It's green black walnut season. I don't know how people figured out you could use unripe walnuts in cooking, but I'm sure glad they did, and after you try making my fermented green walnut molasses recipe, I think you will be too, even if you don't like the taste of black walnuts cracked from the shell.
Background
Unripe black walnuts are pretty well known in the wild food community, due at least in part to the popularity of Nocino, the Italian black walnut liquor. While it makes a great conversation piece and digestif, I can only have small amounts of alcohol due to complications from Lyme, so I wanted to make something more versatile.
A few years ago I was reading an old book, (I can't remember the name). In the preserves section, like many old books I've read from the1900's (Housekeeping in Old Virginia being a great one) there were a number of preparations calling for green black walnuts. One of them was "Green Walnut Syrup". I made a note of the name in a file and forgot about it for a few years.
While working with Ida Graves Distillery to produce the Nocino we made from 2021-2023 I remembered the green walnut syrup and thought it'd be fun to use it as the sweetener for nocino instead of sugar.
Knowing that unripe walnuts have a high water content, I figured a Korean cheong-style syrup where an ingredient is immersed in sugar for long periods would work well. Now, five years after I originally posted this, I know of more than a few friends around the country selling walnut syrup at farmers markets as a value-added product.
I'd never heard of anyone else talk about green walnut syrup until a charity dinner I did with Hank Shaw this year. After I served a small glass of walnut wine after dinner, a man came up to thank me for reminding him of a memory with his German grandmother.
He said his family would harvest the green nuts and cook them into a thick, black syrup his grandfather ate on buttered toast every day. I'm sure there's more references like this out there, so if you know of any, please leave a comment.
Using different species of walnuts
After making this for a few years now, of course I had to try it with different varieties. Butternuts or white walnuts (Juglans cinerea) are the closest approximation to black walnuts, but ripen a full month earlier and should be harvested in Early to mid-June.
Green black walnuts can be picked up until Mid July where I live. I've heard of others making it from unripe shagbark hickory nuts, but I haven't made it myself yet.
How to Make Walnut Syrup (The Maceration)
First you need to harvest the green walnuts from a tree. Look for trees in full sun with low branches that are easy to reach. Ideally they'll be young and tender enough to cut with a knife without any resistance, but, as you won't be eating the physical nuts, it's ok if they're slightly larger. I like them the size of ping-pong balls.
Variations due to the age of the nuts
Very young nuts can work (see below) but they contain less water than larger nuts.
Nuts that have visible brown shells inside should be avoided as the hulls may start to break down during the process. As long as you can easily cut through the nuts or pierce them with a toothpick, they should be fine. Expect some variation from tree to tree.
Maceration
Take your green walnuts, cut them in half, then mix them with twice their weight in sugar, which could be white, brown, or unrefined cane sugar. You could also use maple syrup or honey.
Pack the nuts and sugar in a glass container like a mason jar so you can watch the show.
After only a day or two, the alchemy begins as the sugar coaxes out what seems an impossible rush of natural water from the green walnuts.
When the water releases, the walnuts will be swimming in liquid and there will be visible fermentation and bubbling, pressurizing the contents of the jar and letting out a satisfying hiss when the lid is opened. This is natural and the fermentation isn't strong enough to worry about jars exploding.
After at least 30 days, you scrape out the black, sugary walnut sludge into a pot, bring it to a boil, then strain, discarding the walnuts, and bottle the syrup. Ah Viola.
While I typically discard the nuts, there's still some goodness you can coax from them if you want. The cooked nuts can be used to make nocino or vin de noix, and will require less aging for the tannins to subside.
Originally I'd hoped to capture the toe-curling aroma of green citrus from the young nuts, but over time the syrup develops the same sort of earthy, rich leather notes of walnut liqueurs. It's not a bad thing.
Aging Out The Tannins
One clarification I wanted to emphasize here is the tannins (bitterness) in the syrup. If you've made walnut liquor you'll know it tastes horribly bitter until the tannins relax. For reasons unknown to me (maybe the age of the nuts?) some walnut syrups I've made have been ready immediately, or only need a few days of aging, but some need a month or more.
