Oven Roasted Chestnuts with Buttery Cinnamon Topping

Roasted Chestnuts are a classic winter treat and this recipe adds a sweet spiced sauce to top it all off. Oven roasted chestnuts with buttery cinnamon topping is so simple to make as scent of toasted nuts fills your home with warming and cozy spices.

Don’t be intimated by the hard outer shell of these seasonal nuts, chestnuts are easy to handle in the kitchen with a few tips and tricks. Oven roasted chestnuts with buttery topping are a homemade treat you will want to make again and again as the cold winter months set in.

cast iron skillet filled with roasted chestnuts and wooden spoon. — Photo Credit: The Sifted Field.

Warm, roasted nuts are one of my all time favorite cold weather snacks! This recipe is perfect for a holiday party or a cold, snowy day spent indoors. The chestnuts and sauce come together in under an hour and are a perfect snack for Winter Festivities!

In the area I’m from, the Hudson Valley, NY; chestnut trees drop their nuts in the late fall. However, if you missed out on foraging your own nuts from the ground, there is still the option of buying these hard shelled nuts in a local grocery store. This recipe is made using a stovetop simmered sauce and oven for roasting, so if you, (like me) do not have access to roast your chestnuts on an open fire, fear not, this recipe is for you!

ingredients for oven roasted chestnuts with butter, honey and cinnamon. — Photo Credit: The Sifted Field.

With a few simple ingredients you can be serving up toasty warm, and deliciously sweet and nutty chestnuts right from your kitchen! With a slightly smoky aroma and golden caramelized topping this is a recipe you’ll be making all winter long.

Simply follow the instructions below and you’ll be eating your own, piping hot nuts in no time, no nutcracker needed!

chestnut on fork with napkin in background. — Photo Credit: The Sifted Field.

Easy Steps for Successfully Oven Roasting Chestnuts at Home:

Step 1 is checking the chestnuts to make sure there are no bad nuts in the barrel, do this by shaking each nut for a few seconds. If there is not noise and you do not feel the inner nut hit the shell wall, that nut is a keeper. Any nuts that are “detached” from the shell are no good and can be discarded.
Soak the chestnuts in water. This will make slicing the X’s in the top much easier, and it produces a softer nut after roasting.
Cut the X’s down to the “flesh’ of the nut and make sure the X’s are long and reach almost the top edge of each chestnut.

pan with chestnuts with x;s sliced on top of them. — Photo Credit: The Sifted Field.

Slicing X’s into the tops of chestnuts allows steam to release during oven roasting, do not skip this step, the chestnuts can explode in your oven if they are left uncut!

cast iron pan with chestnuts and nut forks on wooden table. — Photo Credit: The Sifted Field.

Why do I need to score the chestnuts before roasting?

Cutting the chestnuts before roasting allows steam to escape while they are in the oven. This process stops the chestnuts from exploding in the oven!

How can I tell when the chestnuts are done?

Use sight and smell to determine when your chestnuts are done roasting. The scored tops will peel back and the small of roasted nuts in undeniable.

How to find the best chestnuts for roasting?

Look for chestnuts with firm, shiny skin. The nuts should have no holes or blemishes. Also shake the nuts to ensure there is no movement. Loose chestnuts in the shell are no good and can be discarded.