Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Like melting Ferrero Rocher chocolate and spreading it onto a piece of toast, our Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread is rich, nutty and heavenly, for lack of a better word. 

One of my favourite snacks involves a spoon and some form of nut butter. There’s something so satisfying about plunging a spoon into a jar, and swirling out a heaping scoop of spread to be licked off the spoon, leaving you tongue-tied.

While smooth peanut butter and Nutella were my childhood crushes, I’ve since then upgraded to crunchy peanut butter and sadly removed Nutella, the creamy, decadent and drool-worthy hazelnut spread, from our cupboard.

With the first couple ingredients in a jar of Nutella being sugar and modified vegetable oil, it’s easy to see why we don’t believe Nutella belongs in our cupboard, or any place in the kitchen (see why we used the word sadly?).

The good news is that using real food ingredients like hazelnuts, chocolate, vanilla, espresso and maple syrup, ingredients that you’d think should be in hazelnut spread, is exactly what we used in our Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread.

Like melting Ferrero Rocher chocolate and spreading it onto a piece of toast, our Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread is rich, nutty and heavenly, for lack of a better word. Spread it on toast, on apples, between our Chocolate Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting or as a topping on French Toast. And of course, the classic spoon in the jar is a method we’re definitely not opposed to… we actually dare you not to do it.

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Roast the Hazelnuts

The first step to making a delicious and creamy chocolate spread is to roast your hazelnuts. Like most other nuts, hazelnuts gain a much deeper and sweeter flavour from being roasted. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown. If using pre-roasted nuts, then reduce oven time to 7-8 minutes.

Remove the Skins

To make our homemade chocolate spread a creamy consistency, removing as much of the skins as possible key. There are a couple different ways to do so, including blanching them or the towel rubbing method. We use the towel method.

After roasting, transfer the hazelnuts to a clean, lint free towel and cover with the edges allowing the nuts to steam and loosen the skins a bit more. Once cool enough to handle, hold the towel in your hand creating a pouch with the hazelnuts and rub them firmly with the palm of your other hand. Do this for about 30 seconds to a minute until most of the skins are removed. Separate the nuts from the skins and place them in a blender or food processor.

Blend the Hazelnuts into Nut Butter

You can use a blender or food processor to turn the hazelnuts into nut butter. Blend on low speed for about 8-10 minutes. You will likely need to scrape the sides of the container a few times along the way. The nuts will crush, then turn into a paste, and eventually you will hear the oil release and it will turn into a creamy and smooth nut butter.

Add the Chocolate

While the nuts are blending, melt the chocolate using a double boiler. Once it has completely melted stir in the vanilla, espresso powder and maple syrup, then whisk until combined. Add to the blender with the hazelnut butter. Sprinkle with salt and blend to combine. Transfer your freshly homemade chocolate hazelnut spread to mason jars. Store at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. But let’s be honest, you won’t let it last that long.

And Spread

Spread your homemade chocolate hazelnut spread on toast, pancakes, french toast, pastries, or anything else really.

Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

★★★★★

5 from 10 reviews

Made with just a handful of ingredients, our homemade chocolate hazelnut spread is super easy to make plus is creamy, healthy, and sweet. It will remind you of that first bite into a Fererro Rocher.

• Author: Chef Sous Chef
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 1 cup 1x
• Category: Food + Drink, Snack
• Method: Blender
• Cuisine: North American, Italian

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 2 cups raw hazelnuts
• 100g dark chocolate
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

No. 1 | Preheat your oven to 350°. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the nuts to a clean, lint free kitchen towel and cover with the edges to steam and loosen the skins. 

No. 2 | Once cool enough to handle, hold the towel with the nuts forming a pouch. Using the palm of your other hand, firmly and quickly rub the hazelnuts forcing the skins off. Do this for 30-60 seconds until most of the skins have been removed. Separate the hazelnuts from the skins, placing them in a blender or food processor. Discard the skins. 

No. 3 | Blend the hazelnuts on low speed for 8-10 minutes until it turns into nut butter. You will likely need to scrape the sides of the container down a few times. You will notice it first becomes a paste before you eventually notice the oil releasing from the hazelnuts and it becomes a creamy nut butter.

No. 4 | While the nuts are blending, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Stir in the maple syrup, vanilla, and espresso powder until combined. Once the nuts are blended pour the chocolate into the blender with a pinch of salt, and blend until combined.

No. 5 | Transfer the homemade chocolate hazelnut spread into mason jars and store at room temperature for 2-3 weeks.

Notes

• If starting with roasted hazelnuts, then bake for just 7-8 minutes.
• Recipe will work with various nuts, such as cashews, almonds, peanuts, etc.
• For a crunchy texture, reserve a couple tablespoons of the roasted hazelnuts and add with the chocolate at the end.
• Maple syrup, vanilla, and espresso are all optional ingredients.
• This recipe works best in a small blender container or food processor, otherwise the nuts may not blend properly. If using a Vitamix or full sized blender/processor you may need to double the recipe for proper results. 

Keywords: Homemade Nutella, How to make Nutella, Chocolate Hazelnut Spread