‘Mom, I don’t know about this…is it going to be good? I mean Nutella is so good! Why can’t we have just that?’
‘Have you checked the ingredients list for Nutella? Refined Sugar is the first ingredient! And then there is skim milk too. Two ingredients that mess up your metabolism and digestion’! “Anyways, let me give it a try and you guys do the taste test, okay? ”
When I tried making this for the first time, I got hazelnuts with the shells on without realizing that they were in their shells! And I kept toasting them in the oven and they did not look toasted – because the skin wouldn’t come off 🙂 I was actually trying to peel the skin off of the shells! LOL! Anyways long story short, I ended up realizing my mistake and then finally broke open the shell to see excessively browned hazel nuts! But even then the spread was so delicious and met the approval of my family! The children said it was really good!
OK so motivated with that attempt, I made it a couple times more and now the children have totally accepted this homemade version and there is no mention (or need) for the store bought Nutella! That’s a major win guys since my children have been huge fans of Nutella since they were very young!
OK a couple things about this recipe:
- I use hazel nuts in their shell and then de-shell (crack open) and get the nuts out as it turns out a bit cheaper. But you can save time by buying shelled nuts.
- I use cocoa powder and not chocolate in this recipe so the texture is not as creamy as some other Homemade nutella recipes that you will find online. I find using cocoa or raw cacao the easiest since finding good quality chocolate that is not sweetened using cane sugars and / dairy is hard to find.
- I tend to leave the spread a bit chunky as we like it that way! But if you like it more smooth, you can blend a bit more with some extra coconut oil and water (see my note inside the recipe)
- I use maple syrup and haven’t tried using honey so cannot vouch for the quantity of honey you might need. In general for sweetness, honey to maple syrup is a 1:1 ratio but texture is a different thing.
Btw, I have been eating a little bit of this spread (hazelnuts would be an #AIPreintro) and I seem to be tolerating it fine! Fingers Crossed! I also made a video this time. So watch it for step wise directions!
Let me know how you like my version of the spread by writing in the comments below!
- 1 heaped cup shelled Raw Hazel nuts (you can buy shelled or in shell; see note below )
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- If using hazel nuts in shell, lay them on a baking tray and toast in the oven at 350 F for about 20 minutes. Let cool and then crack them open using a nut cracker or a small pestle or a hammer. Then measure 1 cup of the shelled nuts.
- Add the shelled nuts to the food processor and blend to form a powder. Then add all the rest of the ingredients and blend till smooth. You may need to open the jar and run a knife or a spatula through the mixture in between a couple times to get a smooth pasty mixture.
- Transfer the mixture to a jar and keep in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
