How to Peel Hazelnuts

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups boiling water
• 3 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 cup hazelnuts (or however much you have to peel as long as there's plenty of room for them to swim around in)
• Have a medium bowl of ice water handy

Directions:

1. Bring 2-3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan with high sides.  Add the baking soda - don't be scared but the water will foam up.  
2. Add the nuts to the boiling water and boil for 3 minutes.  Again, don't be scared but the water will turn black and there's going to be a reddish/brown foam forming.   Keep an eye on it as it's boiling because it may boil over!  I ended up having to scrape the foam away as it was boiling. After 3 minutes of boiling, use a slotted spoon to remove a nut from the water and put it into the bowl of ice water.  Use your fingers to remove the skin - if it doesn't come off easily, then boil the nuts for 1-2 minutes longer and try to remove the skin again.  Repeat as necessary.
3. When you can remove the skin off the test nut easily, then remove the rest of the nuts into the ice water.
4. Place peel hazelnuts onto a kitchen towel or paper towels and dry them off thoroughly
5. Optional: toast the peeled and dried hazelnuts in the oven at 350F for about 15 minutes - I think it gives a butter toastier/nuttier flavor this way so I would highly recommend you do this

(Courtesy of My Baking Addiction Blog)