World Nutella Day!!

Nutella.

Nutty, chocolatey, gooey, thick...great on toast, on Triscuits, with jam, on ice cream, straight out of a jar.

The lovely ladies at www.nutelladay.com started this world holiday in 2007, and it's kept on growing since.

I decided to make my own Nutella in honor of the holiday, and I tried the following two different recipes.


The first recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Spread is from Gale Gand, found via Phe/Mom/enon. The recipe can be found here.

In your food processor, puree the 1 cup toasted, peeled hazelnuts until smooth (you probably will need to add the 2 tablespoons of oil to get it to smooth out). Add the 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and continue processing. To the puree, add the 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and blend until smooth.

Then add 12 ounces of GOOD QUALITY milk chocolate, melted in a double boiler or in the microwave and cooled briefly. Blend until smooth.

Transfer to heatproof jars/containers and let cool. It will set up and become thicker as it cools, and it actually becomes more stiff than commercial Nutella because of the bar chocolate you put into it. It can keep for up to a month at room temperature in an airtight container.

The second recipe comes from Baking Bites, found in detail here. I would say this one was less "authentic" in the sense that the texture is almost more like a pudding with the addition of milk and cornstarch, but it is GREAT on ice cream because it doesn't stiffen up like the first recipe or commercial Nutella when it gets cold.

Combine 1/3 cup of hazelnut meal or ground hazelnuts, 1/2 cup dry nonfat milk powder, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Add 3/4 cup milk and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and whisk until smooth. It should look soupy, as above. Cook on medium heat, STIRRING CONSTANTLY until it thickens up and starts bubbling/boiling. It takes about 5 minutes, and it happens pretty suddenly and quite dramatically, so if it is still soupy and thin, keep going!

When it fully thickens up, it will look like the above picture. Remove from heat, transfer to a heatproof container/jar with an airtight lid, and let cool. Serve at room temperature, but store in refrigerator for up to several days.

Hope everyone can enjoy some Nutella today, whether homemade or the original.