Nuts, hickorynuts, dried

Hickory nuts have a rich, buttery flavor close to their relative the pecan, but a much harder shell that usually needs a hammer or heavy nutcracker to open, and the meat can be fiddly to pick out in large pieces because the shell's internal ridges break the kernel apart. Once cracked, the meat is chopped into cookies, cakes and pies, stirred into granola or trail mix, or simply eaten out of hand as a fall snack. They're less commonly found shelled in supermarkets than pecans or walnuts, more often foraged from wild trees in autumn or bought in the shell from small regional producers and farm stands, and many home cooks freeze a season's harvest to use gradually over the following months.

Once shelled, store the nut meats in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer, since their high fat content, 64.4g per 100g, makes them prone to turning rancid at room temperature within weeks. A cup is calorie-dense at 657 calories per 100g, so hickory nuts are best used as a topping or baking mix-in rather than a large standalone snack. They also contribute magnesium at 41% DV, fiber at 6.4g, protein at 12.7g and iron at 12% DV per 100g, all notable amounts for a nut, alongside 18.2g carbohydrate and just 1mg sodium per 100g.