How To Make Your Own Homemade (Gluten-Free) Nutella

I have to start out by saying that I had no idea how easy it was to make your own homemade nutella! I figured it was some super secret recipe that involved lots and lots of steps. happily, I couldn’t have been more wrong! :-) I actually had everything to make it on hand, except for the hazelnuts, and that was easily remedied by a trip to my local grocery store. I have to admit I have never looked for hazelnuts before so I wasn’t certain they would have them in the bulk food section. But there they were hiding under the “code name” of Oregon filberts.

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Apparently hazelnuts are also known as “filberts.” In 1994 the Nut Growers Society got together and voted to call them hazelnuts (in keeping with the common name in Europe and back east). Learn something new everyday huh?

Anyway…whatever they’re called…they are one of the main ingredients in the yummy concoction known as nutella. Here’s another little bit of trivia:  nutella was created in the 1940s by Mr. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company. At the time, there was very little chocolate because cocoa was in short supply due to World War II rationing. So Mr. Ferrero used hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region of Italy (northwest), to extend the chocolate supply.

Oh Mr. Ferrero…if you were still alive…I’d have to find you and kiss you!

I actually got the idea to try making my own nutella from a fabulous lady I met at the BlogHer12 Conference in NYC. She was the one who told me she had a great recipe for homemade nutella and gave me her card. But sadly I have searched HIGH and LOW for it (in my defense I got about a zillion business cards at BlogHer12!) and can’t find it. So this post is dedicated to “anonymous blogger lady” from BlogHer12!

I was on my own looking for a recipe…but luckily the first one I happened upon sounded like a winner to me! And it definitely was!

Homemade Nutella Recipe

adapted from Christie Matheson via Leite’s Culinaria

Ingredients

• 1 cup hazelnuts
• 12 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil, such as canola
• 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, more or less depending upon your preference

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 12 minutes, until they’ve browned a little and the skins are blistered. Wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove as much loose skin as possible. (Some skin will cling to the nuts when you’re done. It’s pretty much impossible to get it all off.) Let cool completely.

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UPDATE: PattyPro shared this website in the comments below: How To Peel Hazelnuts. Will definitely be trying this next time! Thanks Patty! :-)

Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over gently simmering water or in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Let cool completely. In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts until they form a paste. Add the oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt and continue processing until the mixture is as smooth as possible. Add the melted chocolate, blend well.

(At this point, the original recipe said to strain the paste, which I didn’t do because I don’t mind the little bits of toasted nuts, but you can.)

This homemade version will be thinner (at this point) than the commercial stuff in the jar, but it thickens as it cools.  (By the next morning mine was just as thick as the stuff I buy). Scrape your homemade nutella into a jar or other resealable container and let it cool to room temperature, then cover the container. The nutella will keep on the counter for up to 2 weeks!

I have to say I was licking everything that came in contact with this stuff! My fingers, the spatula, the bowl! I had to restrain myself from licking the blades of the food processor. It was THAT GOOD!  The combination of the sweet from the chocolate and the salty from the nuts is nothing short of miraculous! I’m pretty sure I heard angels singing when it was done. ;-)

I can’t wait to make crepes with my homemade nutella and bananas!  Yum Yumm Yummm!

Homemade {Gluten-Free} Nutella

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Print Recipe

Author: Jillee

Ingredients:

• 1 cup hazelnuts
• 12 ounces milk chocolate chopped
• 2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil such as canola
• 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt more or less depending upon your preference

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 12 minutes, until they’ve browned a little and the skins are blistered. Wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove as much loose skin as possible. Let cool completely.
3. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over gently simmering water or in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Let cool completely.
4. In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts until they form a paste. Add the oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt and continue processing until the mixture is as smooth as possible.
5. Add the melted chocolate, blend well.