This hazelnut–cocoa spread, aka homemade Nutella, like many other homemade foods, requires more work to make than pulling something off a store shelf and tossing it into your shopping cart. But once you taste homemade, you can never go back. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Not only does the homemade version taste better, it contains high-quality ingredients. Sugar is the first ingredient in Nutella. Palm oil, the second. Nutella also contains vanillin, an artificial flavor. At least you can rest assured that vanillin rarely comes from the anal glands of beavers these days, to the relief of vegans. Well, okay, to the relief of everyone.
Living the sheltered life that I do, I didn’t realize that Nutella contains palm oil. That’s still in there? If you want to learn more about why palm oil has earned a deservedly horrible reputation, read this long article, “How the world got hooked on palm oil” from The Guardian.
Ferrero, the company that manufactures Nutella, posts its corporate social responsibility report online, which I imagine explains how it continues to address the palm oil problem in its supply chain. I don’t know because I speak only English and a bit of French. I could spend my precious time running the Italian-language document through ho-hum Google Translate and then read the resulting garbled English or I could spend my time making something that tastes much better than Nutella—sans (I did say a bit of French) plastic jar and large plastic lid to boot.
No one should have to work this hard to find out what corporations put into their food-like substances. Fortunately, you have a much easier strategy to avoid eating palm oil:
Avoid buying food with labels.
Food with labels usually contains dubious ingredients you would not stock in your pantry. Whole foods have no labels listing ingredients because they are ingredients.
All In the Family
My daughter MK first made homemade Nutella for her blog, The Plastic-Free Chef, several years ago. My younger daughter Charlotte tweaked MK’s recipe a bit for this post. MK sweetened hers with powdered sugar. Charlotte used honey. Both taste amazing.
A few people have told me that the honey turns their homemade Nutella into a clump so I’ve updated this recipe to call for powdered sugar or dates rather than honey.
Hazelnut–Cocoa Spread (Homemade Nutella)
Yields approximately 1 ¾ cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1/8 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 tablespoons powdered sugar OR 4 to 5 pitted dates
- 2 to 4 tablespoons coconut oil to reach desired consistency
Directions
1. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast at 400°F for 5 to 10 minutes or until the skins begin to crack. Toasting brings out the flavor. Do not skip this step!
2. After the nuts have cooled enough to handle, place them in a towel. Cover them up and rub them around inside the towel to remove the skins. Don’t worry if you can’t get all of the skins off.
3. Run the nuts in a food processor until they become creamy hazelnut butter. This can take up to 10 minutes. Be patient.
4. Add the cocoa, salt and vanilla and process until combined.
5. Slowly add powdered sugar to taste and process until combined. UPDATE 12/02/20: I used to put honey in this but people have told me the honey causes their homemade Nutella to lump up, so I’ve changed the sweetener to powdered sugar. Dates also taste delicious.
6. Add the coconut oil, a tablespoon or so at a time, and process. Continue until the homemade Nutella has reached your desired consistency. Charlotte kept this batch quite thick. If you prefer it runnier, add more oil.
7. The oil will naturally separate when you store this. Stir it up before eating. Like other nut butters, if you eat this as quickly as we do, you don’t need to store it in the refrigerator. Natural nut butters will keep well at room temperature for several weeks. If you eat it slowly, keep it in the refrigerator.
Homemade nutella is so much tastier! I’ve tried a few iterations, but prefer the slight caramel taste that puréed dates lend to it.
I will try that in my next batch, Sophie. It sounds like a good combo 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
Oh wow as bolt to my pantry.. I am so making this!
It’s so good, Susan. A little too good! I think the fact that it takes more work to make is a good thing. Otherwise I would make it–and eat it–all the time. Enjoy! ~ Anne Marie
Looks yummy!!!
It’s very good, Dee! And only a handful of real ingredients too. ~ Anne Marie
I have not been a fan of nut butters but this one sounds good.
Reading the label and the story about the vanillin certainly turns me off any food with labels, and I really think your rule “don’t buy anything with labels” is a good strategy for staying healthy.
It’s very good Marieann! I’m glad you like that rule. It’s straightforward and it works 😉 ~ Anne Marie
We tried it. The only problem was our food processor, but at the end it is just a bit crunchy. Do you turn your jars up side down? To keep it from molding?
Hi Manon,
If it is not creamy, you can try running it for a few more minutes. I have never had nut butters mold. They can turn rancid though after a long time. If you’re worried about it going south, I would keep it in the refrigerator.
