Vegan Nutella
And the chocolate cravings continue! The good news is that my cravings inspired me to attempt a recipe I’ve been wanting to make forever: a vegan Nutella. Don’t get me wrong – I would be hard-pressed to turn down some of the real deal if it was offered to me, especially if a crepe and some sliced banana were involved. But I also love the challenge of taking something that contains animal products (in this case, skim milk powder) and coming up with an equally delicious vegan version.
There are a lot of different ways to approach a vegan chocolate hazelnut spread in terms of sweeteners and non-dairy milks, melting down chocolate versus using cocoa powder. And I bet all are pretty darn awesome. I mean, honestly, how can you really go wrong?
Oh, that’s right. You can burn your nuts. Yep, I said it.
I somehow got sidetracked for about two minutes too long when I was roasting the hazelnuts. Let’s just say my apartment kind of smells like burnt popcorn. It’s odd how that can happen when no popcorn was involved. It also left me wanting to make popcorn, and with hazelnuts that remind me of Dunkin’ Donuts’ hazelnut coffee. It’s a flavor I know all too well, considering this was one of a handful of “restaurants” in my old hometown.
I was not about to throw away $7 worth of hazelnuts, that’s for sure. I made that vegan Nutella anyway, and burnt nuts aside, this recipe is a keeper. The texture is smooth, the chocolate flavor is rich, and I can stop obsessing about my next chocolate fix.
Now if only I could air out that faint burnt popcorn smell that just keeps lingering…
- 2 C. Hazelnuts
- 1/4 C. Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 C. Agave (or sweetener of choice)
- 1/2 Tsp. Sea Salt
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 C. Non-Dairy Milk (I used coconut milk)
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Once oven is heated, spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until fragrant (but not burnt!).
- Allow nuts to cool. Remove the hazelnut skins by rubbing them in a dish towel. No need to be perfect, but try to remove as much of the skins as you can.
- Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend until they form hazelnut butter (this took me about 5 minutes). You will probably need to scrape down the sides a few times.
- Add the cocoa powder, agave, salt, vanilla, and non-dairy milk to the nut butter and process until smooth (1-2 minutes, depending on your processor). Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Store the chocolate hazelnut spread in a jar or container in the fridge.
This should keep for a week or two in the fridge. Check your non-dairy milk’s expiration date to see how long yours should last.
your photos are dreamy, I just want to nose dive right into that chocolaty food processor!
haha I took quite a few “samples” straight out of the food processor.
amaaaaaaazing! the only thing i would add is vanilla….. (this is in the original nutella ingredients too)
Thanks, Olga! Also, the recipe does call for vanilla extract. 🙂
I just literally said “oh, no!” out loud (to myself) when reading that you burnt the hazelnuts. haha Those are expensive nuts to burn! Glad you still used them 😉
This looks glorious. I ate nutella crepes pretty much the entire time I was in florence for breakfast (for a week straight). Best thing ever!
haha I was so mad at myself for burning them!
Hi Amanda! I am slightly confused ( not so hard to do right now,lol ) Was wondering about the milk? You said you used coconut milk…. is that in a dry form? Or is there a dry version that I am not aware of? The reason i am so confused is the recipe calls for non dairy milk , so I was thinking like powdered milk, but then you said that about the coconut milk. Help, lol ! My kids love Nutella and would love to try this recipe of yours. Thanks so much
Hi, Mary! I used canned coconut milk, but any liquid non-dairy milk will do (almond, soy, rice, etc).
Mary, powdered milk is totally dairy.
it doesnt matter whether its liquid or powdered. its about where it came from originaly.
Crepes, bananas AND Nutella ? OMG, tell me more !
Your photography is gorgeous. I envy you. (:
I was never a huge fan of Nutella, but this looks 100X more delicious!
Awwww, that’s so sweet of you. Thanks, Emily!
I loooooove Nutella! I posted about it a few months ago, actually. LOL. And I laugh every time I seen those commercials! There’s like 200 calories and a crap-ton of fat in a tablespoon of that stuff! It is in NO WAY a healthy option. But it sure does taste good.
