Okay, okay, I know that I’m certainly not the first person to ever say how good Nutella is. Everyone gets it—Nutella is amazing. But I have to say that the sight of my Nutella jar this past year has actually made me a bit sad. Since I’ve cut back on refined sugar and dairy (and it’s impossible to have just a little bit of it), Nutella is a big off-limits item for me, so I’ve been craving an alternative chocolate hazelnut spread that I can have. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
Homemade Nutella (no dairy or added sugar), makes 1 cup
2 cups raw hazelnuts
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup raw, unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons date syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
8-10 drops of liquid stevia
First you’ll want to turn your hazelnuts into hazelnut butter (of course if you can find it already made, you can skip this step and just use about a cup of hazelnut butter). Preheat your oven to 400°F and lay your hazelnuts out on a dry baking sheet. Roast hazelnuts in the oven for ten minutes (give them a stir halfway through). The skins will darken and split, and the exposed hazelnut should look lightly toasted and golden brown. You don’t want to burn them, so keep an eye on them after eight minutes of roasting. These smell so good when you pull them out of the oven.
Allow the nuts to cool for five minutes, then transfer them to a thin dish/hand towel to remove the outer shell. It’s possible that this process will stain the towel a bit, so don’t use your favorite one. Wrap the warm hazelnuts in the middle of the towel, and while you hold the top closed with one hand, roll the nuts around on the countertop. The motion of the hazelnuts grinding against each other will cause the toasted skins to flake off easily, and you should be left with naked (gasp!) hazelnuts. There will be a few stubborn ones in the batch that refuse to lose their shells, so you can either peel those by hand, or just leave them in anyways (a little bit of shell won’t affect the taste).Transfer your de-shelled hazelnuts to a food processor and blend together until they become smooth and creamy. Our food processor isn’t anything fancy, and it only took about two minutes for the hazelnuts to turn into butter, but you may have to blend longer depending on your machine.
Once your hazelnut butter is prepared, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. You can also experiment with other types of non-dairy milks (like coconut milk!). Keep your spread in an airtight container in the fridge.
My favorite way to eat Nutella is on bread with strawberries sliced on top, so that’s how I plan on using my mock Nutella as well. Or maybe I’ll dip pretzels in it. Or maybe I’ll dip everything in it. In addition to getting a delicious new option in my healthier snack arsenal, I also learned how to make hazelnut butter as well. And I bet there are plenty of ways I can use that new skill. Think you’ll give this version of Nutella a try for yourself? xo. Laura
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Ingredients
- 2 cups raw hazelnuts
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ⅓ cup raw (unsweetened cocoa powder)
- 2 tablespoons date syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 8-10 drops of liquid stevia
Instructions
- First you'll want to turn your hazelnuts into hazelnut butter (of course if you can find it already made, you can skip this step and just use about a cup of hazelnut butter). Preheat your oven to 400°F and lay your hazelnuts out on a dry baking sheet. Roast hazelnuts in the oven for ten minutes (give them a stir halfway through). The skins will darken and split, and the exposed hazelnut should look lightly toasted and golden brown. You don't want to burn them, so keep an eye on them after eight minutes of roasting. These smell so good when you pull them out of the oven.
- Allow the nuts to cool for five minutes, then transfer them to a thin dish/hand towel to remove the outer shell. It's possible that this process will stain the towel a bit, so don't use your favorite one. Wrap the warm hazelnuts in the middle of the towel, and while you hold the top closed with one hand, roll the nuts around on the countertop. The motion of the hazelnuts grinding against each other will cause the toasted skins to flake off easily, and you should be left with naked (gasp!) hazelnuts. There will be a few stubborn ones in the batch that refuse to lose their shells, so you can either peel those by hand, or just leave them in anyways (a little bit of shell won't affect the taste).
- Transfer your de-shelled hazelnuts to a food processor and blend together until they become smooth and creamy. Our food processor isn't anything fancy, and it only took about two minutes for the hazelnuts to turn into butter, but you may have to blend longer depending on your machine.
- Once your hazelnut butter is prepared, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. You can also experiment with other types of non-dairy milks (like coconut milk!). Keep your spread in an airtight container in the fridge.
Credits // Author: Laura Gummerman, Photos: Laura Gummerman & Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited using Stella and Summer from A Beautiful Mess Actions.
hello laura,
my baby girl is allergic to dairy, so we have changed our food routines completely and, besides the fact that since we cut on dairy i’ve dropped a lot of weight (or maybe i am just not so bloated), i am happy to do these recipes for her. she’s only 15 months, and maybe this allergy will disappear, but i guess i won’t be going back to my old habits!
thanks for this (even if not intentioned), and she liked it a lot. i will send a photo soon!
bye!
Hi,
i wonder – what Food Processor do you use / recommend?
Do you have any recommendations for a substitute for the liquid stevia?
WOW, I like so many,love Nutella but this looks like a good alternative. Going to make this weekend. Good job.
I’m a huge Nutella fan and this looks absolutely delicious !!! Thanks !!
Julie
Try blending some dates and a bit of water in a food processor to make your own syrup. You can try maple syrup too (adjust the amount), but people have different thoughts on which is healthier so it’s up to you 🙂
Laura
Good question Kat! I would think at least a week, maybe two, but I haven’t been able to keep it around long enough to find out for sure!
Laura 🙂
Yes! My boyfriend has recently discovered he is lactose intolerant and has been moping around for a while now about how he can’t have chocolate – this is the perfect solution! Thankyou for this wonderful recipe, can’t wait to see his face 🙂
Mmmmm yum!!
Lulu xx
http://luluslittlewonderland.blogspot.com
You realize there are 34 grams of sugar in those 2 tablespoons of date syrup. If you just used sugar, there would only be 16 grams of sugar! This is NOT a sugar-free or a no sugar added recipe. Date syrup is sugar, the same as corn syrup is sugar, the same as granulated sugar is sugar.
Nutella is crazy addictive (I can eat spoonfuls in one seating!) so this is a great alternative. Definitely trying this one day! Thank you ^^
tableaupanorama.blogspot.com
So I made this tonight. Not bad at all. I didn’t have exactly the same ingredients (I used cassis syrup-black current) and I made about 1/3 batch. I didn’t have enough butter to make a complete batch. It’s very tasty and totally bread worthy 🙂 Thanks so much for the recipe. I can totally eat an entire jar of Nutella in one night if my mind to it 🙂 It’s so good to have a decent alternative! Thanks again!
Yummy yummy yummyyy! Beautiful! Thank you 🙂
What if I can’t find date syrup? Will any syrup do?
Heaven<3
x
This is such a great idea. + I love the images you took for this post ♥
you are officially my hero. I’ve cut out most processed foods and sadly, Nutella had to go. I’m so excited to try this!
Nutella has become a real guilty pleasure, after many of my friends posted about destruction of orangutan habitat and deforestation from palm oil. It looks like Ferrero has taken steps to improve that, but this palm oil-free version sounds even better.
I am DEFINITELY trying this one! It sounds amazing!
WHOOOOAAAA yes yes yes healthy treats!