Long story short, if your syrup tastes bitter at first don't worry-you didn't do anything wrong. Set the jars on the shelf for a couple weeks and be patient. The timeline is variable, but eventually the tannins will break, revealing a similar, subtle walnut flavor as with walnut liquor.
How to use it
While the flavor is not as intense as mugolio, it's still fun. You can use the walnut syrup anywhere you would use maple syrup, and it loves yogurt and creamy soft cheeses. I've also used it for baking in things like granola, and anywhere I'd use molasses.
Using black walnut molasses to flavor spirits like nocino might be the ultimate version though: a study in the flavor of black walnuts only the forest can provide.
Related Posts
Black Walnut Molasses
Equipment
- 1 Mason jars you'll need two quart jars or one half gallon jar
- 1 Strainer or cheesecloth
- 1 4 quart stainless steel saucepot
Ingredients
- 1 lb (roughly 15-22) young unripe black walnuts or butternuts soft enough that they can be cut through with a knife
- 2 lb Brown sugar or Turbinado sugar or cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons Organic corn syrup to prevent crystallization, optional
Instructions
Harvest and Prep the Nuts
- Harvest unripe black walnuts directly from the tree. Younger is best, smaller than a ping pong ball. Older, more round nuts may be more tannic.
- While it may be tempting to harvest walnuts that have already fallen, you will want to cut some of them in half to make sure they're pearly white and clean on the inside, without any spotting or deterioration. Wash the walnuts and reserve.
- Wearing gloves, cut the walnuts in half using a heavy knife on a cutting board that won't stain. Older recipes often mention crushing or pounding the unripe nuts, which you could also do, but beware of splattering juice.
- Mix the walnut with the sugar, then pack into a container that can accomodate the entire mixture. For the amount listed, you would want a half gallon mason jar.
Maceration
- Allow the walnut-sugar mixture to sit at room temperature or outside for at least 30 days, and up to a few months, opening the jar occasionally to release carbon dioxide as the mixture will ferment. Shake or stir it occasionally to coat the nuts in the fermenting syrup and help prevent mold. Set a reminder to cook the jar in 30 days.
Boiling, straining and storing
- After 30 days, scrape the sugary walnut mixture into a non-reactive sauce pot with high sides. Add the corn syrup if using. On high heat, bring the mixture to a simmer to melt the syrup, turn the heat off and remove the walnuts using a slotted spoon and discard.
Finishing and Jarring
- Bring the syrup back to a boil turn off the heat and wait a minute for the foam to settle, skim off the foam if present (it will subside as the jars cool either way). Pour the piping hot syrup into the jars leaving ½ inch of headspace, screw on the lids tightly.
- The cooking process should take about 10 minutes. You're only melting the syrup and getting it hot to sterilize it, not reducing it. Overcooking the syrup will cause the jars to crystalize.
- Process the jars in a water bath, 10 minutes per pint. Some people simply turn the jars upside down and allow to cool and seal. The syrup will last for years and doesn't need to be refrigerated until it's opened. It can be a little tannic at first but mellows as it ages.
Lynn
Made this recipe a few years ago, everything went smoothly and the result was fantastic, thank you!
This year I’ve started a batch and almost 2 weeks later I still don’t have any fermentation going. There’s plenty of liquid, the turbinado sugar I had on hand made it more like a 1:1 ratio rather than a 1:2 ratio. I’m wondering if that is the issue, but from what I read it sounded like drier is usually when you run into no fermentation?
Thanks again for sharing all your recipes and knowledge. Your book is gorgeous and we love it!
Alan Bergo
Hey Lynn, ratios can work with some sugars, but for the most consistent result you need to use the weight specified in the recipe. I include volume measurements as training wheels for people but they’re imprecise.
Mike
A few years ago a co-worker asked me in early spring if I knew anyone with Black Walnut trees. He had looked all around where he lived, and had asked all his friends, and he was coming up empty. Coincidentally I have several I planted many years ago. He wanted to make Nocino, which I knew absolutely nothing about, but I gathered him up a bagful near the end of June and brought them into work. Ever since then I have wondered about this whole idea of using walnuts for stuff like Nocino. This year I gathered up my own stash of nuts and now have jars of both Nocino and this Black Walnut molasses sitting on my counter. I also have a lot of conifers on my property, so I plan on trying some Mugolio next year when the pine cones are at the proper stage. All of this is so fascinating to me, and I love the idea of foraging from my very own land to make all this stuff. I think I'm hooked. Thanks for all the advice, direction, and instructions you give here!
