Would you believe that I had made this at the beginning of November? You would? Yes, I know, I had been Little Miss Procrastinator in the good ol year that was 2015. Now that Miss G is going to school for 5 days a week and an extra hour a day (my baby! 😭) I can now head home and do housework cough{blog}cough and other homey things.

Anyway, back to the recipe. I love chocolate. I mean, the “I used to majorly sneak around with chocolate behind closed doors and demolish a family block in under 10min” kind of love. I’ve got a kid now, so a lot less sneaking and more healthy. Well, most of the time. I’ve been thinking of white Nutella for ages now, especially since I love white chocolate ( I know, not a chocolate. Hush.), and white Kinder Bueno’s are awesome. They are. If you’ve never had one and you are a hazelnut fan, go and try one. Crispy gooiness in a wrapper. So, I did a quick scan of the Modern Homemakers Online Bible, aka Pinterest, and came across this little gem from Glazed and Confused. It’s simple, it’s minimalist, it has easy to purchase ingredients! And Miss G was able to help with the stirring, she thought it was fantastic.

This was her first time licking the spatula in a cooking project with me. She was very skeptical of it to begin with, I had to wipe a layer of chocolate goo onto her tongue lol. Then she couldn’t get enough of it. Now she’s always asking for “one more ‘poon’ Mummy” whenever I make something sweet.

The original recipe calls for 5 ingredients, I cut it down to 4 and I halved it. My copy of it makes a small jar, I actually upcycled a 200mL Maille mustard jar for this spread (after many vigorous scrubs and soaks, of course).

So, what’s in it? Skinned hazelnuts, melted white chocolate, coconut/vegetable/nut oil at a liquid state, and vanilla essence. Now, the hazelnuts don’t have to be skinned, but it’s an extra step to remove the skins. You can normally find skinless hazelnuts in the baking aisle of your local supermarket.

Now, you will need a food processor/Vitamix/Thermomix to make this. Something with good blades to chop up nuts and that won’t burn out your engine, this isn’t a recipe for a $20 blender. I used my food processor for this recipe.

A quick note to say that if you live somewhere really hot (like me), you can store this in the fridge so it’s not all gooey and fondue-y, unless you prefer it that it that way! In a regular non-melty climate, this will keep semi-solid like Nutella in the cupboard. If you do store this in the fridge, just let it sit on the bench for a bit to soften up or give it a quick zap in the microwave to make it spoonable. Also, just a small warning, it’s not 100% completely smooth. Like with most homemade nut butters, this is a little bit gritty. But I prefer it that way, it makes it more real, more homemade like this.

Now, I should comment on the taste. Man, this is just like a white Bueno on a spoon! Funnily enough, it tastes just like I thought white Nutella would. Crazy, huh? Honestly, this would make a great hot chocolate base with milk, slap it on a brownie… or 5… I won’t judge. I even did a quesadilla with this as the filling as a change up from toast! Truffles, milkshakes, ice creams, cakes… need I say more? If you love Nutella and/or it’s many low-brow cousins, give this a go!

White Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

• 85g raw hazelnuts, peeled
• 150g white chocolate, eating quality, broken into squares (I used Cadbury Dream)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (liquid state), or vegetable/nut oil
• ½-1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl or jug, and microwave on high in intervals of 30 seconds until melted, about 1-1.5 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Heat up a small frying pan or wok on medium heat, and toast the hazelnuts for 1-2 minutes until they smell roasted. Remove from heat, set aside to cool.

Once cooled, place the hazelnuts in the food processor and grind until the nuts are small gritty particles, close to hazelnut meal. Scrape the sides down, then add oil and vanilla. Grind hazelnuts until smooth, stop and scrape the sides down as needed.

Pour the cooled, melted chocolate into the nut mixture, keep grinding until smooth.

Spoon into a sterilised jar or container.

Adapted from Glazed and Confused.

Notes: This can be made vegan/vegetarian/dairy-free, if you change the standard white chocolate to a diet-friendly alternative.

All comments about brands are my own and are not endorsed by the companies.