Toasting One Ingredient Is A Game-Changer For Fall Desserts

If one season has the best desserts, it's fall. Sorry, summer popsicles and wintertime toffee puddings — when it comes to flavors, the delicious profiles of apple, cinnamon, pumpkin, nutmeg, and more are too hard to resist. And if you thought that your favorite fall desserts couldn't taste any better, then you probably have never toasted this one ingredient before.

Known for its warm, sweet, spicy, and sometimes bitter taste, nutmeg is one of the most popular ingredients during the fall season. It's pretty versatile, too, and can be found in a variety of dishes from mac and cheese to pumpkin pie. And while this spice is jam-packed with flavor, toasting your nutmeg can take it (and your dish) to a whole new level.

While sweet, nutmeg can be a bit bitter, too. Toasting the spice helps it to release its volatile oils, which helps to smooth out the bitterness and sharpness of nutmeg. Then, when added to your recipe, it can result in a more cohesive overall flavor. The toasted taste adds a delicious depth.

Toasting your nutmeg is a pretty easy step to accomplish before adding it to your recipe. It's so easy, in fact, that you'll probably be incorporating it into a few of your go-to staples. If you're using whole nutmeg, you can add it to a pan on medium-high heat and toast it for around four to five minutes, moving the seeds often. From there, you can grind up the spice or grate it, and add it to your recipe.

But if ground nutmeg is all you have, that works too — and the process for toasting is pretty much the same. However, ground spices have a shorter toast time, so you should only toast ground nutmeg for around one to two minutes.

Dry toasting is the easiest way to toast nutmeg, but in recipes like cookies, cakes, and pies, toasting the spice in brown butter is a great method for adding a delectable depth of flavor. To do this technique, start by browning some unsalted butter in a saucepan for about five to seven minutes (don't let it burn, though!). Then, you can add in your grated nutmeg and cook until it's toasted — around one to two minutes. Browning the butter caramelizes the milk solids, creating a rich, nutty flavor that complements the warm, spicy notes of nutmeg. This added depth of flavor brings a bit of extra complexity and interest to your fall dessert, making it just that much better.