Alan Bergo
Thanks Mike, have fun. There's a lot of things to discover out there.
Nick Baile
Hello Alan, I've been making Nocino for years here in Germany using what I guess you would call English walnuts (is that right?)
I found your molasses recipe recently and have started two jars full of it (one with light Muscovado sugar, one with dark). I'm very much looking forward to the result in a few weeks.
I wanted to contribute a tip and/or ask a question regarding the nuts remaining after you drain off the syrup. The Nocino (St. John's Dew) recipe I use comes from Luca Roncadi - you can find it here: http://www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs/nocinoro.htm
Once he drains off the freshly-made Nocino, he adds a bottle of white wine to the leftover nuts and leaves it for a further two weeks, resulting in a very vermouth-like bitter/sweet concoction which can be drunk immediately - no need to wait for the tannins to moderate, 'cos there aren't enough of them. I love it and am going to see what happens with the leftover nuts from the molasses! Have you ever tried this?
Amateur
I opened one jar the other day and it is so special. This recipe was the first successful foraging recipe I made, thanks for sharing! I harvested the black walnuts a bit late, in late July in the Southern Ontario region, and jarred the syrup at the end of August. I aged the syrup for 4 months and did not find bitterness.
Alan Bergo
Thanks
Jonas Hedegaard
Greetings from Denmark yet again 🙂
I made this two years ago, and felt it was a little too bitter with the tannins - maybe because I use regular green walnuts and not the “black” variety? The nuts look different from yours anyway… or maybe because I foraged them late, so it was late August, which means they’re quite hard here in Denmark. I’ll have to try it with earlier harvested nuts.
Anyway - I let the syrup stay in my attic for two years and just opened a jar now - and it tastes great! Much less bitterness - so much walnutty goodness - with hints of oak, liquorice and vanilla in the thick entirely black molasses 🙂
Looking so much forward to trying it out more - and will also mix some with my walnut schnapps (which I’ve been making for years and absolutely love), to make walnut liqueur. And I’m wondering about trying out an experiment - and making kombucha out of some of it 🙂 That could be interesting!
Thank you so much for all of your great recipes and advice!
All the best from Denmark
Jonas
Alan Bergo
Hi Jonas, yes, like I mention in the post and is the same for all recipes made with green walnuts, it will take time for the tannins to dissipate. Harvesting them when the nuts have formed shells also means that it can be more tannic and take much longer to age, as you found out here. Glad to know it works with English walnuts too, which is what I assume you’re picking over there.
Jan
When you say hot water bath for 10 minutes per pint and I have 3 pints, that would be 30 minutes?
Alan Bergo
No that’s ten minutes total.
John Larson
Alan, You have opened my eyes to the wonder of the Black walnut, I am making molasses now and may try one more thing before the nuts develop. Cannot comment on anything yet but it looks exciting!
Alan Bergo
Thanks John. Just remember it will take some time to mellow the tannins.
John Larson
Alan, I have a gallon of Molasses that is a couple of weeks away from canning I also have two 2qt jars of Nocino, one I will sweeten with local maple syrup the other I am considering sweetening with my first test batch of molasses which I did not add when I consolidated two 2qt jars.
Amanda
This is so exciting!! After opening a processed jar, would I store it in the fridge while using, and how long will it stay good for after opening?
Alan Bergo
Hey Amanda. Store it in the fridge just like maple syrup or it may start to ferment. It will stay good for a very long time. Treat it exactly like maple syrup.
John Larson
I canned the Molasses in 8oz jars to align with our molasses cookie recipe it was mild by the end of Oct. everyone who has tasted it loves it. I will be replacing the regular molasses with the Green Black Walnut Molasses as our new family tradition. Thank you so much Alan!
Judy
I followed the molasses recipe, but the end product is very runny - is that how it is supposed to be?
Alan Bergo
There can be a lot of variation in water content depending on when you pick and the size of the nuts which can vary from tree to tree. It's easy to adjust the consistency. Cook it down a little more, chill, assess the consistency, and repeat if you need.