~ Anne Marie
This was very tasty when I made it! I dont think I used enough coconut oil so it was a bit drier than I planned but I will definitely make it again. It’s great with berries and ice cream. It has a similar taste to choc brownies. I like someone’s suggestion of adding a couple of dates. Love your recipes and ideas!
I really need to try making this sounds amazing
I tried it! Got my nuts at Bulk Barn, but after I already bagged them I noticed the store has hazel nut butter. Oh well.
I have a tiny food processor. Holds about 1.5 cups. So I processed the nuts half at a time. But I dont think my machine can do that again. It got hot and a bit smelly. I used the ingredients but found it bitter, I added some icing sugar, then of course more oil and honey to make it more wet. I think I made a mess trying to save it. Lol. But, the flavour is good, just still gritty. I think next time I will purchase the nut butter and go from there.
We will probably make some hazelnut butter balls (like Feraro Roche) with what I made.
Thanks!!!
Great recipe, my only issue is I can’t tolerate coconut – so what is an alternative to the coconut oil that you use? Any help would really be appreciated!
I am also hoping to make this–I have all the ingredients except coconut oil. (OK, I do have coconut oil. But that coconut oil is used as diaper cream. I am NOT putting that in my Nutella.) I hope that canola oil will work in its place. I’ll report back if I make this!
Oh please let me know how it goes Clare!!!
I made some today. It tastes better than Nutella! Thank you for the recipe and all the inspiration.
Update!! I made your recipe with hazelnut butter this time, 1 1/4 cup worth. Not too bad this time round, texture is great. I think, personally, 1/8 tsp of salt is too much. More hazelnut type treats to be made I guess. Will see what I get next week! Lol!!
[…] started to go with the Zero Waste Chef’s recipe, but with my tiny food processor, I could not manage to make the hazelnut butter. the texture was […]
I see you live in the Bay Area. Try substituting half your hazelnuts with roasted bay nuts. If you’ve never eaten a nut from the Bay Laura tree (native to California), I would describe its taste somewhere between chocolate and coffee. Absolutely delicious.
I made this today with the nuts from our hazel from last year!! I found it really hard getting the skin off and everyone says the finished product tastes burnt 🙁 I don’t know if I toasted them for too long (about 8 minutes at 170 ish) or whether it’s the skins. It’s ok though cos I like it!!
Hi Alison,
I’m glad you like it! If you had trouble getting the skins off, you might need to toast them a little bit longer. The skins will crack and come off easily when you rub them in a towel. You might want to try it with a small amount of nuts and see how that goes. Or make it as you did this batch and eat it all yourself 😛
~ Anne Marie
OMG, I just found your website and your recipes, and I REALLY want to try this. I hate Nutella for its involvement in the palm oil crisis, and all the added crap, but yes, it tastes like heaven.
Has anyone tried this recipe with an alternative to honey, though? My husband had a kidney transplant, and now uncooked honey is off the table. I was thinking either maple syrup or agave nectar (which I understand comes in plastic, but it’s a process, right?)
Hi Pattie,
I was really surprised to see that Nutella (or anything else really!) has palm oil. What the heck. People know it’s terrible stuff. I think it would taste delicious with maple syrup but haven’t tried it. My older daughter wrote another version on her blog without honey and it tastes amazing: https://theplasticfreechef.com/2012/11/30/chocolate-hazelnut-spread/
Anne Marie
I just made this this morning and used cocoa powder I brought back from Indonesia last year where I’m sure they farm all the palm trees to make the palm oil! It’s honestly delicious and I’m so happy to a found this recipe that’s easy and dairy free. I ran out of coconut oil so I used avocado oil instead works just as well.
Hi Anna,
I’m glad you like it! Thank you for letting me know that avocado oil works. That’s great information 🙂
~ Anne Marie
Hi Anne Marie, I finally had a chance to make this today. At 2 tablespoons of coconut oil it seemed fine, but adding a third one it didn’t seem like the oil and rest of the ingredients wanted to combine. I figured because maybe my small machine was getting hot but even after a couple hours in the fridge, the coconut oil is still liquid and separate from the rest of ingredients, which have combined to something really thick and not spreadable (although super tasty). Please help!
Do you have any guidance if I were to swap out the hazelnuts for sunflower seeds?
Hi Allison,
I would start by substituting 2 cups of sunflower seeds. Toast those for about 5 minutes in the oven at 350F, check on them and then toast for a few minutes more if necessary. You want them fragrant and toasted but not dark or burnt. I’d also start with a small amount of the coconut oil and if the mixture is a little too thick to your liking, you can add a more. I hope that helps.
Enjoy!