Chestnut crabapple mash

Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Aaron von Frank

Do you have chestnuts and crabapples — or sour apple varieties like Granny Smith? Then you’ll want to make chestnut crabapple mash, a delicious seasonal treat that can be eaten like mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. 

Quick praise for crabapples and chestnuts

We love perennial garden plants, which is one reason we have a small food forest, aka forest garden. Chinese chestnuts are a prominent tree in our system. 

Our largest chestnut tree is about 10 years old and is currently dropping loads of chestnuts. Unlike most nuts, chestnuts are low in fats and proteins, but high in complex carbohydrates. To be exact, each one of our roughly 0.5 ounce Chinese chestnuts offers about 4 grams of complex carbohydrates and only a fraction of a gram of protein and fat.

This nutritional profile is why chestnuts are sometimes called “bread of the woods.” (Side note: Acorns are another “bread of the woods” we enjoy, but they take a lot more processing before eating due to their high tannin levels.)

Chestnuts have to be cooked prior to eating, and they offer a sweet starchy flavor, somewhat similar to sweet potatoes. Those features make chestnuts ideal to make into a mash, combined with other seasonal ingredients.

Since we also have a lot of crabapples on hand, we thought we’d “mash” together their tangy flavor with the sweetness of chestnuts. Thus, chestnut crabapple mash is born. And wow is it delicious! 

Crabapple chestnut mash. Quite a delicious combination of sweet, tangy flavors!

Ingredients you’ll need to make crabapple chestnut mash:

• 1 pound whole chestnuts, shells on (about 3 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups whole organic grass-fed milk
• 1/2 cup organic half-and-half or cream (or use all milk if you want to reduce fat)
• 5 ounces de-seeded and quartered *crabapples – about 1 heaping cup full (*use Granny Smith apples as a substitute for crabapples) 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 large sprig of fresh rosemary (you’ll remove the whole sprig after cooking, which is hard to do with dried rosemary bits)  

You’ll also need a food processor to make this recipe. 

Step-by-step instructions:

This is a very simple recipe to make, but please carefully read the instructions to get it right:

Step 1: Cut and bake chestnuts. 

Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Carefully cut your chestnuts in half with a large kitchen knife, making sure not to remove any of your fingers in the process! 

Place halved chestnuts on a cookie sheet, nut-side-up and shell-side-down:

Notice that the chestnuts are placed with the nut meat exposed in order to allow the moisture to escape as they cook.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

This step helps remove some of the moisture from the chestnuts. Once they cool, the nuts should separate from the shells and inner testa (the thin papery layer coating the nut). 

Almost all the chestnuts should pull out of the shell and testa fairly easily now. Any that don’t can be removed with a knife.

Also note that once the shells and some of the moisture are removed, you’ll have about 2 cups of chestnuts / 12 ounces. 

Step 2: De-seed and quarter your crabapples. 

While the chestnuts are baking, rinse and de-seed your crabapples as follows: 

1. cut off the calyx (brown part on bottom of fruit)
2. quarter the crabapple,
3. remove middle seed sections. 

Here’s what a finished crabapple should look like once it’s quartered and the seeds and calyx are removed. Don’t remove the crabapple skins.

Step 3: SLOW AND LOW – cook chestnuts with dairy to soften and moisten the nuts. 

Put chestnuts, dairy, and salt into saucepan on your stovetop. Ideally, you can size the pan so the chestnuts are in a single layer covering the entire bottom of the pan and the dairy just covers the chestnuts.

Chestnuts starting to cook – just barely covered with dairy.

For the first 5 minutes, turn the heat to medium, keeping the lid on. Then turn the temperature to the lowest setting on your stove — continuing to keep the lid on — and cook for about 20 minutes. You may need to remove the pan from the heat from time to time if the dairy starts to bubble and get too hot. 

You do NOT want the dairy to boil (which will cause it to break) or cook off. Instead, you want to slowly cook the chestnuts and infuse them with moisture. 

Step 3: Add crabapples and rosemary, and continue cooking.

Add crabapples and rosemary to the pot and remove the lid. Continue to cook for another ~35 minutes over low heat to reduce  the water content and concentrate the flavors. Stir occasionally as you go.

