Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Spread bursting with smooth chocolate, creamy hazelnuts, a salty kick and hints of sweet vanilla. Delicious on fresh bread or toast, on pancakes, over ice cream or on a banana split. But honestly, sometimes that takes too long! Just open the jar and dive in with a spoon!!

It is little wonder that when I went for a quick visit to see Emma at university last February, this was top of the list of homemade goodies she wanted me to bring. Other items included Peanut Butter, Korean Stir Fry Sauce, Miso Salad Dressing, Chocolate Orange Brownies and Coffee Cake. (I’ll be sharing these recipes shortly.) Not to mention the fresh and smoked salmon and some homemade Vegetarian Bolognese! This poor student was very keen for me to visit – I can’t think why!!

Andrew was away skiing with friends and Charlotte was in the middle of her travels in Queensland, Australia at the time. It seemed an ideal time for a little trip to see Emma in Exeter and then go on to see my lovely sister, Sarah, and brother- in-law, Tim, in Bristol.

Andrew skiing with his friends and lucky Charlotte cuddling a koala!

You can read more about Charlotte’s travels through Bali, Australia and New Zealand in her blog Charlotte Explores. Have a look – it’s fabulous. Given that we are living in lockdown at the moment, you can use it for virtual travel now and for inspiration as soon as we are able to travel again!

Back to the important bit, the Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Spread!

I promise you that this is easy to make but I only urge you to try it if you have a powerful blender or food processor. Crushing nuts into a creamy paste takes a motor with a lot of umph – I don’t want to be responsible for any burnt out processors/blenders. I use a Thermomix which is perfect and I’m sure a Vita-mix, or equivalent of either, would be fine. I also have a wonderful Magimix at home, which I use for most things, but I have never tried it for this recipe.

How to make Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Collect all your ingredients together:

hazelnuts
milk chocolate (I use Cadbury’s)
hazelnut oil
icing sugar
unsweetened cocoa
vanilla extract
salt

How to make this incredible spread:

Lay the hazelnuts in an even layer on the baking tray and bake in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until the nuts are lightly browned all over. Shake the tray half way through cooking.
Transfer the hazelnuts to a food processor. Blend until they are completely broken down and in a very smooth and liquidy paste. You may have to stop the processor from time to time to scrape the hazelnuts down from the sides of the processor. This takes around 5 minutes in my processor. It is important to leave the nuts to cool before adding the chocolate. If the chocolate gets too hot it may overheat and split.
When the hazelnuts are cool, break the chocolate into a microwave safe mixing bowl and blitz in the microwave for 60 seconds. Stir well and cook for a further 30 seconds. Stir well again, leave for 2 minutes and stir to see if there are still any lumps. If so put back in the microwave and cook for 15 seconds and stir until it is completely melted. If it has still not melted, continue in 15 second increments.
Add the remaining ingredients, including the melted chocolate, and blitz until completely incorporated and the paste is very smooth. It will be quite runny but will thicken as it cools down.
Transfer to your jam jars and serve at room temperature.

Also, please note. I have tried making this with half the quantities to make just one jar. However, I seemed to spend the whole time scraping down the sides of the processor and didn’t achieve quite the same smooth consistency. Hence I make the amount in the recipe below. We end up with 2 jars, not one. It’s a struggle, but we cope!

1 Lay hazelnuts in an even layer on baking tray

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.

Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Ingredients

400g hazelnuts
400g Cadbury’s milk chocolate
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
50g icing sugar
15g unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon fine salt

Instructions

Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4
Lay the hazelnuts in an even layer on the baking tray and bake in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until the nuts are lightly browned all over. Shake the tray half way through cooking.
Transfer the hazelnuts to a food processor. Blend until they are completely broken down and in a very smooth and liquidy paste. You may have to stop the processor from time to time to scrape the hazelnuts down from the sides of the processor. This takes around 5 minutes in my processor. It is important to leave the nuts to cool before adding the chocolate. If the chocolate gets too hot it may overheat and split.
When the hazelnuts are cool, break the chocolate into a microwave safe mixing bowl and blitz in the microwave for 60 seconds. Stir well and cook for a further 30 seconds. Stir well again, leave for 2 minutes and stir to see if there are still any lumps. If so put back in the microwave and cook for 15 seconds and stir until it is completely melted. If it has still not melted, continue in 10 second increments.
Add the remaining ingredients, including the melted chocolate, and blitz until completely incorporated and the paste is very smooth. It will be quite runny but will thicken as it cools down.
Transfer to your jam jars and serve at room temperature.
This spread does not need to be kept in the fridge and will keep for up to a month

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

baking tray
microwave proof jug or mixing bowl
kitchen scales and measuring spoons
powerful food processor
2 jam jars with lids

Hazelnuts:

If you have bought roasted hazelnuts, I would still cook them for 5 – 8 minutes as this really helps to bring out the flavours in the natural oils in the nuts.

Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Spread