Have you tried Peanut Butter & Company peanut butter? They have a dark chocolate one that is TO DIE FOR. And I recently tried the white chocolate. It’s pretty amazing too. They have a maple one, a honey one and a spicy one, that I know of. They’re all natural and the chocolate ones, at least, are vegan.
Have an amazing Sunday!
I haven’t tried Peanut Butter & Company peanut butter, but their flavors sound awesome! Might have to seek out the dark chocolate one next time… 🙂
I tried to make something similar to this in my Vitamix. But, I just combined hazelnuts with chocolate chips. I needed to add a little oil to get things moving, but the oil totally overpowered the flavor and I had to throw it all out. I didn’t think about using milk… I will have to try that! There’s nothing worse than a canola oil aftertaste to your nut butter. Yuck.
Ugh. Throwing out food, especially expensive hazelnuts, is such a bummer!
can i lick that spatula? i might just go through a jar of this a week. thanks for the recipe! and beautiful pics!
haha Licking the spatula is the best part!
what a great looking recipe! a lot of vegan nutella recipes call for hard to find ingredients such as “coconut powder” since milk powder is used in dairy nutella. the agave will probably do the trick! Thanks so much.
Thanks, Jinda! Yes – between the agave and coconut milk, I was really happy with the texture of this. 🙂
If you ever need coconut powder, just make it yourself. Use dessicated coconut or coconut threads (dessicated is cheaper), put some in your blender or Magic Bullet, and process it until it is a fine powder. Easy and cheap.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I am glad that someone else has Nutella fever! I am planning on making another batch today. It keeps disappearing so quickly. It’s like the mice in my house know how to open jars and use spoons, but I suppose it’s probably hungry housemates.
I’d blame it on the mice. 😉
Awesome! Can’t wait to try this! I go through more than my fair share of Nutella. I love trying to Veganize things! I had this amazing vegan nutella at this little place in the village I think in NYC, but the name of it is escaping me. Anywho, thanks for this!
Thanks, Bettiann! Let me know if you think of that vegan nutella place in NYC. I have a bucket list of all of the foodie spots I try to visit whenever I’m there. 🙂
Great recipe! I’m curious how long you are able to store it for in the fridge?
I’ve heard nut butters can be stored for 1-2 weeks in the fridge, but I can’t confirm that because mine get devoured within the span of a few days. That nutella is hard to resist. 🙂
:)! Lol!!
My kids, the ones that declared your vegan pancake recipe “the best ever”, told me to throw out the store bought stuff after I made this. Served on pancakes , of course! With a side of berries, for the vitamins….. 😉
I love your kids. 😉 It’s been far too long since I made that nutella. What a great idea to serve it on pancakes! I pretty much just eat it straight out of the jar. haha
hi there,
how do you store this nutella? in the fridge or freezer? because it contains coconut milk (which spoils after couple days), i don’t think this nutella can store long in the fridge? just curious… thanks!
Hi Jennie, I recommend storing it in a tupperware or ball jar in the fridge. Mine only lasted a few days (it was good!), but I think it would probably be okay for about a week. If yours lasts that long, please report back! 😉
thanks~! do you think raw hazelnut would compromise the taste? do you think roasted will taste much better? i can’t decide which nuts to get, hehe. coming from a raw foodie background…
I haven’t tried making nutella with raw hazelnuts, but I’d be really curious to try it! Roasting makes them quite a bit more fragrant though, so I’m not sure how the flavor would be impacted. Sorry I can’t be of more help…next time I make nutella, I’ll use raw hazelnuts and find out!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet (just give me a few hours and I will), but I have tried another not nutella recipe that uses milk. I made it with raw hazelnuts and it was good. I’m pretty sure that roasting gives a fuller flavour, though. I’m going to try this recipe because I can not have dairy right now and I’m dying for some nutella. 🙂
I think you’re right about roasting the hazelnuts. And I understand the nutella craving! 🙂
How do you use canned coconut milk? Just open the can and pour? Or did you separate the cream and liquid? (Coconut milk novice here lol). Thanks!
