Homemade Nutella

My amazing Aunt Christie wrote this recipe!! I had a cup of hazelnuts left over from when I made Banana-Hazelnut Bread and had hopes of making homemade Nutella when I happened to come across this recipe with a familiar name on it. I reached out to my aunt to see if it was really her, and it turns out that it is her recipe from when she did a cake cookbook back in 2010/2011! My favorite part about making this Nutella was reading her instructions because I felt like she was right there with me in the kitchen. I loved her relatable comments, such as the fact that this Nutella can keep for up to two weeks, but will it? Probably not! She mentions she is known to eat Nutella right off the spoon and I think there is no better way!

The ingredients for this recipe aligned very well with what I already had in my kitchen. The only wild card ingredient is the hazelnuts, and other than that, I had the chocolate, vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt. My one hurdle to jump over was getting the skin off the nuts! That requires patience, and a lot of rubbing. Luckily, there is no need to get it perfect, and as my Aunt says, some skin remaining is inevitable!

Store bought Nutella is soft and melts in your mouth and I could never turn down a spoonful, but homemade Nutella is on the next level in terms of flavor. The star ingredient, hazelnut, is much more prominent in this recipe compared to store bought - as it should be! Other great ways to eat this Nutella include having it with pretzels, on a slice of bread, in a crepe, with strawberries and more... so many great options!

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Yields: 2 cups Active Time: 15 mins Total Time: 30 mins

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Ingredients ~

1 cup hazelnuts

12 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil, such as canola

3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt, more or less depending upon your preference

Instructions ~

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).

2. 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 a little. 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.

3. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over gently simmering water or in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Let cool completely.

4. In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts until they form a paste. Add the oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, 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.

5. 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!)

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Recipe From: Christie Matheson (my aunt!!)