One of the first things I made in my Vitamix was nut butter (doesn’t everyone?) Then I decided to try a “Nutella” type spread. This is sooooo good! I like it with apple slices and graham style wafers. Or (let’s be honest!) just off a spoon! I originally made it with all hazelnuts, and you can do that. But hazelnuts are expensive here, so I decided to use half almonds and half hazelnuts. I used coconut palm sugar to add some sweetness and keep it refined sugar free,
For health reasons, I soak and dehydrate my nuts before roasting them – that is your choice. You can just use raw, or already roasted nuts.
Chocolate Almond Hazelnut Spread
"Nutella" style nut spread that is refined sugar free.
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds raw or roasted
- 2 cups hazelnuts raw or roasted
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- coconut oil as required
Instructions
- If nuts are raw, roast them by spreading in a single layer on cookie sheets and baking at 350 degrees F for about 8-10 minutes. Watch them as they can burn easily.
- Place the hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel and rub them together vigorously to remove the as much of the skins as possible.
- Be sure your nuts are completely cool before adding them to the Vitamix.
- Add nuts to Vitamix. Remove the cap from the lid and insert the tamper. Start at Variable 1 and quickly increase the speed to Variable 10. Blend while pushing down in each corner of the blender with the tamper to move the nuts into the blades. It will turn to powder and as you continue to blend and tamp it will start to turn creamy. (This should take around a minute.)
- When it gets creamy, stop the blender and add the coconut sugar, cocoa, vanilla and salt. Turn the blender back on to Variable 10 and blend and tamp to incorporate them completely.
- At this point, if your mixture still seems dry and not so creamy, start adding coconut oil – a tablespoon or 2 at a time. I soak and dehydrate my nuts before using and this does make them dryer, so I normally have to add about 1/4 cup or so of coconut oil. If you don't dehydrate them first, you may not need to add any extra oil.
- Spoon into jars. I keep a small jar of it out on the counter, and store the remainder in the fridge.
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