Like a vegan version of Nutella, this chocolate hazelnut spread is perfect for spreading on toast, incorporating into frosting or pies, sandwiching between cookies, or just eating with a spoon.
I don’t think I need to convince you to make this recipe. If hearing the words “chocolate” and “hazelnut” isn’t enough to move you, I don’t know what will. These days there are a couple of companies out there making vegan chocolate hazelnut spread, but it really isn’t too difficult to make at home without paying an arm and a leg.
Looking around the Web at similar recipes, I noticed that many people had a difficult time removing the bitter outer skins of the hazelnuts. Fortunately, there’s a trick to make skinning hazelnuts easier. To skin the 1½ c cups of hazelnuts that you’ll need in this recipe, boil 4 cups of water in a deep pot. Add 6 tbsp baking soda (it will fizz and bubble), and add hazelnuts. Continue boiling for 3-5 minutes (watching it to make sure it doesn’t boil over). The water will turn reddish-black. Test by dropping a hazelnut in a cup of cold water. Pinch the hazelnut; the skin should slip right off. If it doesn’t, continue boiling. Once finished, drain and rinse with cold water. Slip off the skins off all the hazelnuts (it doesn’t have to be perfect); rinse one more time and set aside to dry and cool completely.
I like to use soy powder to give this spread more of a milk chocolate flavor; you can leave it out if you desire a darker chocolate flavor.
- 1½ c hazelnuts, skinned
- 1-2 tbsp hazelnut or vegetable oil
- ¾ c powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp high-quality cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp soy powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- Toast hazelnuts in oven (or toaster oven) at 350° for ~20 minutes, tossing them frequently so as not to burn the nuts.
- While still hot, grind in a blender until nuts break down into nut butter, adding vanilla and a little oil during the blending process.
- Once a coarse nut butter has been formed, add cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and soy powder, adding more oil as needed.
- Blend until spread reaches desired consistency.
9 comments
Carrie says:
Sep 19, 2012
I was SOOOO close to just buying a jar of Nutella, milk ingredients be damned. Thank you so much for posting this! Now I just have to find a place in stupid New Mexico where I can buy hazelnuts.
Jen says:
Jan 12, 2013
Made this this evening and it was fabulous!! Thanks for great recipe
claryn says:
Jan 21, 2013
Glad you liked it, Jen
niv says:
Feb 2, 2014
the recipe is a treasure
but what its shelf life?
claryn says:
Feb 4, 2014
Wait, you mean you wouldn’t eat the entire batch in one sitting?
Because there’s a lot of sugar in this spread, it should do just fine in a jar or other air-tight container at room temperature for at least 2 weeks. That said, if you store it in your refrigerator, it’ll harden up a bit, but would last longer — I’d guess 6 months at least.
Katie says:
Feb 4, 2014
Just wondering, do you have any nutritional information for this recipe? It sounds great!
claryn says:
Feb 4, 2014
This is not a low-calorie food, if you were wondering, Katie!
I don’t really “do” nutritional info on this blog for a number of reasons, but you can certainly calculate nutritional information yourself here: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
Marla says:
Mar 30, 2014
Is soy powder soy milk powder? I have some of that.
claryn says:
Mar 31, 2014
I use unsweetened, unflavored soy powder, which can be used to make soy milk (like this here: http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=709468&storeId=10052&langId=-1). That said, any soy milk powder should work, but be aware that if you’re using a flavored, sweetened kind, it’ll alter the flavor a little bit!