Brazil nuts substitutes

The nearest thing on the shelf. Both nuts are unusually high in fat, both crumble rather than crack when you bite them, and both are pale and mild. Toast lightly at 160C and salt them.

Best for

cookies and brownies, cakes and tortes, blended creams and vegan cheeses, nut crusts, salads, grating over desserts

The texture is essentially identical, soft and buttery and crumbly, so baked goods come out the same. Macadamias are sweeter and milder though, with none of the slight muskiness a Brazil nut has, so the result tastes rounder and simpler and a little more like plain butter. They are also usually more expensive, which makes this the swap for accuracy rather than for economy.

The practical answer, cheap and stocked everywhere. Use raw cashews for anything blended and lightly toasted ones for baking and salads.

Best for

cookies and blondies, vegan cream sauces and cheeses, cakes, granola, curries and savoury sauces

Softer and sweeter with a milky mildness, and they blend to a genuinely smooth cream, which is where they beat every other option here. In baking they are slightly less rich than a Brazil nut and considerably less distinctive, so a cake made with cashews tastes gentler and less earthy. Toast them properly and add a good pinch of salt, which is what makes cashews register rather than fade.

The most likely nut to already be in the house. Use blanched rather than skin-on so the colour stays pale, and chop them roughly to Brazil nut size.

Best for

cakes and tortes, granola, crumble and streusel toppings, nut crusts, cookies

Much firmer, drier and snappier, so where a Brazil nut yields and almost melts, an almond resists and cracks, and the flavour is cleaner and less rich. That is a fine trade in a granola or a streusel where you want crunch, and a poor one anywhere you wanted creaminess. Almonds also refuse to blend truly smooth without long soaking and straining, so they are the wrong choice for a nut cream.

A better match than it sounds, and a natural one in Brazilian baking where coconut and Brazil nuts often appear together. Toast the flakes in a dry pan until golden before using.

Best for

cakes and traybakes, Brazilian sweets and biscuits, granola, cookies, puddings

There is real overlap in flavour, because both taste creamy and faintly sweet with a tropical richness, and toasted coconut supplies a similar sort of fatty depth. But coconut is chewy and fibrous rather than crumbly, and its flavour is unmistakable, so the result reads as a coconut cake rather than a nut cake. Use unsweetened, since sweetened coconut will unbalance the recipe.

Easy to find and reasonably priced. Toast at 180C for ten to twelve minutes, then rub the skins off in a tea towel while warm to remove most of the bitterness.

Best for

brownies and chocolate cakes, biscotti, praline and brittle, coffee cake, granola

Firmer and crisper than a Brazil nut, and with a much stronger flavour that will lead the dish rather than support it. With chocolate that is a clear improvement. In something delicate, or in a recipe where the Brazil nut's mild creaminess was the point, hazelnut simply takes over. They also do not blend smooth, so avoid them in creams and sauces.

The classic mixed-nut-tin swap, and the one most people actually reach for. Toast for eight minutes at 180C and rub off the papery skins while warm if you can.

Best for

brownies, banana bread, cakes and quick breads, granola, salads

Similar oiliness and a similarly soft bite, which makes them work well in any batter, but walnuts carry a bitter tannic note from their skins that a Brazil nut does not have, so the result tastes darker and sharper. In a chocolate or banana batter that difference disappears almost entirely. In a plain cake or a delicate biscuit it is noticeable. Skinning them after toasting removes most of the bitterness.

The nut-free option. Toast the kernels in a dry pan until golden and fragrant, and use slightly less than the nut quantity because seeds are denser and more insistent.

Best for

nut-free baking, school-safe cookies and bars, granola, crumble toppings, salads

This keeps the crunch and some of the oiliness and none of the creamy richness, so treat it as making a different version rather than a swap. Sunflower seeds taste grassy and mineral where Brazil nuts taste buttery and musky. They also turn baked goods faintly green when they meet baking soda, which is harmless but startling if you are not expecting it.