Homeade Nutella

The Ruggieri family is very much in love with the Italian delicacy, Nutella. Well, thanks to Mama Beahm, we received an article from the News & Record titled "the Nutella love." So, we decided to try our hand at this yummy chocolate-hazelnut confection. Here is the recipe we used:

Homeade Nutella

2 cups raw hazelnuts

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbls hazelnut oil, more as needed (I couldn't find this, so I used Walnut Oil)

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spread the hazelnuts evenly over a rimmed cookie sheet and roast until they darken and become aromatic, about 10 minutes. Transfer the hazelnuts to a damp towel and rub to remove skins.

3. In a food processor (large one if you have it), grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, scraping the sides as needed so they process evenly, about 5 minutes. (*really do this for a while to make sure it is smooth)

4. Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt and oil to the food processor and continue to process until well blended, about 1 minute. The finished product should have the consistency of peanut butter; if it is too dry, process in a little extra oil until the desired consistency is achieved. Remove to a container, cover and refigerate until needed. Allow the spread to come to room temperature before using, as it thickens considerably when refigerated. It will keep for at least a week.

Here is a shot of our first attempt:

We don't have a large enough food processor so ours was a little crunchy.

Try it if you want, it was certainly delicious!

-LMB