A nut cracking machine constructed with a cracking unit having a first reel of generally cylindrical configuration with a periphery having a series of uniformly spaced first cracking faces and a second reel of generally cylindrical configuration disposed within the first reel with a periphery having a series of uniformly spaced second cracking faces oppositely facing the first cracking faces, the first reel and second reel being rotated together on displaced axes that are parallel, the machine having a nut dispensing mechanism for dispensing nuts between the opposed cracking faces where the nuts are cracked as the reels rotate.