In the years since I said au revoir to France, I kicked my two-toast-a-day habit—but Nutella’s popularity has exploded. You can buy Nutella clothing, visit a Nutella cafe, or even join 31 million other people and become a fan of it on Facebook (that’s more fans than U2 has!). I still have Nutella for breakfast every once in a while (and, um, eat it straight out of the jar), but there are lots of reasons to lighten up on your consumption. Palm oil is not good for the rainforests—and all that sugar certainly isn’t good for us—but Nutella remains an undeniably delicious treat. So what’s a responsible Nutella lover to do? Make it yourself, of course! My homemade version goes heavy on the hazelnuts, and relies on milk chocolate for sweetness and texture. It requires five ingredients, requires less time than it takes to watch an episode of Queer Eye, and is (incredibly) even more delicious than the original. Since I’ve made this, I’ve served it on fruit, on ice cream, and, yes, on toast. A high-powered blender is practically born for this task (remember the SNL skit about nut butter?), but a food processor works just fine. A note about hazelnuts: some stores sell blanched hazelnuts, meaning the skins are already removed. If you find them this way, you can skip the step of rubbing them in a kitchen towel, but you’ll still want to toast the nuts, because it makes them much more flavorful. I always toast a few extra—they’re delicious on salads (try them with beets), sundaes, and even on pasta. Store any extra hazelnuts in the freezer, as their high oil content means they can spoil within a few months at room temperature.
Homemade Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread Recipe
Hands-on time: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes Yield: 1 ½ cups
Ingredients:
8 ounces hazelnuts (2 cups)8 ounces milk chocolate (about 1 ¼ cups chopped), melted2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil½ teaspoon kosher salt½ teaspoon vanilla extract
