Homemade Nutella Experiment

Is it safe to assume that you've all tried the delicious wonder that is Nutella? Whether it was en crêpe, an accompaniment to fruit, or simply a spoon full taken right from the jar, no matter how you slice it, or should I say spread it, Nutella is scrum-diddly-umptious. That being said, as of late I've been making an effort to lay off the super sugary sweets, and it has been a serious challenge to say the least, especially when our apartment happens to be on a Mr. Softee truck's night time route {every night around 8:30pm. Yeah, I own a Mr. Softee frequent buyer card... It's just so dang good! but I digress}. 

There's no doubt about it, this journey away from sugar has forced me to get creative about how to satisfy my seemingly insatiable sweet tooth and has lead to many a homemade dessert experiment. Clearly my latest experiment was with homemade Nutella. Sounds easy enough, right? Heck, that Nutella commercial on TV these days touts Nutella's simplicity and natural ingredients 

{"hazelnuts, cocoa, and milk"} so I thought to myself, how difficult can this be?! 

The answer? Pretty easy peasy! This recipe happens to be sugar-free and natural, but I have to admit that subbing honey for sugar and not utilizing a chocolate bar {as many recipes suggest} results in a much nuttier, less sweet version of my favorite smear-able treat. Don't get me wrong, it's yummy, really yummy, but it doesn't have that sinful taste which, in retrospect, actually may be a testament to it being a healthier alternative to the original. 

{Recipe}:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of hazelnuts

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

1 cup of milk {I used heavy whipping cream for the heck of it}

4 tablespoons of honey

1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla 

1/4 cup of coconut oil

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees and evenly distribute your hazelnuts on a cookie sheet;

Toast hazelnuts for 10 minutes and then set aside to cool;

In a mixing bowl combine cocoa powder, milk, honey and vanilla;

Once hazelnuts have cooled remove their skin {they should come off very easily just by rubbing them together} and place hazelnuts with skin removed into a plastic ziplock back;

Pulverize hazelnuts into small bits {yes, I used a hammer to do this, and I really just wanted to use the word pulverize!}, and then pour into a food processor along with the coconut oil;

Process until you've reached a creamy consistency {mine remained every so slightly grainy} and combine with the rest of the ingredients until well blended ~ Et viola! 

Enjoy!