Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

There is something really satisfying about making your own nut butter. I used to love going to Wholefoods in Cheltenham to make my own peanut butter, but those days are long gone (I think it's shut down, in fact) and now I have Aldi to thank for its super cheap nuts with which I can make my own at home. You can use any nut or seed you like for this recipe, it doesn't have to be hazelnut, but I do think they work the best with chocolate. 

This recipe came from a failed attempt at making Gaz Oakley's 'Not-Ella'. Has anyone else had any luck? It's in his Vegan 100 book. Mine was like gritty, thick chocolate milkshake. Not nice and a total waste of all my lovely ingredients!

This chocolate hazelnut butter is not really anything like Nutella at all, but it's delicious in its own right. I like it on toast with berries or in my porridge with a sliced banana. You could heat it up in a saucepan to make a hazelnut chocolate sauce or use it to make a milkshake, too.

Something you may or may not be interested to know is that this recipe is completely vegan and gluten free. I subscribe to neither those diet types but I like playing around with recipes that don't involve animal products. I'll be making more of this for Veganuary, that's for sure! If you have a loaf of banana bread going spare this would make a dreamy topping.

Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

Makes 1 small jar

You will need:

130g raw hazelnuts

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

25g raw cacao powder

60ml oat milk

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of sea salt

A strong food processor or blender – I use a Nutribullet.

Put the hazelnuts into your food processor or blender and pulse for up to 10 minutes. You will need to keep a spatula to hand to scrape down the sides of the blender as you go. Add the melted coconut oil to help speed up the process.

When your hazelnuts resemble liquid rather than ground nuts, add the remaining ingredients and continue to pulse in your blender. Scrape every last drop into your (sterilised) jar and keep in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy in moderation, or eat the entire jar in one sitting.