Hazelnuts

How to serve hazelnuts by age

6 months+

Finely ground hazelnuts or thinned hazelnut butter

Grind plain, unsalted hazelnuts to a fine powder and stir it into porridge or puréed fruit or vegetables. Or thin smooth, plain hazelnut butter (not chocolate spread) with a little water, breast milk or formula until runny. Toast strips are fine once wheat has been introduced on its own. Check the bread label for honey, which isn't safe before 12 months.

Size

Stirred into a smooth food, or spread very thinly on soft toast strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in).

Check before serving

Rub a pinch of ground hazelnut between your fingers: it should feel soft and fine, with no gritty bits. Thinned butter should drip easily off a spoon.

US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.

9 months+

Ground, in other foods

Keep stirring ground hazelnuts into porridge, yogurt (once dairy has been introduced) or mashed fruit, or bake them into soft pancakes cut into small pieces.

Size

Toast or pancake pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), thinly spread with plain hazelnut butter or made with ground hazelnuts. No pieces of nut.

Check before serving

Look and feel before serving: no crumbs or pieces of hazelnut should be visible.

12 months+

Ground into porridge, spreads and baking

Bake ground hazelnuts into muffins, stir them into oatmeal, or spread plain hazelnut butter thinly on toast or pancakes.

Size

Bite-sized pieces of food about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), made with ground hazelnuts or thinly spread with plain hazelnut butter.

Check before serving

On toast, you should see the bread through the layer of hazelnut butter.

18 months+

Ground or thinly spread in family meals

Use hazelnuts the way your family does, as long as they're finely ground, blended smooth or spread thinly: in baking, on toast or stirred into porridge. Whole and chopped hazelnuts wait until at least 4 years (see the guidance note below).

Size

Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or as part of a dish.

Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.

How to prepare hazelnuts

1. 1

   Choose plain hazelnuts, or smooth hazelnut butter, with no added salt or sugar. Check the label: chocolate hazelnut spreads are a different product with added sugar.

2. 2

   Blitz the hazelnuts in a clean, dry blender or spice grinder in short bursts until they're a fine powder. Sieve out any bits that won't grind.

3. 3

   Stir about ½ teaspoon of ground hazelnuts into a food your baby already eats, such as porridge or puréed fruit.

4. 4

   First time? Pick a day your baby is well, at home, when you can watch them for a couple of hours afterward.

How much to offer

For the very first taste, offer a small amount: about ½ teaspoon of ground hazelnuts stirred into food. If there's no reaction, offer more next time. Your baby decides how much to eat. After that, the goal is to keep hazelnuts in your baby's diet regularly, not to finish a portion.

Common mistakes

Questions parents ask

If your baby refuses hazelnuts

• Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
• Try another form: stirred into porridge, baked into pancakes, or spread thinly on toast as plain hazelnut butter.
• Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
• If your baby keeps refusing hazelnuts and you're relying on them as an early allergen, mention it to your pediatrician.

Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.

Buying and storing hazelnuts

• Store hazelnuts and hazelnut butter as the label directs. Grind small batches and keep them in a sealed container.
• Porridge or purée with ground hazelnuts stirred in keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge.
• Pancakes and muffins made with ground hazelnuts can be frozen for 2 to 3 months. Reheat only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let them cool before serving.
• Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).