This vegan Nutella tastes just like the real thing. I wanted to create a vegan version of this classic chocolate hazelnut spread that doesn’t try to be healthy but instead just simply aims to be the best possible imitation of the non-vegan original.
To create a really amazing taste for vegan Nutella I recommend using blanched hazelnut butter instead of just roasted hazelnut butter. Blanching hazelnuts removes the grainy taste in this spread and leaves you just with a wonderful hazelnut flavour. If you can find blanched hazelnut butter in the store, you can skip the step of making homemade blanched hazelnut butter. Just make sure that it’s also roasted and not just blanched. Or, if you can find blanched hazelnuts, you can skip the blanching step and follow the instructions from there.
Other ingredients in this spread include evaporated coconut milk, vegan butter, maple syrup, vanilla powder and 100 % chocolate. I chose evaporated coconut milk because its taste is the closest to real milk among all plant based alternatives. It’s rich and creamy, and it doesn’t have the distinct coconut taste that coconut milk does. I love evaporated coconut milk from the brand Nature’s Charm. For the vegan butter, I like to use vegan spreadable from Naturli’, which has an amazing taste. Maple syrup works best in this spread among the possible sweeteners because it makes the consistency very silky. For the chocolate, I’m using Lindt which has the best flavour in my opinion. Using chocolate instead of cocoa powder results in a much better taste.
This vegan Nutella is super silky and smooth, indulgent and divine in taste. The best way you can use it is as a centre for my vegan Ferrero Rocher bliss balls. This spread makes these bliss balls really decadent and delectable. You could also spread it on my amazing vegan crepes or on a piece of bread or drizzle it on top of porridge or vegan vanilla ice cream.
If you are looking for a healthier alternative to this vegan chocolate hazelnut spread, check the recipe for my vegan Gianduja.
More delicious vegan copycat candy recipes:
Have you made this recipe? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your feedback.
Vegan Nutella (GF)
Ingredients
Vegan Nutella:
Blanched hazelnut butter:
- 260g (2 cups) raw unsalted hazelnuts
- water
- 3 tbsp baking soda
Instructions
Blanched hazelnut butter:
- Put hazelnuts in a cup and set aside. Put water in a large pot so that it fills about half of the pot. Put it on the stove over high heat and when it starts to boil put 3 tbsp of baking soda in it. Add also hazelnuts and cook them for 3-4 min, lowering the heat to low when it starts boiling again. Take one hazelnut out of the water with a wooden spoon after 3-4 min and splash it with cold water then try if the skin comes easily off the hazelnut. If it doesn't come off easily, cook for additional 30s then test again. When the test shows that the skin comes easily off the hazelnuts, turn the heat off and pour the water and hazelnuts over a strainer then splash hazelnuts under cold water.
- Remove the skins off the hazelnuts one by one with your hands. They should come off easily. Put peeled hazelnuts on a paper towel.
- When all peeled hazelnuts are placed on the towel, take another paper towel and rub them with it so that you take as much as excess water from them as you can. Then leave them on the bottom paper towel over night so that they dry completely.
- Next morning roast hazelnuts in the oven at 180 °C for 10 min. Leave them to cool a little bit then place them in a blender. Blend until you get a smooth blanched hazelnut butter. I have a separate post on how to make hazelnut butter that you can check. It will take a bit more time and effort for blanched hazelnuts to transform into butter than it would with hazelnuts that have only been roasted and not blanched, so be patient.
- After blanched hazelnut butter is made, use some of it to make vegan Nutella. Transfer the rest of blanched hazelnut butter to a container and seal it so that it can stay fresh as long as possible. Store it in the fridge. From 260g (2 cups) of hazelnuts you will get about 230g (scant 13 tbsp) of blanched hazelnut butter.
Vegan Nutella:
- Put 130g of blanched hazelnut butter in a blender along with evaporated coconut milk, vegan butter, maple syrup and vanilla. Blend everything together.
- Chop chocolate into smaller pieces and put them in a double boiler over medium heat to slowly melt. Add melted chocolate to the mixture and blend again.
- Pour the content into a bowl and store it in the fridge. Use it as a spread on bread or on vegan crepes, as a topping for porridge or vegan vanilla ice cream or as a centre for homemade vegan Ferrero Rocher bliss balls.
2 Comments
Clay
February 12, 2023 at 05:23i wish they sold this looks so good
Nina
February 12, 2023 at 08:21Thank you, Clay!