As part of a clear-out at work I needed to do something with a large jar of hazelnut paste (roast and ground hazelnuts with nothing added)
After some trial and error I came up with the following recipe:
- Hazelnut paste 78%
- Icing sugar 18%
- Cocoa powder 4%
- Vanilla extract 0.2%
Easy to make, just mix the ingredients vigorously in a bowl until homogenous with no lumps. Pour into jars. Refrigerate if you want a stiffer spread but product will keep OK at room temperature.
The recipe is vegan, dairy free, gluten free and completely delicious. It contains no milk powder, palm oil or anything extraneous. Level of sugar is much lower than in other commercially produced spreads (Nutella is 56%). If you wanted a sugar free version you could try sweetening with a little honey or agave syrup but the moisture that would be introduced might cause the texture to stiffen and then you would need to add a liquid vegetable oil to compensate – better to live with a little sugar.
I did wonder about adding a little finely-ground sea salt and I still may try this. Texture is not quite as smooth as Nutella, probably because I do not have a £250k refiner in my kitchen. However the spread does taste of chocolatey hazelnuts with a hint of vanilla.
If you wanted a completely set product you could replace a small amount of the hazelnut paste with melted coconut fat but I could not be *rs*d plus there are already enough foods tasting of coconut out there.
This spread is tasty on toast, makes cool chocolate “milk” and is yummy on slices of pear. Or you could just eat it straight out of the jar.
Probably about a million calories and £££ to make unless someone gives you free hazelnut butter. But delicious.