Hazelnut

When to start

Hazelnut can be offered as a fine powder or a thinned butter once your baby is ready for solids, usually around 6 months. Whole hazelnuts, broken pieces, and thick blobs of nut butter are choking risks for babies.

Across the northern half of the globe, hazelnut trees grow wild and in orchards, stretching from the Americas through Europe into Asia. They are also called filbert and cobnut in English, nocciola in Italian, and noisette in French.

Why it matters

Hazelnut brings vitamin E, good fats, and fiber. These nutrients matter for the brain, heart, immunity, and digestion. It also gives iron and protein, which is especially useful for babies on mostly plant-based diets. It contains vitamin K too, which the blood needs to clot.

Run hazelnuts through a food processor until no big pieces are left. Lacking a processor, crush them with a hammer inside a cloth, grind them in a mortar, or press them with the base of a bottle. Dust the ground nut over yogurt, rice, quinoa, mashed squash, or hot porridge.

For a hazelnut butter, let the processor run until the nuts turn into a paste. Then add water, yogurt, or another baby-friendly liquid. Aim for a smooth, non-sticky spread with no clumps. Spread it very thinly over other foods.

Hazelnut milk

Hazelnut milk is not given as a drink before 12 months. Before that age, a baby drinks breast milk or formula, plus a few sips of water from an open cup once past 6 months. If hazelnut milk goes into a solid food such as oatmeal, it is fine before 12 months.

After 12 months it can be an occasional drink. Nut milks often lack enough calories, fat, and protein for a toddler. Soy or pea milk that is fortified is usually the more nourishing choice.

Storage

Hazelnuts, like other tree nuts, may turn rancid. They keep fresh for up to a year in the refrigerator and up to two years in the freezer.

Whole hazelnuts, nut pieces, and thick blobs of nut butter are choking risks for babies and young children. Grind the nut to a powder and thin any nut butter.

Sit with your baby while they eat and stay within reach. Set up a safe eating space.

Teaching whole hazelnuts

After age 3, if your child has mature eating skills, you can think about whole hazelnuts. Your child should bite with the teeth and chew well, moving the food over to one side of the mouth. Your child should avoid stuffing the mouth. They should spit out food that is poorly chewed and be able to eat softer nuts like walnut or pecan.

Hazelnuts are hard, small, and round, which makes them one of the riskiest nuts. Begin with softer nuts. First show your child how it is done. Put the nut between your front teeth, move it to your back teeth with your tongue, chew with your mouth open, and show the crushed nut. Then give your child a turn. Do not place the nut in their mouth yourself. Offer one or two nuts, never more. If your child does not use their teeth, have them spit out the nut and try again in a few weeks.

A child who talks, sings, or yells while eating nuts has a higher choking risk. Show that chewing is done quietly. Check that the mouth is empty before lifting your child out of the chair. Never let a child walk around with nuts in the mouth.

Hazelnut is on the World Health Organization's list of global priority allergens. Reactions range from mild itching of the mouth to anaphylaxis. Severe reactions occur more often in children younger than 5. Between 0.5 and 1.2 percent of people are allergic to tree nuts. It usually lasts for life. Only about 9 percent of children grow out of it.

Pollen allergy to birch, hazel, or alder trees often leads to oral allergy syndrome with hazelnut. The mouth itches, tingles, or stings for a short while. A dangerous reaction is not expected.

People allergic to hazelnut may also react to peanut and other tree nuts. That does not mean every nut must be dropped. Work out with an allergist which nuts are safe to give.

First try

Most babies do not need a test before nuts, even with a family history of food allergy. Evidence is growing that early introduction of allergens protects. So do not delay without a reason.

Offer a very small amount the first time. Start with a pinch of fine hazelnut powder, or an eighth of a teaspoon of smooth butter loosened with water, milk, or formula. If there is no reaction, raise the amount at later meals. It is fine if your baby does not finish the serving. After introduction, keep offering it about twice a week if you can. Do not stop unless there are signs of a reaction.