I haven’t had Nutella since I was a student traveling in Europe decades ago with a EuroRail pass, sleeping in youth hostels. Back then we used to eat this incredible chocolate spread for breakfast. Because I now find the real thing way too sweet for my taste, I’ve created my own healthy homemade Nutella.
Like everything I create, this is another easy paleo recipe with only 6 ingredients. To make it you’ll need hazel nuts, cacao powder, hazelnut oil, honey, vanilla, and salt. Simply throw the ingredients in a food processor and you’ve got a healthy homemade version of Nutella that kids and adults love!
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- ¼ cup cacao powder
- 5 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon hazelnut oil
- pinch celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Roast hazelnuts at 350°F for 8-10 minutes until they turn golden and smell fragrant
- Transfer hazelnuts to a towel and rub skins off
- In a food processor, grind hazelnuts 5 minutes until a smooth butter, scrape sides as needed
- Add cacao, honey, vanilla, oil, and salt and process until well blended, about a minute
- Store in a one quart mason jar in refrigerator
- Bring to room temperature prior to serving
I decided to make my own homemade Nutella, after seeing Amy Scattergood’s recipe in the Los Angeles Times. The consistency of my chocolate hazelnut spread is a bit thicker than peanut butter. If you want to thin out your spread, add more hazelnut oil. I think this treat has a very similar taste to Nutella, though find the consistency not as creamy.
Everyone in my house loved this homemade hazelnut chocolate spread and it vanished quickly. Even though it’s not exactly the same thing, I like having a decadent treat and at the same time knowing exactly what’s in it!
We’re off to baseball practice. It’s a gorgeous 70 degree day perfect for our first day of spring training in Boulder!
Iliyan says
It came out great! I added 5-6 tbsps of milk in the end and came out exactly the consistency of Nutella!
Elana says
Thanks Iliyan!
janice says
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I didn’t have hazelnut oil and used walnut oil instead. It came out all grainy (nowhere close to a spread consistency) despite adding 5-6tbs more oil. It tasted good though! Maybe next time I’ll try using melted chocolate instead of cacao powder to see if that would work better
Elana says
Thanks Janice!
Carrie Anderson says
I love your website, your books and your recipes. During the winter, I always find myself coming back to this recipe. And each year I forget (until I finish the recipe) that I have the same problem of grainy texture, crumbly, and as if the spread had segregated. Tonight I did some reading – looked up what to do for seized chocolate as that was the closest I could come in my mind to what was happening when all the other ingredients were added to the hazelnuts. Often the suggestion was to add water. So I started adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Eventually I added probably close to 1/2 cup of water while blending. Voila, beautiful, smooth, spreadable texture, same great taste. Don’t know if it this would work for others but thought I’d share in case it could help others.
Elana says
Thanks Carrie!
eskisehircilingir.net says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe
Elana says
You’re welcome!