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. :)
I have no hazelnuts, would I be able to sub peanut butter or almond butter ? If so, how much would I use…500g?
Thank you
Sorry for my slow reply! I just now saw this. If you want to use peanuts, you could make my chocolate peanut butter spread recipe. :) If you want to experiment with this recipe, use the same amount of whatever nuts in place of the hazelnuts.
Hi there, today I tried hazelnut butter, I did not look up a recipe until I had already started. Needless to say I did not roast or skin the nuts. There was bitterness but after I added coconut sugar it solved the problem. Next time I will take the skins off.. Can they be blanched to get skins removed then roast them?. Thanks for sharing.
They can! Check out the paragraph before the recipe box. And in the recipe box, I wrote how I take care of the skins, which I think is a little easier. :) I hope that helps and your next batch will come out better!
Hi Erin, I tried your recipe. I did substitute maple sirup for the coconut sugar but it turned the nutella so thick and dough-like that I had to add water until it was more spreadable. Not sure why? I used my Thermomix and processed the nuts first to the perfect creamy consistency. Any thoughts or has this happened to you before? It was still totally delicious though. Thanks, Anja
Hi, Anja! I’m sorry that happened. That seems to happen whenever you add liquid to homemade nut butters. It’s happened to me several times! It turns perfect nut butter into a clumpy, unpleasant texture. That’s why I don’t even add vanilla to my nut butters (though I’m sure vanilla bean seeds would work!) I’ve added a note to the recipe warning people not to use any liquids in the recipe. Sorry again and I hope your next attempt will go better! :)
Hi Erin,
thanks so much for your reply. I will try this the next time. One more question in regard to your peanut butter spread (which I also want to try). I noticed it does use a “liquid” in form of melted chocolate. Have you had any trouble with that one becoming to thick? Thanks.
By the way, do you still live in Germany? Is your book available in a German version as well?
No problem! I haven’t had any trouble with the chocolate peanut butter becoming thick. It’s true that melted chocolate is liquid but chocolate is solid when not warmed up, so I guess that’s why it works in that recipe. :) When kept at room temperature, the chocolate peanut butter is nice and creamy like you see in the pictures. It gets hard in the fridge, though (unlike this chocolate hazelnut butter recipe, which stays soft when refrigerated!) I do still live in Germany and my book is available on German Amazon here but it’s unfortunately not translated. I wrote it for an international audience so grams are included in every recipe as well as some ingredient tips for people outside of the US. There are some recipes that use white whole wheat flour, which doesn’t exist in Germany, that you won’t be able to make, but the rest are doable here in Germany. :)
I believe the issue with adding syrups (agave, honey or maple) to nut butters is that syrup is water-based, whereas nut butter is oil-based. Since oils and water do not mix, the addition of maple syrup caused the butter to ‘seize up’.
Chocolate is largely fat (oil-based), so whether it is liquid or solid, it will blend with the nut butter.
If the butter seizes up on contact with water-based liquids, I have found that adding even more water-based liquids (milk or water) will eventually relax the mixture until it is creamy enough to fool my kids!
Thanks for your comment! That makes total sense. I actually had this issue today when some water landed in some no-bake cookie mixture I was boiling! It’s good to know that adding more water-based liquid can help solve the problem. Thanks again. :)
Excellent
Thanks! :)
Looks delicious, Erin! Love homemade Nutella! :)
Oh My! Erin, your recipe is fantastic. Keeping in the spirit of Paleo, I substituted three pitted dates for the sugar and consistency-wise, I think it turned out alright. But as you say, sugar is sugar.
3 dates = 14g of sugar
It’s just sweet enough for my taste and the hazelnut and dark cocoa flavours shine through. Thanks so much for sharing.
I suppose sugar is sugar but I definitely prefer using dates when possible. ;) And here it sounds lovely! Thanks for the idea and for your kind comment. I’m so happy that you enjoyed it!
This is amazing! I’ve been searching for a good and healthy chocolatey nut butter and this one’s perfect! :-)
Can’t wait to try it this weekend!
xoxo
PS: your blog ROCKS!
Aww, thanks! So nice of you to say. :) You totally made my day. And I hope you’ll love the hazelnut butter!
Oh. My. God. This has definitely been the most delicious food I’ve ever made. I can’t stop eating and thinking about who I could give it to, as a Christmas gift. Thanks for the recipe!! :)
Aww, yay! I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying it so much and I hope that if you give it out as presents, the recipients will enjoy it, too! Thanks so much for your feedback and happy holidays. :)
This looks so yummy! I was wondering about storage. Should it be refrigerated?How long will it last (assuming I don’t eat it in one sitting! )
Thanks! It does have to be refrigerated. Check out the last line of the recipe. :) I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Can you tell me why you chose coconut sugar? I’ve used it in a few other recipes and I’m just wondering it’s benefits over white sugar or something like honey? My kids and I just made it and it is to. die. for. Thanks!
I’m so happy that you and your kids enjoyed it! They say that sugar is sugar is sugar but I prefer using natural sweeteners like coconut sugar when it doesn’t have a negative impact on the final product. I use a lot of maple syrup and honey, too, but when I’ve added either of those to nut butters in the past, it makes them weirdly thick and crumbly. Thanks so much for the feedback! :)
Oh boy, I just want to eat it straight from the jar!
That’s the best way! More efficient, too. ;)
ohhhhh!! My mouth is watering now! This looks so rich and fabulous! Can’t wait to try!
I hope you’ll enjoy it! :)
This sounds way better than regular nutella! I love how you can customise it to be as sweet as you want it.
Thanks! And yeah. Because not everyone needs, like, 50 grams of sugar per serving. ;)
I just love nutella and can’t wait to try this recipe. Looks so yummy!
Thanks, Layla! I hope you’ll enjoy it. :)
I am drooling over this. I might switch out my nutella or this :)
Keep the Nutella around for baking! I have a feeling it wins there. ;)
The only problem with making this is I would end up eating the whole jar! So luscious!
Thanks! And haha. Yeah. It’s kind of difficult to stop eating. ;)
It looks so good! I’m looking at choco-hazelnut spreads for ages. Now I think I have to make one finally. Just I think we don’t have coconut sugar – would it be better to change to white sugar or brown sugar?
White sugar would work just fine! Might even be better with that. ;) I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Now THIS is a must try Erin! Intense hazelnut flavor, lots of chocolate… right up my alley.
Thanks, Sally! :)
I can imagine that hazelnut butter made at home is so much better than the ones in the stores :)
All I’ve ever had is Nutella and let’s just say that they’re very different. ;)
I keep meaning to make my own nutella and other flavored nut butters–this is it! I must make it. It looks so creamy and delicious! :)
I hope you’ll love it! :)