Chocolate Hazelnut Butter (Homemade Vegan Nutella)

When my children return from sleepovers, they always complain that all their friends have Nutella and why can’t we?  Well, have you ever looked at the ingredients list on a jar of Nutella? You would be shocked!  The first (and biggest) ingredient is sugar!  It also contains unsustainable palm oil which I refuse to support (see below for why) and it is not vegan due to the skimmed milk powder it contains.  

I don’t want to be a mean mum though so I tried making a better quality homemade version instead.  After trying a few different recipes for so-called “homemade Nutella”, I can report that each of them were pretty gross and nothing like the real thing!  They certainly didn’t pass the kids taste test!  So, I had to come up with something better and here is the solution.  

What's wrong with palm oil?

The trouble with (non-sustainable) palm oil is the devastating impact farming this crop has had on the environment due to deforestation and mono-cropping.  Farmers are cutting down rainforest to grow palm trees or reducing biodiversity by planting endless oil palm trees instead of a variety of different crops.  This is to satisfy the high demand for palm oil that is used in many ultra processed foods since it is a cheap and temperature stable oil.  However, it is not only bad for the environment but also high in saturated fats (one of the few plant oils that is) so it is also bad for your health!

Check out this New York Times Article if you’d like to learn more about this issue.

What is nut butter?

Nut butters are essentially made from whizzing up nuts at high speed so that the natural oils are released and it forms a smooth paste. The nuts are often roasted first to deepen the flavour and help to release the oils. It's a great way to add more protein to the morning piece of toast for a long-lasting energy boost!  

I often make homemade peanut butter as it’s quite hard to find good quality store-bought versions where I live and we can tailor it to exactly our tastes – my family like a rich deep roast peanut butter.  Cashew butter and almond butter are other favourites although the latter is difficult to get to a really creamy consistency since almonds are a harder nut to blend.

Notes on the main ingredients

There are only three main ingredients in this homemade vegan nutella recipe - hazelnuts, dark chocolate and cacao powder!

• Raw hazelnuts – it’s best to buy the raw nuts and then roast them yourself as this means the oils release more easily in the blender to create a really smooth creamy nut butter rather than a grainy paste.  Likewise, try not to use old nuts that have been sitting in the cupboard for a while as they will be more dry and may not have as much natural oil to release.  They will also go rancid more quickly so the nut butter will have a shorter shelf life.

• Dark chocolate chips – you can tailor this to your own taste.  I like 70% dark chocolate to give a really rich chocolatey flavour, but you could use a lighter chocolate if you prefer.  Using drops is good because they are small enough to melt really quickly in the blender from the warm nut butter.  If you cannot use chocolate drops, you will need to chop up your chocolate into really small pieces or melt the chocolate first (see below for how to do this easily in the microwave!).

• Cacao powder – this adds depth of flavour for a really rich chocolate taste. You can leave it out if you prefer a lighter flavour.  

• Maple syrup (optional) – if you prefer a sweeter chocolate hazelnut spread, you can add maple syrup to taste. You could use other liquid sweeteners if you prefer - I like maple syrup or date syrup best.

• Salt – a pinch of salt will help to enhance the flavours.

Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full list of ingredients and their quantities.

Tips for Success

There are a few key points to remember when making this recipe.

• Do not stop whizzing too soon!  If you stop before the natural oils are released, it will be a grainy nut paste which is nowhere near as nice as the glossy nut butter that we are going for!  Keep going until you see the shine!  

• If you have been whizzing for 7 minutes and there is still no shine, it could be that your hazelnuts were a little too old and did not contain enough natural oil.  In this case, you may need to add a little oil to help it along a bit.  Any flavourless oil will be find for this.  Coconut oil or avocado oil are both good choices!

• Watch the hazelnuts like a hawk while they are roasting.  They can very quickly change from undercooked to overcooked so keep an eye on them!  If they burn, it will make the nut butter taste bitter.

How to melt chocolate easily

Using chocolate chips means that you don’t have to melt them first because the hazelnut butter will be quite warm after roasting and then whizzing at high speed for 5 minutes so the chocolate chips will melt very quickly when you add them to the mixture.

However, if you are using broken up pieces of a chocolate bar instead of chocolate drops, you will need to melt the chocolate before adding it to the hazelnut butter.  Chocolate is notoriously tricky to melt as it seizes very easily and then you will have a hard grainy lumpy mixture instead. To avoid this, you need to heat it in a double-boiler or in the microwave.

• Double-boiler method: break up the cholate into pieces and put in a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water (this is called a double-boiler).  Stir over a gentle heat until it is melted.
• Microwave method: break up the chocolate into pieces and place in a microwaveable bowl.  Then heat on high for 30 seconds.  It won’t look melted but trust me, you don’t want to do more than that at first.  Take it out, stir it, then heat again for 30 minutes.  Repeat this process, removing and stirring each time, until the chocolate is fully melted.  Depending on the amount of chocolate you have, it will be about 1 or 2 minutes. 

Then simply pour your melted chocolate into the blender with the hazelnut butter.

Serving suggestions

This chocolate hazelnut spread is absolutely delicious spread on toast, or loaded onto pancakes with some berries, or stirred into a bowl of porridge or dolloped onto a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Substitutions

• Nut-free – Amazingly enough, you can make a nut free nut butter!  Just substitute the hazelnuts for sunflower seed butter (sunbutter) and no need to roast first, just whizz with the chocolate instead.  You will need to melt the chocolate first though (see above for instructions on how to do this).
• Keto – use keto chocolate and don’t include the optional maple syrup.
• Sugar-free – use sugar-free chocolate and don’t include the optional maple syrup.
• Alternatives – you can try out different nuts instead of hazelnuts!  Peanuts are also good and almonds.  Or try pecans for something a little different!
• Vanilla extract - you could add a ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract for subtle vanilla notes if you wish.

Note, some recipes include some kind of plant-based milk like coconut milk or almond milk but I really don't recommend that. First, it doesn't need it.  Second, the more ingredients you add, the more likely the chocolate is to seize.  And third, this makes the nut butter less shelf stable so you will need to keep it in the fridge and it will not keep as long.

Equipment notes

You will need a high-speed blender to make this nut butter as it needs to be whizzed at high speed for the natural oils to be released.  Alternatively, you could use a food processor but you will likely need to make a double batch for it to be able to whizz the nuts properly.   A Thermomix can also be used (Thermomix instructions included in the recipe card).

Storage

This chocolate hazelnut spread is shelf stable so can be kept in a cool, dark place for 2 months.  Over time, the natural oils will start to form a layer of oil on top of the chocolate hazelnut butter.  This is just natural separation and just needs a stir to bring it all together again.  If your hazelnuts are a little old, they may go rancid sooner.  Don’t worry, you will smell it if it’s gone rancid – it is a very distinctive, disgusting smell so you can’t miss it!  

Alternatively, you can keep your nut butter in the fridge.  This will just make it a stiffer mixture so you will need to leave it out for a few minutes before spreading.

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