Being "Healthy"

I have been more concerned lately than ever about what goes into my food and how that affects my body. On the other hand, I am a big fan of junk food. The occasional foray into fast food happens. The rare can of Spaghettios (now with Food Poisoning!) is consumed. A Funyun will occasionally pass my lips. One thing that I love, love, love... is Nutella. I think it's mostly a nostalgia thing, I first had it when I was "studying" in Germany, and I never looked at the ingredients of this delectable spread until very recently. Do you know what the first two ingredients in Nutella are? Sugar and vegetable oil. THEN hazelnuts. What the heck? So, I decided to try my hand at a "healthier" Nutella-like spread. It still has sugar and oil in it, but much less. And the main ingredient is indeed hazelnuts.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread (adapted from the LA Times.)

2 cups raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (use the highest quality you can)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil, more as needed (you may substitute liquid coconut oil or grapeseed oil.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the hazelnuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast until they darken slightly and become aromatic, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer hazelnuts to a damp towel and rub to remove skins.

In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, scraping the sides  as needed so they process evenly, about 5 minutes.

 It won't be completely smooth using a food processor...

Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt, and oil to the processor and continue to process until well blended, about 1 minute. You may need to add more oil to reach a more spreadable consistency.

It will be a little grainier than Nutella, and a little less sweet. I am ok with that, and I hope you are too. Put it in an airtight container in the fridge, and it should keep for at least a couple weeks.

What to do with your nutella? You can heat it a little and put it over vanilla ice cream or on a crepe. You can use it with peanut butter on a sandwich, you can put it on toast. You can swirl it into a pound cake batter, or into a cheesecake. You could dip fruit in it. You could also eat it with a spoon, if you were into that sort of thing. I promise I won't judge if you do.