Nutella is the sweet memory of my childhood, the unit to measure happiness, the sin one can buy and eat. It is the quick comfort bringing joy in a glass jar.
I haven’t read any horror stories about Nutella, as far as I know Ferrero claims even to use only Sustainable Palm Oil. I wouldn’t have stopped eating Nutella for any bad news (inconsistent as I am, there are limits to a sustainable lifestyle). I stopped eating Nutella by accident.
I was at home, craving toast with Nutella one late evening. Because I try to limit the amount of sugar and sweets I eat, I didn’t happen to have any at home. Well, that’s the thing with cravings for me. It didn’t work not having any at home. I thought about any shop nearby who could possibly sell Nutella at that time of the day. It didn’t look too good. The garage was selling a substitute, which wasn’t an alternative in my opinion.
Very close before I freaked out – I considered the ingredients of Nutella as seen in the adverts. Hazelnuts, milk and a bit of cocoa, palm oil, sugar, lecithin and vanillin. It happened I had all necessary ingredients at home (no lecithin though). Just no idea about the right amounts, which should only result in a short phase of try and error.
It turned out there must be more to it. I put a handful of finest organic hazelnuts roasted by myself in the blender, added some cocoa and some milk, coconut oil and some sugar. It was plainly disgusting.
Next try, the same amount hazelnuts, cocoa, running out of sugar, I replaced the sugar with some dates and added some coconut oil, skipped the milk – not too bad. Very creamy, not as smooth as Nutella but very good. I tried adding some salt and vanilla. Wow, It started to turn out very good. 2 hours later. I had a slice of toast with my first homemade chocolate-hazelnut-spread.
So why did this stop my love for Nutella? Well, if it was just for the ingredients they mention, it wouldn’t taste like it tastes. My homemade spread tastes full of roasted nuts, heavy creaminess of coconut oil, the soft sweetness of dates, the melting bitter note of raw cocoa. Try it and you will discover that Nutella tastes of everything but „roasted nuts with a bit of cocoa”.
Because i am too lazy to always make the DIY variation I discovered Samba and Samba dark and some other organic chocolate-hazelnut spreads.
DIY chocolate-hazelnut spread:
A handful nuts (Any nuts like hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew or almond will do, just try which you like the best) roasted in a pan without oil
3-4 dates or of taste, usually I skip the roasting, but it really adds some extra taste
Some teaspoons of raw cocoa
A bit of Coconut oil to soften the texture and for taste
A pinch of salt
Vanilla (if it happens that you have some)
As you can see I don’t have really an idea how much of the ingredients to use, you can always add at every point more of what is missing for your taste. All in the mixer as long as one likes it depending on the texture one wishes for. That easy.
Some extras I tried and liked:
Orange peel
Replace half the dates with goji berries soaked in water
Cinnamon
In healthy Moments, I might add some Baobab or some maca powder.
Try it and let me know what you think!
Nutella is the sweet memory of my childhood, the unit to measure happiness, the sin one can buy and eat. It is the quick comfort bringing joy in a glass jar.
I haven’t read any horror stories about Nutella, as far as I know Ferrero claims even to use only Sustainable Palm Oil. I wouldn’t have stopped eating Nutella for any bad news (inconsistent as I am, there are limits to a sustainable lifestyle). I stopped eating Nutella by accident.
I was at home, craving toast with Nutella one late evening. Because I try to limit the amount of sugar and sweets I eat, I didn’t happen to have any at home. Well, that’s the thing with cravings for me. It didn’t work not having any at home. I thought about any shop nearby who could possibly sell Nutella at that time of the day. It didn’t look too good. The garage was selling a substitute, which wasn’t an alternative in my opinion.
Very close before I freaked out – I considered the ingredients of Nutella as seen in the adverts. Hazelnuts, milk and a bit of cocoa, palm oil, sugar, lecithin and vanillin. It happened I had all necessary ingredients at home (no lecithin though). Just no idea about the right amounts, which should only result in a short phase of try and error.
It turned out there must be more to it. I put a handful of finest organic hazelnuts roasted by myself in the blender, added some cocoa and some milk, coconut oil and some sugar. It was plainly disgusting.
Next try, the same amount hazelnuts, cocoa, running out of sugar, I replaced the sugar with some dates and added some coconut oil, skipped the milk – not too bad. Very creamy, not as smooth as Nutella but very good. I tried adding some salt and vanilla. Wow, It started to turn out very good. 2 hours later. I had a slice of toast with my first homemade chocolate-hazelnut-spread.
So why did this stop my love for Nutella? Well, if it was just for the ingredients they mention, it wouldn’t taste like it tastes. My homemade spread tastes full of roasted nuts, heavy creaminess of coconut oil, the soft sweetness of dates, the melting bitter note of raw cocoa. Try it and you will discover that Nutella tastes of everything but „roasted nuts with a bit of cocoa”.
Because i am too lazy to always make the DIY variation I discovered Samba and Samba dark and some other organic chocolate-hazelnut spreads.
DIY chocolate-hazelnut spread:
A handful nuts (Any nuts like hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew or almond will do, just try which you like the best) roasted in a pan without oil
3-4 dates or of taste, usually I skip the roasting, but it really adds some extra taste
Some teaspoons of raw cocoa
A bit of Coconut oil to soften the texture and for taste
A pinch of salt
Vanilla (if it happens that you have some)
As you can see I don’t have really an idea how much of the ingredients to use, you can always add at every point more of what is missing for your taste. All in the mixer as long as one likes it depending on the texture one wishes for. That easy.
Some extras I tried and liked:
Orange peel
Replace half the dates with goji berries soaked in water
Cinnamon
In healthy Moments, I might add some Baobab or some maca powder.
Try it and let me know what you think!