Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (Nutella) #Recipe

My kids and I LOVE Nutella. However, it is rather expensive and when I looked at the ingredients I wasn’t very pleased with all of the sugar and preservatives. So we decided to try making it ourselves! Not only was it a lot of fun….it turned out DELICIOUS! I love that it is silky smooth, tasty, has a fraction of the sugar and isn’t nearly as sweet as the original Nutella. Keep in mind if you enjoy the super sweetness of Nutella  you can definitely get that with this recipe by using milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet and add 1/4 cup powdered sugar (that should do the trick!)

Ingredients

1. 8 oz shelled hazelnuts (that’s about 32 oz of shell on hazelnuts)
2. 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3. 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4. 1/4 cup coconut (or you can use canola oil)
5. 2 tsp vanilla
6. 1 tsp salt
7. 1/2 cup chocolate chips (if you use semi sweet chocolate chips your “Nutella” will be more of a dark chocolate flavor…if you use milk chocolate chips it will taste sweeter like the original).

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with wax paper, spread out hazelnuts on the sheet and roast for 15 minutes. (Watch them to make sure they do not brown too fast.)
2. Remove them from the oven and carefully pour them onto a clean kitchen towel. (Be careful they will roll around and are VERY hot)
3. With your kitchen towel rub the hazelnuts with the towel to remove the skins.
4. Place nuts in food processor or blender (I used my Ninja Blender) and blend until they begin to liquefy (this takes about 5 minutes). Scrape the sides of your food processor or blender periodically to make sure you do not leave any unprocessed chunks behind.
5. Once the mixture has began to liquefy add powdered sugar, salt and cocoa power. 
6. Turn blender back onto high speed and add oil and vanilla extract to the mix. Continue to blend on high speed until smooth.
7. Once smooth add chocolate chips and continue mixing again until you get a silky smooth consistancy. If the mixture seems too firm or clumpy you may need to add a little more oil. 
8. Store in a easy to use jar and refrigerate for up to 1 month. (When removing from the refridgerator to serve make sure to let it sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes or put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds  to allow it to soften up. If you want to avoid this issue use canola oil instead of coconut oil and your “nutella” should stay spreadable!)

We love eating our homemade nutella on banana’s, as a spread on graham crackers or toast, with pretzels and all by itself! How do you like to eat your nutella???