Homemade Nutella – Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
Homemade Nutella is way better than store bought. Made with ingredients you can pronounce, this vegan Nutella recipe is dairy and gluten free.
Table of contents
Why this is the best homemade Nutella recipe
Most of the homemade Nutella recipes you find on the internet have butter and cream in them. I wanted a spread that tasted of chocolate and hazelnuts without the muting influence of dairy products. Also, any spread made with dairy will have a short shelf life.
As a big bonus, this recipe is vegan, dairy and gluten free. Because this recipe was developed for the best flavor and texture, period, there is no sacrifice of flavor or texture by eliminating the dairy.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate – Use a good quality semi-sweet chocolate. Don’t substitute cocoa. The cocoa butter in the chocolate helps contribute to the luxurious texture of the spread.
- Hazelnuts – The baking section of my local market only carries chopped hazelnuts with skins. The skins will leave a gritty texture in the spread. It’s easier to remove the skins from whole hazelnuts.
- Hazelnut Oil – Nut oil contributes to the luscious texture of the spread while also re-enforcing the nutty flavor. If you can’t find hazelnut oil you can use almond or walnut oil.
How to make the best Homemade Nutella
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Toast the hazelnuts.
- If the hazelnuts have skins, wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub back and forth to remove as much skin as possible.
- Transfer the hazelnuts while they’re still warm to the bowl of a food processor.
- Process for 4-5 minutes. At first it will look like a powder.
- Then the mixture will look like wet sand.
- Eventually it will form a paste.
- Add the powdered sugar.
- Process until it forms a very fine powder.
- Add warm melted chocolate.
- Process to a smooth paste.
- With the processor running, drizzle in the water and hazelnut oil.
- Process for 30 seconds until the mixture is velvety and very smooth.
- Immediately transfer the spread to a jar or other container with a tight fitting lid.
Pastry Chef Tips for making this recipe
- How you mix matters. I tried mixing the ingredients in a variety of ways and found that grinding the warm hazelnuts to a smooth paste, then adding the sugar and other ingredients created a super smooth and velvety spread.
- Don’t skip the water. The spread with thicken as it cools and will be quite firm without the water.
FAQs for making Homemade Nutella:
There is a decent amount of sugar and fat in the recipe so I wouldn’t call it healthy. But you can see there is a very short list of pronounceable ingredients with no chemical additives.
Because there are no dairy ingredients in this recipe the spread can safely be stored at room temperature, tightly covered, for a week. For longer term storage it should be refrigerated or frozen.
Store it in a jar or other container with a tight fitting lid. I like to use canning jars because they look pretty and have reusable lids. If you refrigerate chocolate hazelnut paste, let it soften to room temperature before using. For very long-term storage homemade Nutella can be frozen.
Refrigerated, this homemade hazelnut paste will keep for about 6 months.
When you’re finished making your homemade Nutella, you can make fabulous Nutella Sandwich Cookies! If you love this flavor combination you’ll love these Layered Hazelnut Truffles.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a star rating and a quick comment. Ratings and comments help my recipes show in search results. Thanks!
Homemade Nutella – Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
Ingredients
- 3 oz hazelnuts
- 3 oz confectioners sugar (¾ cup)
- 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate (melted)
- 2 oz very hot tap water (¼ cup)
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
Instructions
- Toast 3 oz hazelnuts in the oven until golden brown and fragrant. If the hazelnuts have skins, as soon as they come out of the oven wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub back and forth to remove as much skin as possible.
- Place the warm nuts in a food processor. Process for 4-5 minutes. At first it will look like a powder, then it will look like wet sand and eventually it will form a paste. Stop the processor and scrap down the bowl whenever the mixture builds up on the sides.
- Add 3 oz confectioners sugar to the hazelnut paste and process until smooth. Stop the processor and scrap down the bowl whenever the mixture builds up on the sides. Add 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate (melted and still warm) and process until there are no lumps.
- Combine 2 oz very hot tap water and 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil and add to the chocolate mix. Process until the paste comes together.
- Transfer the Hazelnut Paste to a jar or other container with a tight-fitting lid. The paste will thicken as it continues to cool. Store the unopened paste at room temperature for up to a week. Once opened, store in the refrigerator.
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How long would you say this is shelf stable or good in the fridge or even possibly in the freezer?
Wanting to make some homemade jars for Christmas presents.
I would just give it a few days at room temp. I would say several weeks in the fridge and months in the freezer.
I would like to use almonds instead of hazelnuts. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi! Just a question, can hazelnut oil be replaced with another vegetable oil? Will the flavour profile change drastically or just a little bit? I’m dying to make myself some chocolate spread as Nutella uses palm oil 🙂
The flavor will probably change a bit, but most of the flavor comes from the nuts. So, yes, you can use a neutral tasting vegetable ol.
I neglected to add that this recipe has the yummy taste of toasted hazelnuts, sadly lacking in Nutella.
A great idea to make homemade nutella.