Homemade Nutella | Gluten & Dairy Free | So... Let's Hang Out

Dear Nutella,

I want to put you on everything ever. You make me think that midnight snacks are a good idea. I’ve eaten too much toast in the past couple of days, mostly because it’s a vehicle to get you in my mouth. You also really shine paired with apples. Is it too forward to tell you that I actually ate a straight spoonful of you one afternoon? Forget it, I don’t care who knows it. I love you. Let’s make-out.

Faithfully yours,

Gina

Do you think I am coming on too strong? Maybe.

Well, Friends…HAPPY WORLD NUTELLA DAY! Yes, that’s a thing. I only learned about it this morning. If you want we can just ignore that this is purely dumb luck and high-five instead.

Dumb luck or not, this recipe is a gem. I’ve been wanting to make a simple homemade Nutella recipe for some time. When I came across this recipe over at the Spunky Coconut, I knew I had to try it. It was made dairy-free by using coconut milk and the super sweet milk chocolate was subbed out for sexy dark chocolate. If you haven’t noticed I am a sucker for dark chocolate and coconut together. I’ve made a tart, some donuts and some totally loaded oatmeal cookies that all have this fancy pairing. Did I mention my chocolate chia pudding? Yup. I am a fan of this flavor marriage. As soon as I found this recipe I got to work and made some Nutella magic happen.

Homemade Nutella | Gluten & Dairy Free | So... Let's Hang OutThe ingredients are simple. A can of coconut milk, 10 ounces of dark chocolate, and salt. We use coconut sugar in this recipe which is much lower on the glycemic index than regular sugar and does not spike your blood sugar as easily. And, of course, let’s not forget our hazelnuts!

Homemade Nutella | Gluten & Dairy Free | So... Let's Hang OutThese beauties are put into the oven to roast and then after they are all nice and toasty, you taken them our and remove their skins. Take a clean kitchen towel and make it slightly damp. Place all of your hazelnuts into the cloth and gently rub until all of the skins start to come off. It takes a few minutes to remove all of the skins. If you are like me you will set this towel aside and forget that it contains lots and lots of hazelnut skins. When you pick it up all of those hazelnut skins will fall all over your kitchen floor and counters. Don’t be like me.

Homemade Nutella | Gluten & Dairy Free | So... Let's Hang OutCoconut milk and coconut sugar become one when you heat them up together. Chocolate gets melted down in a double boiler. All of these ingredients go into a food processor. Magic happens. If you are like me you will miss the mark just a little bit while pouring your chocolate into the food processor. You will have a slick of chocolate on your counter tops  You will let it dry a little bit so that it gets into your grout. When you go to clean if up it will get on your arms and somehow into your hair and on your face. This can all be avoided if you do not get distracted by episodes of MTV’s Catfish in the background while trying to expertly pour melted chocolate into a food processor. Once again, don’t be like me. However, can we all just talk about Catfish for a minute?! Are you obsessed with it? I am. I could really get carried away and talk about it for a long time…However, I will respect that you came here to hear about Nutella.

Homemade Nutella | Gluten & Dairy Free | So... Let's Hang OutOnce it’s all blended together you can bottle it up! My yield was approximately 1.5 pints! And yes, I did manage to make another unsightly mess as I was putting my Nutella into mason jars. If you are a coordinated person, you might be able to get your Nutella cleanly from the food processor and into a jar. If you are me, you got a lot of it on the counters, some of it on your sweater and a healthy blob of it on your cell phone. Why was my cell phone in the kitchen? Good question. I got carried away and tried to make a 6 second video of this whole Nutella process on Vine. The artistic value of that video (low) was not worth having to scrape chocolate and hazelnut spread off of my protective screen. Lesson learned. I am sure I will learn this lesson again. I tend to do that. So, here is an insider tip: if you get to this part of the Nutella process and you cannot be trusted to freely pour your Nutella from the food processor into a jar and you do not happen to have a wide mouth canning funnel on hand, make sure to transfer your Nutella into a large measuring cup or something with a spout that will pour cleanly into a jar. You are welcome.

Homemade Nutella | Gluten & Dairy Free | So... Let's Hang Out

 

Once it is done, I suggest that you eat it in large quantities with everything…or you know, in moderation. Whatever you’re into.

Wishing you the best darn World Nutella Day ever. Chocolate covered high fives all around!

Homemade Nutella | Gluten & Dairy Free

Serves 1.5 Pints     adjust servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of raw hazelnuts
  • 1 can of light coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar (if you don't have coconut sugar you can sub regular sugar)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 10 ounces dark chocolate (I used 70 % dark chocolate)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Put your raw hazelnuts on a baking sheet and spread them out evenly. Allow them to toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes. They are done when the shells are lightly toasted and they become fragrant.
  3. While your hazelnuts are toasting take out a medium sized pot and heat up the coconut milk, coconut sugar and salt. Stir over medium heat until the coconut sugar has fully dissolved into the coconut milk. Set aside.
  4. In a double boiler melt your dark chocolate. If you do not have a double boiled you can make your own with two pots that fit cleanly into one another. Once your chocolate is totally melted, set aside.
  5. After your hazelnuts are done, remove them from the oven.Dampen a clean dish towel and place your toasted hazelnuts inside.
  6. Gently rub the hazelnuts to remove as much of the skin as possible. This may take a couple of minutes.
  7. Once you have removed as much of the hazelnut skins as possible, add your hazelnuts to your food processor.
  8. Process your hazelnuts until they become a very fine meal.
  9. Add your melted chocolate and process again until it becomes smooth.
  10. Once your chocolate is incorporated, add in your coconut milk and sugar mixture and process again until it is completely smooth and the texture of Nutella.
  11. You can now bottle it up and keep it in the refrigerator!

by

 (Recipe Adapted from The Spunky Coconut)

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