Megan
I followed your recipe and at the bottom of each jar is some sludge. Is that normal when making this? If so do I cook that or throw it out?
Alan Bergo
It's fine that's natural.
April P Kersey
What happens if you use older green walnuts with partially formed shells. Dues it ruin the taste?
Alan Bergo
Yes they much more tannic and they should not be used.
Shaun
Hi there and thank you for this recipe! I made it a couple of years ago after an online presentation you did and I love it over parfaits for breakfast! Unfortunately, a good portion of each jar has crystalized and is really difficult to remove. For the chunks of crystals I have been able to get out of the jar, I pound them down a bit and use as a sticky sugar but am having tough time getting much of it out. Wondering... have you had this happen as well? Do you have any tips regarding the crystals?
Thank you!
Alan Bergo
I haven't had this happen, it could happen if you cook the syrup too long. pour a little hot water into the jars to loosen the syrup, then put the crystalized sugar and the water into a small pot, bring to a simmer to melt and reduce until you like the consistency.
Shaun
Thanks for the reply! I'll make a note for next time not to cook it so long. I've used the liquid from 2 of the 3 jars I made and only the crystals remain... stuck to the jar. Hopefully this will release them. Thank you!
Danielle Ceciliano
Hello! I have found a jar of the unripe walnuts in sugar that is a little over a year old. Is this still safe to boil and consume? Should I boil it for a certain amount of time? I'm new fermenting and the canning world so just don't want to make anyone sick.
Alan Bergo
Hi Danielle. Ideally you would have kept and eye on them here, but if there isn't mold it is safe to cook and consume. Black walnuts are very stable things.
Ethriam Cash Brammer
My batch molded, and I scraped it off. Then the mold returned. Is the batch ruined? Or, does boiling the molasses make it safe to use?
I am getting conflicting opinions...
Alan Bergo
If it molded you may not have watched it close enough. It will help to stir it regularly and keep an eye on it. Once you bring the syrup to a boil it's safe, the only problem with a little white mold here and there with this is that if left unchecked, it could harm the flavor.
Finn
If using the older green walnuts, when they are more smooth, should you use just the hulls or the nut as well?
Alan Bergo
Hi Finn. I think you may have misunderstood what I mean by older nuts, or maybe I haven't phrased it as clearly as I should. This is only to be made with young, unripe walnuts where the shell of the nut has not yet formed. If you can't cut through the whole green nut easily it should not be used.
I P
I have a solution of water and black walnuts liquid.Was meant to be processed differently(,but now it is black walnut water. It was put to boil and no sugar added. First: pieces of bl.walnuts were soaked in water for 9 days and changed the water, last day we dumped the first water after simmering.Then filled fresh water and cooked for 25 min.Now the liquid is to dark/ black and taste bitter.Is it normal?
Next question can we use to take internally against parasites?
What else would you make with it?
Alan Bergo
Hello, I'm not qualified to give medical advice, but it is normal for liquid like that to taste bitter.
DA
Great recipe, but I somehow ended up with less than a quart, rather than half a gallon. Not sure what happened...
Alan Bergo
If you read the recipe it states that it makes 3.5 cups.
DA
Whoops, you're right. I got confused because under "equipment" it says 2 quart jars or 1 half gallon jar, but I guess that's just for the maceration phase.
Oran Lichtman
Absolutely wonderful recipe. I tried this for the first time last year letting the walnuts age for a month in the sugar. I found that when I tried the molasses right when it was cool and it was too tannic for my taste. So I let it sit for another couple months, three in total, and the flavor mellowed out into an almost creamy vanilla like flavor. Incredibly delicious and makes an excellent mixer for drinks, especially darker liquors like rum.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Oran. Yes, I've been using it to flavor iced tea. Works great.
Cyd Weeks
Hey there and thank you so much for this recipe! I have 3 batches going and sadly all three have a small amount of white fuzzy mold growing on top. Have I lost them all or is there something I can do to salvage them?
Thank you!
Alan Bergo
I've never had any mold on any batch I've made. Make sure to stir them occasionally to coat the nuts in the fermenting syrup. A little white mold is harmless, you can pick it off and finish the recipe as directed. The only issue with it is if you forget about it for, say, another month and the mold spreads, which will eventually harm the flavor.