Once done, remove the rosemary, then remove the pan from heat. Allow the contents to cool down until they aren’t scalding hot. 

Step 4: Puree in food processor. 

Transfer the warm ingredients to a food processor and blend until silky smooth. Scrape the sides and re-blend as necessary. 

New Christmas song: Chestnuts pureeing in a closed food processor! (Maybe “Roasting on an open fire” still has a better jingle.)

Now is the time to make any necessary modifications so have a taste!

• Want it less thick? Add a bit more milk or cream.
• Want to thicken it up a bit more? Return to low heat on the stovetop stirring constantly until you reach the desired thickness. 
• Need more salt? Sprinkle some in and re-blend. 

There will probably still be a few small chunks of chestnut in the finished mash but if you’ve cooked them long enough in the dairy, they’ll be soft and perfectly palatable. 

Finished chestnut mash texture and consistency.

Step 5: Serve warm. 

Serve warm as a side dish and enjoy! Chestnut-crabapple mash also stores and re-heats really well. It will keep in the fridge for 5-7 days.  

Print

Chestnut crabapple mash

Course: Dip, Side Dish, spread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chestnut crabapple mash, chestnut crabapple recipe, chestnut mash, chestnut recipe, christmas chestnut recipe, savory chestnut recipe

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Servings: 6

Author: Aaron von Frank

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole Chinese chestnuts, shells on (about 3 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups whole organic grass-fed milk
• 1/2 cup organic half-and-half or cream (or use all milk if you want to reduce fat)
• 5 ounces de-seeded and quartered crabapples – about 1 heaping cup full (Substitution: Granny Smith apples)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large sprig of fresh rosemary (you’ll remove the whole sprig after cooking, which is hard to do with dried rosemary bits)  

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Carefully cut chestnuts in half with a large kitchen knife. Place halved chestnuts on a cookie sheet, nut-side-up and shell-side-down. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

   Once cooled, remove nuts from the shells and inner testa (the thin papery layer coating the nut).

2. While the chestnuts are baking, rinse and de-seed your crabapples. Set aside.

   Put chestnuts, dairy, and salt into saucepan on your stovetop. Try to use a pan size that allows the chestnuts to sit in a single layer covering the entire bottom of the pan and have the dairy just covering the chestnuts.

   For first 5 minutes, turn heat to medium, keeping LID ON. Then turn the temperature to the lowest setting on your stove (keep LID ON), and cook for ~20 minutes. You may need to remove the pan from the heat from time to time if the dairy starts to bubble and get too hot. Try not to let it boil or the milk may break/separate.

3. Add crabapples and rosemary to pot and REMOVE LID. Continue to cook for another ~35 minutes over low heat to reduce water content and concentrate flavors. Stir occasionally.

   Remove rosemary, then remove pan from heat. Allow contents to cool down until they aren’t scalding hot. Transfer to food processor and blend until silky smooth. Scrape the sides and re-blend as necessary. Taste and modify as necessary - more salt, more milk, etc.

4. Chestnut crabapple mash is best served warm. It can store in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.

We hope you love chestnut crabapple mash as much as we do! Please drop us a note and rating in the comments once you’ve given it a try. 

KIGI,

More chestnut articles and recipes you’ll love!

• How to grow (organically), harvest, and use chestnuts
• How to make chestnut flour
• Cast iron pan-roasted chestnuts on a stovetop
• One-pot roasted chicken with chestnuts and crabapples (or Granny Smith apples)
• Chestnut flour cake with persimmons and buttermilk
• Chestnut spread infused with spruce needles
• Chestnut flour crepes with beautyberry whipped cream
• Chestnut breakfast porridge with pan-roasted Asian persimmons
• American persimmon pie with chestnut flour pie crust
• Chestnut and shiitake mushroom soup

Other crabapple recipes you’ll want to sink your teeth into:

• Crab apple maple syrup pie
• Crabapple hand pies
• Wild-fermented crabapple cider with beautyberries
• Maple syrup candied crabapples with oat-pecan crumble cakes