DIY: Homemade Nutella
Last year, I made the confession of all confessions. I was on the fence about Nutella, and while I was enamored with some Nutella cookies that I made, I still wasn’t completely sold. I haven’t been able to put my finger on it, but it just wasn’t living up to the high expectations that the foodie world had set for it. When I first started flipping through my new favorite DIY cookbook last year and marking recipes to try, the homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread didn’t set the world on fire for me. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when I revisited the book that I took a second glance at the recipe. The rest, as they say, is history.
In the recipe headnote, it mentioned that commercial chocolate-hazelnut spreads often lack real nut flavor and can taste plasticky. Yes, that! Since it seemed like they were speaking my language, I decided that if anything might change my mind, it would be this homemade version. Turns out, I was right. I haven’t been able to put the spoon down since this finished churning in my food processor!
In addition to being one of the easiest recipes you’re likely to find, it has officially changed my mind when it comes to the chocolate-hazelnut spread phenomenon. Maybe it has to do with actually making it myself, but the flavor truly cannot be beat. The nut flavor comes bursting through and the chocolate gives it such depth. I guess this in line with the notion that if kids help make a meal they are more likely to eat it ;-)
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Eat it, I did! I ate quite a few spoonfuls before I decided I should probably try it on something else. As it turns out, graham crackers and apples are both perfect companions for your homemade Nutella. As are about a million other things, I’m sure! I can’t wait to break out the tub of pretzel rods with this jar.
Since I gave up peanut butter for Lent, I may have just found myself a very worthy substitute for the next 38 days. My grandma used to pull the one-two punch – layering peanut butter then Nutella on her morning toast. Such a trendsetter, she was! I only wish she were here to taste this homemade version. I have no doubt she would love it and gobble it up as quickly as I could make it.
I have learned a very valuable lesson here. If I don’t care much for a packaged product, give it a homemade whirl before totally dismissing it. As it turns out, the concept is phenomenal, and this recipe’s execution makes it absolutely perfect. I’m so thrilled to finally jump on the chocolate-hazelnut train!
One year ago: Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars and Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup
Two years ago: White Chocolate Coconut Brownies
Three years ago: Espresso Ice Cream
Four years ago: Italian Walnut Pillow Cookies
Six years ago: Maple-Hazelnut Oatmeal
Homemade Nutella Spread
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) shelled hazelnuts, (8 ounces)
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup (28.67 g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread the hazelnuts out on a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until dark brown and fragrant, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Keep a close eye on them, as they can go from perfect roasted to burnt in a short amount of time. Transfer the hazelnuts to a medium-sized bowl.
- Once the hazelnuts are cool enough to handle, place a second bowl upside-down on top of the bowl with the hazelnuts. Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds to remove the skins of the hazelnuts. It may take a few times to get all of the skins off; each time, remove the hazelnuts that have lost their skin to the bowl of a food processor, then continue shaking.
- Process the hazelnuts in a food processor until their oil is released and they form a smooth, loose paste, 2 to 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl often.
- Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, hazelnut oil, vanilla extract and salt and process until fully incorporated, scraping the bowl as needed, about 2 minutes. The mixture will loosen and become glossy. Transfer the spread to a jar with a tight-fitting lid or an airtight container. You can store it in the refrigerator or at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Notes
- If you want to do away with having to remove the hazelnut skins, you could purchase blanched hazelnuts, which I might try next time.
- I was not able to find hazelnut oil at any local grocery stores (including Whole Foods), so I ended up ordering it from Nuts.com. You could substitute walnut oil or vegetable oil, but the hazelnut oil really helps give the spread a silky smooth texture.
- You can substitute regular unsweetened cocoa powder for the Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I’m sorry i lil bit worried about replacing hazelnut oil to vegetable oil, is that ok?
That should be fine, you just won’t have the additional hazelnut flavor.
Thanks for the recipe! I halved the amount of sugar, so, 1/2 c, and added around 1/3 c of semi-sweet chocolate shavings instead and it turned out perfect for me. I also subbed hazelnut ex for the vanilla ex. It’s in fridge for now and hope that it’ll thicken up a bit since it’s a little runny for spreading on bread.
This may be a silly question, but I wanted to know if there is a reason why the skin has to be removed from the hazelnut for this recipe.
Hi Mary, Just for the sake of having a smooth mixture and not having bits of skins in the spread.
Silly question- do you have nutritionals for this recipe?
Hi Ryan, I do not.
