Homemade Nutella (aka Gianduja)

The Boulder Daily Camera had a wonderful recipe this week for gianduja – more popularly known as Nutella. Amy Scattergood confirmed what I thought to be true: The Nutella that they sell in the U.S. is different from that which is made in Europe.

My first trip to France as a teenager with few funds, had me eating Nutella on baguettes regularly. There are a few good natural products out there like Rapunzel’s Choconut from Germany  and Kettle Foods has a roasted hazelnut butter which I used in the recipe below.  Artisan Sweets has some interesting selections that are even more gourmet. I tried the recipe featured in the Camera because I thought the addition of hazelnut oil would make this nutty chocolate spread even more special.  I was right!

While the end result of my recipe was not as smooth and creamy as other store bought brands, I loved what the roasted hazelnut butter added in texture and flavor and I didn’t have to take the skins off the hazelnuts. I was able to store my end result back in the Kettle jar. The left over 1/8 cup of hazelnut oil is going in our salad tonight. Stay tuned for future posts on fun things to do with your homemade gianduja.

Barr’s Easy Homemade Gianduja

1 (11 oz.) jar Kettle hazelnut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. Hazelnut oil (from jar of Hazelnut butter)

Open the jar of hazelnut butter. Pour off the oil on top into a measuring cup. Place hazelnut butter into the bowl of a food processor and add all the remaining ingredients, except for the reserved oil.  Place the lid and begin to process. Add reserved oil, one Tbsp. at a time, until you reach the consistency you want.  I used 3 Tbsp.