, the low start slowly cook the peanuts, drying out the water. Carefully give the cookie sheet a nice shake a few times for even roasting. Its quite interesting tasting along the different stages of roasting. I’m amazed there is some left with my too many tastings.
At one point you get the boiled peanut taste. You want to keep roasting until they are dry enough ( The noisy shake…..use some oven mittens , no burns!) Some of the nuts will split and some will start losing their skin. Remove from the oven and let cool off completely. Its easier to peel.
PEELING AND STORING.
To peel , I rub them between my palms several times, the skin easily fall of. I don’t mind if they break, this is for household consumption. Not sure why someone will care so much about their peanuts not being whole but oh well…to each thy own. After this , I usually take the tray to the back yard, give it a toss while blowing to get rid of the skin. Select and peel they once with skin still one.
Et Voila! Crunchy, lightly salted oven roasted peanuts. Not only are they a great snack they make amazing gifts. As a matter of fact I’m making a bigger batch and mailing to my friends. This brings back way too many high school memories. I just have to remind them who we are and where we came from once more. Back home, a tightly sealed plastic bottle of roasted peanuts is a must for a boarding school kid. ( All my professional garri drinkers). You can also seal in a glass bottle or mason jar. Just make sure its air tight.
Hope you get to try and enjoy this one. Simply delicious! And you can use this to make our beef peanut soup or this amazing Cacao Peanut Butter. Just watch the salt as these are salted.
You’ll love it.
Lightly Salted Crunchy Oven roasted Peanuts
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 Cups Spanish style peanuts (with skin)
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 Cup of water
Instructions
- Combine peanuts , salt and water into a bowl. Water level should be about half an inch over peanuts. Soak overnight. In the morning most of the water should have been absorbed by the peanuts. Drain remaining water.
- Pre heat oven 250 degrees Farenheit. Layer peanuts on a baking sheet and roast for about an hour until most of the water dries off but still chewy. Increase temperature to 300 and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or until the desired crunch is attained. Remove from oven and let cool completely
- To peel, rub between your palms several times. Take outside, give the cookie sheet a toss while blowing to separate the peanuts from the peels. Enjoy or store in an airtight container for later use.
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