The short version
A wild-harvested seed from Brazil's savanna that tastes like a peanut and a cashew had a roasty, chocolate-tinged child. They're small, brown and crunchy, and nobody at the party will have had one. Use them as a fresh twist in the nut bowl.
What it is
Baru nuts are the seeds of the baru tree (Dipteryx alata), which grows wild in the Cerrado, the huge tropical savanna of central Brazil. The fruit falls to the ground, communities collect it, and the seeds are cracked out of a very hard shell and dry-roasted. Raw baru isn't eaten, so every bag you buy is already roasted.
- Taste
- roasty and earthy, peanut and cashew, with a cocoa or coffee finish
- Texture
- firm and crunchy, a bit denser than an almond
- Look
- small oval nuts with a thin, papery brown skin
Roasting is the mechanism. Baru seeds have more protein and less fat than most nuts, so dry-roasting drives the Maillard reaction hard. That's where the coffee and cocoa notes come from, and why they taste so much more roasted than an almond. The lower fat also means they stay crisp on a board for hours.
What it pairs with — and why
| Pair it with | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Aged cheddar | Sharp, salty cheese against roasty crunch. |
| Dark chocolate | Picks up the cocoa notes already in the nut. |
| Dried cranberries | Tart fruit against earthy roast. A better trail mix. |
| Honey | A drizzle turns them into a quick candied nut. |
| Smoked gouda | Smoke and roast together, for a cozy fall board. |
| Brown ale, a stout or a medium-bodied red | Roasted malt and dark fruit flavors match. |
Skip it with: honey-roasted peanuts in the same bowl. They taste similar enough that the baru loses its novelty.
How to prep it for the board
- Pour them straight from the bag. They're already roasted.
- Refresh them in a dry pan for 2 minutes if the bag has been open a while.
- Serve about 0.5 oz per person.
- Put them in a small bowl with a label card. Guests won't recognize them and will want to know.
- Place them between the cheese and the chocolate so they work with both.
- Fix: for a sweet-salty version, toss a handful with a teaspoon of honey and a pinch of flaky salt, then let them set for 10 minutes.
What to buy
| Product | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Whole Foods Market Dry Roasted Baru Nuts, 6 oz | Whole Foods, Amazon | The easiest store option. |
| Barùkas Baru Nuts | Grocery stores, barukas.com, Amazon | The brand that brought baru to the US. Plain and flavored. |
| Barùkas Baru Butter | Grocery, online | Spreadable, for a dessert board. |
| Smoked almonds | Any grocery store | A familiar roasty nut. See its own page. |
| Dark chocolate | Any grocery store | Its best sweet partner. See its own page. |
Label check: "baru nuts," dry-roasted, from Brazil. Plain ones should have just one ingredient.
Skip: chopping them for the board. Whole nuts look more interesting and stay crunchy longer.
Quick FAQ
What are baru nuts?
The roasted seeds of the baru tree, which grows wild in the Cerrado savanna of central Brazil. They must be roasted before eating.
What do baru nuts taste like?
Roasty and earthy, like a cross between a peanut and a cashew, with a light cocoa or coffee finish.
Are baru nuts tree nuts?
Botanically the baru is a legume tree, but the seeds are sold and eaten as nuts and usually packed alongside tree nuts. Treat them as a nut allergen.
Where do I buy them?
Whole Foods sells its own dry-roasted baru nuts, and Barukas sells them online and in many grocery stores.
Are they sustainable?
Baru trees grow wild and are harvested by local communities, which gives people a reason to keep the Cerrado standing. Barukas markets them on that basis.
