Celebrate Valentine's Day with this homemade Nutella recipe
February 14, 2018
If you love Nutella but stay away from it because it is made with unhealthy fats and lacks Omega-3s, here's a homemade Nutella recipe that produces a balanced version of this spread. Play around with this recipe to get it as soft and creamy as you want it by adding more canola oil. The original recipe from The Splendid Table calls for straining the mixture at the end. That seems like too much work to me, who likes a little texture in what I eat, but for the softest creamiest mixture, it might be the way to go
Ingredients
1 cuphazelnuts
12 ouncesmilk chocolate, chopped -- or a mixture of milk and semi-sweet chocolate depending on how dark and sweet you want your Nutella to be.
3 tablespoonsmildvegetable oil, such as canola
3 tablespoonsconfectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoonunsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoonvanilla extract
2 teaspoons flaxseed meal (yellow is better but brown will do)
3/4 teaspoonsalt, more or less depending upon your preference
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).
Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 12 minutes, until they’ve browned a little and the skins are blistered. Wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove as much loose skin as possible. (Some skin will cling to the nuts when you’re done. It’s okay—not to mention inevitable.) Let cool completely.
Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over gently simmering water or in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Let cool completely.
In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts until they form a paste, then drizzle in the 3 tablespoons of canola oil. Add the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, flaxseed meal and salt and continue processing until the mixture is as smooth as possible-or as smooth as you like. Add the melted chocolate, blend well, and then strain the mixture to remove any chunks of hazelnut that remain. The resulting homemade Nutella will be thin and somewhat runny and maybe even a little warm but it will thicken as it cools.
Scrape your homemade nutella into a jar or other resealable container and let it cool to room temperature. Cover the container after snitching several spoonfuls. The nutella will keep on the counter for up to 2 weeks. (Hah!)