Easy Coffee Roasted Chestnuts on the stove top with butter and whole coffee beans for the smoky coffee aroma. No slitting of X’s and done in 20 minutes!
One of the most enduring memories I have of Penang as a child was going to Chowrasta Market on Penang Road with my parents. This busy market was a lively place selling a variety of Penang specialties like sweetened nutmeg rind, durian cakes, “ear” shaped biscuits, tau sa pia (bean paste biscuit), and other popular confectioneries. Outside the market on the sidewalk were stalls selling mildly sweet Coffee Roasted Chestnuts in newspaper cones. They were such a treat and I have always enjoyed eating them.
Hence, I look forward the short chestnut season in the fall (autumn) each year. Fresh chestnuts are not that easy to come by but fortunately they can be found and are available usually around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Two weeks ago, when I was shopping at the Korean market, they brought out a fresh box of chestnuts. They had shiny skins and felt heavy for their size. I quickly picked up a pound and could not wait to get home to roast them.
These chestnuts were very fresh and only a few had to be discarded. The flesh was moist and sweet. I simply washed and dried the chestnuts with paper towels before roasting them. I did not bother cutting an “X” on the top. The Coffee Roasted Chestnuts of my childhood did not have slits in them and so I figured these would be fine without the slits. Please go ahead and slit them if you prefer.
Open the windows if possible and make sure the stove is on medium low heat. Half way through you may need to reduce the heat to low. The stove top roasting took less than 20 minutes. There was one small “explosion” (which you can hear in the video) but thankfully nothing ricocheted of the walls or surfaces…phew! 😉
Easy Coffee Roasted Chestnuts on the stove top with butter and whole coffee beans for the smoky coffee aroma. No slitting of X's and done in 20 minutes!
- 2 tbsp butter (28g)
- 1 lb fresh chestnuts (450g)
- 3 cups dark roast whole coffee beans (210g)
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Wash and drain chestnuts. Wipe dry with paper towels.
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Melt butter in a large cast iron Dutch oven. Add chestnuts and stir to coat with butter, about 1 minute.
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Add coffee beans and stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Cover and allow it to roast on the stove over medium low heat for 5 minutes. Continue to stir chestnuts every 5 minutes for a total time of approximately 15 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the chestnuts. Transfer to a bowl.
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When chestnuts are cool enough to handle, wipe each one with a paper towel.
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Peel and enjoy while still warm.
Whoa!! How clever!! What a showcasing way to roast chestnuts. I will definitely give this a try!!
Thanks Erin! Doing it this way is so much easier than cutting those slits on the top. One or two may pop but the heavy lid should prevent it from going everywhere.
These look and sound amazing and I can’t believe how easily it peeled! Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, Christine. They really are quite easy to peel once roasted. Your fingers may get a little black but I think it is worth it. Love roasted chestnuts!
Linda. I use ahalogen oven for my chestnuts. I always sooak my chestnuts in a bucket thebad ones will float and I use instantvoofer and sugar. It really works as well. Thanks for your wonderful recipies I am in cornwall. England. But originally from singapore
Soaking the chestnuts and weeding out the bad ones is a good idea. I do that when I am washing them.