This naturally sweetened chocolate hazelnut butter spread has just four ingredients and only takes minutes to make!
I already have a chocolate peanut butter spread recipe up, but this one is a little different (other than the whole nut type thing). This chocolate hazelnut spread uses Dutch process cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor and coconut sugar to sweeten.
(You know what’s lame? I just realized I threw some chocolate in the background of these pictures. Haha. Yeah. Ignore that! It’s just representative. ;))
The chocolate peanut butter uses a little cocoa powder, but mostly chocolate chips to flavor and sweeten it, meaning this hazelnut butter is technically a little healthier. Sugar is sugar but if you like to naturally sweeten stuff, this is your recipe!
It also means that this version is naturally dairy-free and vegan. And like the peanut butter, naturally gluten-free!
I originally wanted to call this “Healthy Homemade Nutella” but Mr. Texanerin, the Nutella fiend that he is, heard of my plans and his response? “NO! Absolutely not!” Apparently this is just chocolate hazelnut butter. I hope you can cope. ;)
To be honest, he’s correct in that this chocolate hazelnut butter doesn’t taste much like Nutella. Or okay – at all. It’s not as smooth and not nearly as sweet, but it is chocolatey. And much more hazelnut-y. Chocolatey using cocoa powder and not that much sugar.
I used a range of amounts for both of those ingredients, just because I have quite the sweet tooth and don’t like dark chocolate, so the amount of sugar I use might not (and hopefully won’t be!) what you need.
I’ve used this hazelnut butter a few times in no-bake recipes in place of Nutella and it’s worked out well so far. I’ve also used it in these chocolate banana muffins without a problem.
In those, the hazelnut butter is just a swirl on top of the muffins and not mixed into the batter. If you want to make something where Nutella is called for and mixed in with the batter, I’m not positive how that’d work out. I guess I need to experiment!
I normally use blanched and roasted hazelnuts when I make this recipe because I’m lazy and hate blanching nuts, but I’ve included the directions on how to roast and then de-skin the nuts just a little.
If you want to be really thorough about it, check out Stacy’s how-to on blanching hazelnuts.
Paleo Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Spread (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: ~1 1/2 cups
Ingredients
- 18 ounces (500 grams) hazelnuts
- 3 tablespoons – 1/4 cup (22 – 29 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup (50 – 100 grams) coconut sugar or granulated sugar for a non-paleo version (do not use a liquid sub!)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C) and place the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet. There should only be a single layer. Use more baking sheets, if necessary.
- Roast the nuts for 15 minutes, stirring after every 5 minutes. The hazelnuts will be fragrant when ready and the skins will start to crack. Place the nuts in the center of a spread-out clean kitchen towel. Bundle it up and then rub the nuts together to remove the skin. This should remove about half of the skin and that's enough. The nuts should still be warm but not super hot at this point. If they are hot, wait for a few minutes, until they're just warm, before placing in the food processor. Also be sure not to let the nuts cool down completely – it'll process quicker if the nuts are still warm.
- Transfer the roasted nuts, being careful to not include the skin, to a food processor and process until it’s very creamy like peanut butter. It’ll depend on your food processor, but it took mine about 3–5 minutes.
- Add 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt. Add more cocoa powder and sugar to taste.
- Spoon the butter into a glass jar and refrigerate for up to 2 months.
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53 comments on “Paleo Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Butter (vegan)” — Add one!
Enjoyed how simple this recipe was…mine came out way too creamy….pors rather than scoops…it’s still yummy and will definitely try again! Thanks!
Hi! Sorry for just now seeing your comment. You can stop processing the hazelnut butter once it’s a thickness that you like. I’m happy you still enjoyed it! Thanks for your comment. :)
oops, forgot to rate the recipe
And thanks for taking the time to come back and rate it! :D
Thanks so much for the recipe, just love Nutella and it smells and tastes awesome! I live in Germany too and after reading your comments decided to add vanilla sugar because you said that vanilla essence wouldn’t work but would taste great and it really does. The recipe really works perfectly if the hazelnuts are at the right temp as you said, mine is creamy and didn’t have to add any liquids at all.
Awesome! I’m happy to hear that it worked out well and that the vanilla sugar was yummy. Thanks a bunch for your feedback! And so nice to hear from someone else living in Germany. :)
This looks Yum! Can i substutue the coconut sugar with something else instead like stevia?
I think you could use whatever granulated sweetener you’d like! I’ve never used stevia so I can’t say for sure, though.
I tried this recipe tonight and failed… I used my food processor (Cuisinart), but it never turned into “butter.” I ended up with a very fine, slightly moist, powder/meal. Advice?
Hey there! You just have to keep processing. It goes from chopped nuts to a powder / meal and then it’ll turn into a ball and then the ball will break down into butter. Sorry for my slow reply! I hope you haven’t thrown out the nuts. If you still have them, it’s not too late to keep processing. :)