I have successfully made this chocolate hazelnut spread a few times now. It’s super easy. I made one batch with maple syrup, and if you avoid sugar, you might want to try that. I personally prefer the consistency with the organic powdered (confectioner’s) sugar, but I like to remind you that there are options. You could also add a little vanilla extract or the scraped seeds from half a vanilla bean.

I’ll tell you right now that this does not taste exactly like Nutella. It’s not quite as sweet and it’s not as smooth (because it doesn’t contain as much sugar, questionable oils, or emulsifiers). But it’s pretty close. And it’s better for you.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
• ⅓ cup organic, raw cacao powder (or organic cocoa powder)
• ⅔ cup powdered sugar, preferably organic (or ⅔ cup pureed dates)
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil (a good choice if it’s warm out and it’s a liquid), or use grapeseed oil or hazelnut oil

Make It Happen:

• Place toasted and skinned nuts in a food processor. Process until the nuts turn into a smooth paste (you may need to scrape the bowl a few times so all the nuts get ground up evenly — this takes a few minutes).
• When the nuts have been processed into hazelnut butter, add the powdered sugar, cacao/cocoa, and sea salt. Process again until smooth.
• Add the oil and process once more. Your homemade Nutella should now have a spreadable consistency.
• Transfer your chocolate hazelnut spread to an airtight container. Storing it in the refrigerator will make it harden up, and it won’t be easy to spread, but that’s the best place to store it if you want your homemade Nutella to last for a while. If you think it will get eaten up in a few days, you can store it at room temperature.

This recipe was written by Winnie Abramson and published in Healthy Green Kitchen.