Crushed hazelnuts are hazelnuts, usually roasted, broken into small pieces rather than ground into a paste. Roasting brings out the sweet, buttery, toasty flavour that pairs so well with chocolate, and the pieces add small bursts of crunch to soft fillings.
Turkey grows most of the world’s hazelnuts, mainly along its Black Sea coast, so they are a natural fit for a Turkish pastry. The Today Croissant with chocolate, hazelnut and vanilla cream filling lists crushed hazelnut near the end of its ingredients, next to cocoa powder: a small amount that flavours the chocolate-hazelnut side of the filling.
Hazelnuts are tree nuts, one of the major food allergens, and must be declared even in small amounts. Snacks made in factories that also handle nuts often carry a “may contain nuts” note as well.