Followed the recipe tonight. Not satisfied with results. After roasting nuts, I processed them in FP for 30 mins. They never “released” oil. Finally added all other ingredients. Mixture was so dry. Added a total of 6 tablespoons hazelnut oil (available on the shelf at our local grocery, to my surprise). Continued processing for another 30 mins. Mixture is almost spreadable. What happened??? I’ve successfully made almond butter. I thought Nutella would be much easier.
Hi Lisa, After 30 minutes of processing the nuts never turned into a paste consistency? If they didn’t, I am really at a loss as to why. That’s an excessive amount of time to process, and as I mentioned, mine broke down in less than 5 minutes.
Amazing!
Made it this afternoon with my 3-year-old girl and we simply loved it!
Thanks for sharing!
Greetings from Athens, Greece!
Hi. Just wondering how long this will keep? And how to store it!?
Hi Georgette, Any airtight container will do; I keep mine in a glass mason jar. It will keep for one month. (These storage instructions are also included under step #4 in the recipe above.)
If you use the blanched hazelnuts, do you skip the roasting step and move right to the processing step?
Hi Frances, Yes!
I’d like to try this recipe, but I’m confused about the measurements. 8oz normally equals 1 cup. The recipe calls for two cups (8 oz) hazelnuts. Is this an error? Which one is correct? Thanks.
Hi Gisela, This is actually a common misconception. Yes, 8 ounces = 1 cup of LIQUID measure and, only coincidentally, the same is true for butter. Ingredients have vastly different volumes, which means that they don’t all weigh 8 ounces for 1 cup. For example, 1 cup of flour weighs around 4 ounces, while 1 cup of corn syrup weighs 11 ounces, and you can find examples for everything in between. In this instance, 2 cups of hazelnuts weighs 8 ounces.
Is there any way to make it with another sweet source other than sugar? & still have it taste great?
Hi Iris, You could experiment with other things, but the powdered sugar does contribute a bit to the consistency, so keep that in mind.
Yep… just made this and it blows the doors off of the commercially-prepared stuff. I did a side-by-side test after finishing my (double) batch and I hadn’t realized the commercial stuff has a plasticky aftertaste until I made a fresh batch. And mine is still warm from the roasting and processing… oh heaven. Thank you for a terrific recipe.
Hi ! I find your homemade version of nutella the best amongst many other recipes . But the problem is that i couldnt find hazelnuts in my area so can i make it with almonds instead ? I mean will the recipe work the same for almonds??
Hi Komal, Sure, you can make this with almonds. It obviously won’t taste like Nutella, but it will work for an almond-chocolate spread.
I recently ran across a method for peeling hazelnuts by boiling them in water and baking soda. Do a google search for that and you will find several sites with the method. At first I was worried that the hazelnuts might get soggy or taste like baking soda. But, I followed the directions and ended up with perfectly naked hazelnuts that baked to a golden brown with no aftertaste. I was so happy to find the method because the baking/shaking method never worked particularly well for me.
Can I use my Vitamix to make the Nutella? I don’t have a food processor.
Thanks!!
Well if I’d just read above I would have answered my own question. Whoops! Lol! I can’t wait to try it. Just have to find that elusive hazelnut oil!! Thanks for the recipe.
If you don’t have a food processor, can you use a blender?
Hi Aurora, Yes, certainly!
I bought hazelnuts that are already blanched. Should I still roast the nuts, or is that step just to remove the skin?
Hi Paige, I would still roast them, it enhances the flavor.
Can i make it without nuts or sunflower seeds??
Hi Libby, Well, this spread is meant to replicate commercial Nutella, which is a hazelnut spread; if you omit the nuts you won’t have the right consistency. I know you can make a sunflower-based peanut butter-like spread.
This is the BEST recipe! I have made it several times and have made changes to make it more to my own tastes. First, I blanch the hazelnuts before roasting them. It makes it easier to remove the skins. Second, I no longer add the salt or vanilla. Last, I only use 1/3 cup of sugar. Reducing sugar also means reducing the added hazelnut oil to 1 tsp. I think the reduction of sugar was the best change because it is still nicely sweet but the sugar isn’t overpowering the delicious roasted hazelnut flavor.
Just made a batch. I want you to know that I’m never buying nutella again. AMAZING RECIPE!!!!!! Thank you so much, especially from a dairy free point of view!