Good question! I used light coconut milk for this recipe, which you can just open and pour. If you wanted to try using full-fat coconut milk, you’d need to mix that top cream layer with the liquid. I haven’t tried that myself, but I imagine it would make for an even more indulgent Nutella. 🙂
Oh okay! I’m making it as part of a birthday present, so I’ll get a can of light just in case. Thanks so much Amanda 🙂
Yeah, those commercials…. they actually had to settle a class action lawsuit over the commercials claiming Nutella is healthy. You could get a coupon for Nutella if you had bought it during a certain time. I hear you about burning expensive nuts, I like to toast them on the stovetop so I can keep them under my watchful eye. I love homemade Nutella, too, I make one that’s similar to yours, but using chocolate. I’ll have to try your recipe using cocoa, it would eliminate the cane sugar that’s in the chocolate. As soon as I find a brand of cocoa that I really like, I haven’t found an ethically produced one that I love yet.
I heard about that lawsuit…those ads were totally absurd.
You could try using a raw cacao powder instead. I just ordered some of the Navitas Naturals brand from iherb, and I believe being socially/environmentally responsible is part of the Navitas mission statement.
P.S. The link I included should be good for $10 off 1st time orders of $40 or more, or $5 off smaller orders. I am a frequent iherb shopper. 😉
Wow, thanks for the link and the discount! I haven’t gotten around to trying raw cocoa powder, maybe now’s the time.
Good morning!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve been vegan for almost three months now and I was eager to try this! But instead of agave syrup and coconut milk, I used maple syrup and almond milk and the texture isn’t as thick as yours looks in the pictures. The nutella is good, but at first it seemed the taste of the hazelnuts was a little overpowering, until I realised that of course my cocoa was pure dark chocolate and what I was tasting was that bitterness and a lot of hazelnuts. Added a little more maple syrup and milk, didn’t do much for the taste and ended up slightly more liquidy. It’s tasty but strong! I was thinking of using golden syrup instead of maple syrup (it’s a thick liquid sugar basically!) and coconut milk. Would you recommend to buy the canned coconut milk or something lighter?
Thanks for your help! Your blog is great! 🙂
Hey Camille, I’ve made this a few times and experimented with canned light coconut milk and coconut milk from a carton. I personally prefer the canned coconut milk because it’s a bit richer (you could also try full-fat for something even more indulgent). I’m not familiar with golden syrup, but it sounds like it’s closer to the thicker consistency of agave, so it’s probably worth a try. Something like coconut nectar should also keep it from being too liquid-y. Also, refrigerating it will help it to firm up.
Good luck! 🙂
Absolutely and utterly delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe! <3
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
omg thank you so much for posting this! i am a nutella addict, but with my dairy reactions getting worse (i’ve gone from simply the occasional stomach cramp to all out facial rashes…not fun!) i have been missing my chocolatey friend. but now, thanks to you, i will be able to create my own clean version! what a star you are! so glad to have stumbled across your blog. keep up the great work.
sarah 🙂
Sorry to hear about your dairy reactions – I have the same issue with the stomach cramps (those are bad enough), but the facial rashes sound intense! I hope you enjoy the vegan nutella recipe! There are so many great dairy alternatives available now. 🙂
Hi there, just wondering – how long does this keep. Because most non-dairy milks only last in the fridge 3-5 days. If I use soy milk or coconut milk in this will it only last this long?
It should be good for a week or so. The non-dairy milks I buy tend to be good for about 2 weeks, but I’d recommend checking the label on whatever brand you use to be sure.
I tried this today, but I found that the mixture balled up and didn’t get to a spreadable consistency. I ended up adding soy milk until it was smooth enough.. Do you know where I might have gone wrong?
Sorry you had trouble with the texture! Do you think it may have been the food processor? I’ve made this recipe a few times and haven’t had problems with it being too thick. I think adding soy milk was the right move – that’s what I would have done too. Hopefully the flavor was okay?
It tastes great! But I’m sure it would have tasted more like the original nutella if I’d not had to add more soy milk. I’ve got a Kenwood multipro excel, which has been fantastic so far. I made almond butter for the first time today with about 15 minutes on-and-off processing,and it went through the whole process of balling up then releasing the oils beautifully. I wasn’t sure if the hazelnuts would go through the same process, but as there was no mention of that, I assumed they wouldn’t…
I’m thinking the 3-5 minutes it took me to make mine probably wasn’t enough time. I’ll make a note in the recipe that it may take longer to get the right texture. Thanks for letting me know!