Velma
Also if anybody ever finds that original old recipe, I'd love to see it!!
Velma
Just noticed some green black walnuts tonight and wondered how making them into mugolio would go - glad to read that it's so successful! I'd planned to try regardless but you've equipped me with a ratio to use, thank you.
Sophie
Is it necessary to boil the syrup at the final step? Would it be edible raw?
Thank you!
Alan Bergo
Yes it's absolutely necessary. If you don't the sugar on the bottom won't dissolve. It's edible raw, yes. If you're thinking about fermentation benefits I recommend sauerkraut and curtido.
Ian Hanson
Fellow Minnesotan, some time reader and first time commenter.
I've been waiting to pull off any recipe with unripe walnuts for some time. Enjoyed black walnut syrup (maple style) last year and am watching the nuts for the right moment this year, having shown up late the last couple. Ours (SE MN) aren't as bumpy as the images, but hoping there's no loss in picking them a bit early as opposed to too late.
Really excited about the Ida Graves projects and would like to taste more of the product line. As a photographer, I've wanted to partner taking their/your creations back to where they were foraged to create some compelling images. Valid idea or have you already done that, the imagery on yours and their sites are fantastic already.
Thanks for sharing and can't wait to try this soon!
Alan Bergo
Hey Ian. I’m currently packing my house to move back to MN. Can’t wait. Your nuts should be fine. You want to pick them now if you’re around the Twin Cities though. Ida Graves and I no longer work together. It was a fun project though-one year I gathered 300 lbs of green walnuts just for the nocino.
Ian Hanson
I’m SE MN, Rochester, what changes in the metro, something concrete jungle related? And love to hear that MN is drawing you back in, surprised you could have ever left! 😉
Alan Bergo
I'm just closer to friends and family and it makes my job easier.
Kylee
How long does it last once the jar has been open?
Alan Bergo
In the fridge it would last forever, basically. It's a fermented syrup and you could literally preserve things by immersing them in it.
Jana
The link I clicked to get to this page said black walnut honey and honey is mentioned a time or two. I would like to sweeten the nocino with honey, any suggestions? I made nocino last year and used sugar, it turned out to be very tasty. I would like to not use sugar. I may try maple syrup, too.
Alan Bergo
Yes I’m perpetually indecisive. Originally I called this black walnut honey, but molasses is a better description of the finished product. You can use honey or maple syrup. The finished product will be looser, but you can adjust the consistency through cooking/reducing.
Wes
Is there a reason you specify brown sugar? Would plain cane sugar be too bland?
Alan Bergo
It's just a personal preference for making fermented syrups like this. With some ingredients the extra liquid in it is needed, and the brown sugar also gives a better color. With green walnuts, they contain so much liquid that it doesn't matter. Feel free to use white sugar if you want. You'll still get a good color since the walnuts stain anything and everything.
Danielle Ceciliano
I made this for the first time tonight. I also made your Nocino recipe, and threw in a couple leftover cloves from it into this molasses one. I hope I didn't mess anything up! About how much syrup will this produce once it's finished? Thank you!
Alan Bergo
Danielle, the yield is listed in the recipe. about 3.5 cups.
Travis
I made this a few weeks ago but couldn't fit it all into two jars so ended up using a small third one. The first day or two, there was so much gas (and I was storing upside down for some reason) that they leaked. But since then, there's been hardly any gas produced. I cracked them open after about 8 or 9 days of being sealed, and there was no sound of gas escaping at all. Did I mess up somehow?
Alan Bergo
Hi Travis, no, there will be carbon dioxide at first, but it should mellow over time. You're totally fine, this is a very safe, easy recipe and just about impossible to mess up, well, unless you store the jars upside down and all the syrup leaks out. Let me know how it works for you.
Travis
Finally cooking this and I was wondering about the cook time. Am I correct in reading the recipe that you bring to a simmer, cool, remove nuts, then bring to a simmer again, and can? How long should you let it simmer?
Alan Bergo
Hey Travis. I gave the cooking step a quick edit, let me know if that makes sense.
Hannah M
Are juglones a concern?
Alan Bergo
No.
DA
Great recipe, but I somehow ended up with less than a quart, rather than half a gallon. Not sure what happened...
Meri D’Ulizia
Thank you so much , this is wonderful news