I just discovered Nutella a few months ago, at age 60. Before I could never understand why anyone would put chocolate on toast. (Never mind that I totally understood chocolate croissants!). And I make homemade nut butters in my Vitamix yet still didn’t realise I could make Nutella at home. Like, duh! Despite taking up canning this year, I’m still delightfully surprised to rediscover over and over again that ‘processed food’ originated in women’s kitchens. And ‘processed food’ can return to our kitchens tasting like food if we’re willing to put some effort in. Thank you for being part of the movement.
I used almond oil since I had it at home already and it was absolutely delicious!
I found it sweet enough with 3/4 cup of powdered sugar and subbed 2T melted coconut oil for the hazelnut oil and it worked beautifully and tastes wonderful. Thanks so much for this recipe. I had 2 cups of hazelnuts I didn’t know what to do with and I’ll definitely make this again. I used my vitamix and I think if I blend it a little longer I should be able to get a smooth texture, but not with a sleeping baby on my chest. next time!
I love Nutella like so many people, I see. You really did a great job with this homemade cream! If I make it at home, it would be expensive, but the homemade is always better and when you make it with love it becomes greater.
Hey Danielle,
Have a friend who lives and dies for Nutella and loved the homemade version. Added 50g of high quality dark chocolate as a special treat instead of the cocoa powder. Just processed it in with the nuts for a more bitter version. And it was amazing as a filling for hazelnut macaroons!!!
So thanks for the inspirational spark!
Ian
Hazelnut flour is available on Nuts.com for $11.99/lb. This flour seems appropriate to make homemade ‘Nutella”for persons without a food processor or wish to skip a step or two. The blanched nuts are $9.99/lb. Organic raw nuts are $10.99/lb.
Hi , my kids are teenagers and on fire for Nutella but even at SAMs the bigger jar is over $6 in my area and twice the price then the two jars of peanut butter ! Can you tell me what your approximate costs that it took for you to make this from scratch ? And how much did it actually make? We have 5kids and going thru a jar of Nutella a week is costly, I try to cut when I can and was wondering if after all is said and done is this worth it to make at home?
Hi Danielle, I’m not sure that you’d be able to make this for much less than $6. This recipe makes 1.5 cups of the spread. I bought my hazelnuts from Nuts.com and they are $8.99/lb, so it would be $4.50 just for the hazelnuts. The rest of the ingredients are pretty fractional by comparison, but it would leave you in the $5-6 range. For me personally, making things homemade isn’t always about reducing costs, but making something with 100% from-scratch ingredients. You know exactly what’s going into it.
I’d like to know if I can use a traditional water canning process to preserve it for a longer period of time. I’d like to make it and give it as xmas gift… I’d love to make t in advance rather than xmas eve. Canning it would allow me to do that. Do you think it will be ok? Thanks for taking the time to answer my question!
Hi Laura, Unfortunately, I cannot say for sure whether this is safe to can or not. Usually you would need some type of acidity, so I don’t know that this would work for long-term storage.
I made this as a filling for my father’s birthday cake and it was DELICIOUS!!! I love how you can adjust the other items according to your taste (more sugar, cocoa, vanilla, etc). I didn’t have hazelnut oil, so used canola and it was just fine. We made it a second time and ran out of hazelnuts, so we did a mixture of hazelnuts and almonds. Still very tasty! I can’t wait to make this again!!! Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi,
I made this but it came out very soupy… very yummy but hard to use as spread. Any hints ??
Janet
Hi Janet, Did you make any substitutions or alterations to the recipe?
Yes I did use olive oil but that was fine last time. I guess I just need more hazelnuts ? I used two cups.
Hi Janet, Yeah, I’m not sure what the problem might be if you made it before with fine results?
I’ve always loved Nutella and when I found this recipe I had to try it. Sooo easy and no additives. I love the flavor but the consistency is very thick.It just doesn’t spread. I substituted a light olive oil as I didn’t have an nut oil and in the process also added some half and half ( 6 TBsp. total). I had seen a recipe for nutella in Bon Appetit which used a cup of cream and 1/2 a stick of butter. That seemed a bit too many calories for me but this recipe is too thick. Any suggestions for making it more spreadable???
Thanks, Denise G.
Hi Denise, I’m not sure if the olive oil vs. hazelnut oil would have an effect on the texture, but adding the half and half might. Churning it through a food processor will cause the ingredients to heat up, and with the half and half, it might emulsify more than intended. I’d try it again, as written above, and see if you still have problems.