Roasted Peanuts

Roasting peanuts—or any nut—is a straightforward affair. Place your nuts on a baking sheet into an oven set between 325°F and 375°F, and wait until you smell the toasty fragrance wafting out: The nuts should be lightly golden, and nicely crunchy once cooled.

Some recipes for roasted peanuts call for using fresh, raw peanuts still in their shell, but we’re opting for some shelled peanuts here. For one, raw, shelled peanuts are more readily available no matter where you are and doesn’t depend on seasonality. Using shelled peanuts also means a quicker roast: Because the shell isn’t there anymore to obstruct the steam from escaping, this leads to crispier peanuts in a shorter time. (This recipe takes just 30 minutes, while unshelled peanuts can take an hour and a half or more!)

Seasoning is, of course, optional, but strongly recommended, especially if you plan on eating the peanuts as a snack on their own. I love salt & vinegar potatoes and salt & pepper sweet potato fries and merged the flavors here for our roasted peanuts: a little bit of vinegar to coat, then tossed with salt and black pepper. 

For fans of salt & vinegar, take note that the taste of vinegar is not nearly as pronounced here as on your chips, and for those of you who hate salt & vinegar, you can just as easily swap the vinegar for water. A little bit of moisture from the vinegar helps the salt and black pepper better adhere to the peanuts. 

Once you’ve made a batch, let us know in the comments below how you liked 'em and how you ate ‘em!