Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

The other day I was crushed when I used the last of my Nutella.  Now, I could have just bought another jar, but that plastic jar gave me a twinge of guilt, and I thought I’d do a web search and see just how hard it might be to make.  What I found is there are way too many recipes, and they are all pretty similar.  I looked at America's Test Kitchen (just the free version), and thought that while their general recipe seemed delicious, it also looked pricey.  The one on Allrecipes didn’t get very good reviews, and the one on Food Network contained a can of condensed milk, and I thought it might not hold up well over time.  So I took all that information and came up with my own version.

So sad.

You will need

1 ½ cups hazelnuts ($8.99 per lb, $8.99 x .5lb = $4.49)

¾ cup chocolate chips ($2.99 per lb, $2.99/16 oz = $.19 x 4.5oz = $.84)

½ tsp homemade vanilla ($.01 per ml, $.01 x 2.46ml = $.02)

2 Tbsp powdered sugar or to taste ($1.99 per 32 oz, $1.99/120 Tbsp = $.016 x 2 = $.03)

Roasted and ready!

Roast your hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet at 375 for about 12 minutes.  If the nuts still have the skins on them, put them in a bowl with a second bowl over them and shake vigorously until the skins come off (by the way- this is also how you can skin an entire head of garlic in seconds).  Skins will make the spread bitter, so make sure they come off (I found skinned ones in the bulk section of Martin’s).

I could have ground them a little finer, this is like when the peanut butter becomes a giant ball.

The two main ingredients.

Transfer the hazelnuts- still hot- to a food processor, and process until fairly smooth, scraping the sides as needed.  This takes a while, and sometimes it gets all stuck on the sides.  Basically it’s the same process as making peanut butter.  When you like the texture of the nuts, throw in the chocolate chips.  They’ll melt really quickly.  Scrap down the sides and add the vanilla and sugar, blend till combined.  

You may decide you don’t want any sugar at all, or you may like it sweeter than I did, just add it slowly and remember that added sugar will affect the texture a bit.

Extra tasty on a Petit Beurre cookie!

Try It

$5.38 for about 1 ½ cups, or $.22/Tbsp

Buy It

$4.39 for 13oz, or $.22/Tbsp

Verdict

They’re the same price, and it took very little time.  I think this one is going to come down to just how hooked you are on the silky texture of Nutella.  I was a little surprised to find that I prefer this homemade stuff- it’s a little gritty, but in a nice way, and I like being able to adjust the sweetness.  I’m going to Try It!