Hi 🙂 I just made it and it’s soooo amazing! thank you! And also if it’s sweetend by agave syrop it has low GI so I consider it almost (ehmm ehmm) diet friendly 😉
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! I think it’s fair to consider it diet-friendly. Why not, right? 😉
Wow. Just made this and it was a hit with me and my kids – one of my boys had been BEGGING me to make him a vegan nutella for quite a while now. Thanks so much. This is delicious and easy, and although not “healthy” per se, it is healthier than the store bought version!
Glad to hear you and your kids enjoyed the vegan nutella! It’s definitely a step up from the store-bought stuff. 🙂
Hello! Thanks for this recipe! I tried it for the first time today in my Vitamix. I had to double the recipe in order for it to mix properly in the Vitamix. I baked the hazelnuts for 8 min but upon trying to peal the skins off I found it VERY time consuming and some just did not loosen up enough to come off. (Im assuming I should have baked them just a bit longer?) I used Agave and almond milk. The consistency was wonderful! However upon tasting it, it was extremely bitter. I added some regular sugar to it..maybe 1/4 cup and it did help a little. Any idea why its so bitter? Def. not as sweet as the original Nutella. Maybe more Agave next time. I did use the maple flavored agave so maybe that’s not as sweet as the plain Agave?
Hi Andrea! It sounds like you needed to bake the hazelnuts a little longer. The skins should come off fairly easily (although some will inevitably stick). As far as sweetness, I intentionally did not make it as sweet as the original (which is loaded with sugar!). You can definitely adjust the sweetness to your personal taste preferences, however. 🙂
I made it and it turned out great. I hadn’t made any not nutella recently because of a recent dairy sensitivity, so I am super pleased with this recipe. I used honey and didn’t find it quite sweet enough so I used 1/2 cup, then because I’m a chocoholic and haven’t had any lately, I doubled the cocoa. I did have to add a bit more almond milk to help it blend. It might be because I used a blender instead of a food processor though. I tastes even better with the extra cocoa. 🙂
I’m so glad this recipe fulfilled your nutella craving, Wendy! I bet it tastes better with the extra cocoa…making a mental note for the next time I make it.
I made this today with my toddlers. It’s super yummy. 🙂 After tasting, we added 1/4 cup earth balance butter to make it even creamer. I left out the salt. Thanks!
Glad you and your family liked the nutella, Jennifer!
Just found you my daughter has texture issues and this will add nicely to her almost exclusive peanut butter and yogurt diet. I’m going to try your pancake recipe also. That is also on our food list.
Glad to provide an alternative to peanut butter and yogurt. 🙂 I hope you and your daughter enjoy the pancake recipe!!
Gosh, I love that this recipe is rich with hazelnuts and cocoa. I have a delicious, raw cocoa that is wonderful in nut butters. Some cocoa nibs might be a fun addition to the mix. Chocolate cravings.. yup, sounds about right… I can relate! Lovely blog post; great photos and approachable, fun (and yummy!) recipe.
Thank you, Shanna! Raw cocoa is where it’s at! I bet cocoa nibs would be a wonderful addition. 🙂
Ok so I used pre-roasted nuts (Trader’s raw hazelnuts are packaged in a facility that also packages peanuts but not their roasted ones). Had to add about twice as much milk and it still didn’t smooth out but ZOMG I DON’T CARE. I also added in about a Tbsp of oil because that’s helped in the past. It didn’t do much this time but seriously this is delicious so whatever.
Oh and I halved the sugar even more since the beau will probs eat this for breakfast and we both prefer things less sweet. Unless its summer fruit…then bring it on. 🙂
Sorry the recipe required some finagling! Maybe I need to revisit it…it’s been a while, though I used to make it all the time (dangerously delicious stuff!). It always takes me longer than I expect to make nut butters in the food processor. I used my Vitamix last time, and while it was a PITA to get it out around the blades, it made the creamiest almond butter in no time!
I make nut butter in my processor almost weekly no problem. And considering I lament the loss of a few drops of smoothie in my blender, doing nut butter in it probably wouldn’t end well. Haha
Also despite not being up to par with yours, im still eating it by the spoonful. 😉