World Nutella Day: IT'S COMING

Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Sound like big holidays? WRONG.

These holidays are nothing--nothing--compared to what's coming up this Saturday.



Friends, are you prepared? Giant 26-ounce jars of Nutella purchased? Pantry stuffed with baguettes, pretzels, bananas, and apples, all ready to be slathered with Nutella? Starvation diet enacted to compensate for the calorie bomb that is a spoonful of Nutella?

Bring. It. On.



Nutella Day isn't until Saturday, so there's plenty of time to make preparations if this holiday has caught you off guard. There's lots of information and about a million recipes at the Nutella Day website, to whet your sweet tooth.



To kick things off I thought I'd start with a recipe for homemade Nutella. I've actually made two different versions. One can be found at the Oh Nuts blog--that recipe uses melted chocolate and condensed milk, and has a smoother, fudgier texture. That blog post has step-by-step photos for making Nutella, if you're new to this sort of thing.

The recipe I'm posting here uses cocoa powder instead of chocolate, and the end result has a bit more texture, but it's a little less sweet, which is my personal preference. Either way, you absolutely cannot go wrong with freshly ground roasted hazelnuts and chocolate!

So go forth, my friends, and create luscious Nutella creations. I'll be back tomorrow with another Nutella recipe for ya.


Homemade Nutella
from the Los Angeles Times

Servings: Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Note: Use good-quality cocoa powder, such as Scharffen Berger.

2 cups raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil, more as needed

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the hazelnuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast until they darken and become aromatic, about 10 minutes. Transfer the hazelnuts to a damp towel and rub to remove the skins.

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

3. Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt and oil to the food processor and continue to process until well blended, about 1 minute. The finished spread should have the consistency of creamy peanut butter; if it is too dry, process in a little extra hazelnut oil until the desired consistency is achieved. Remove to a container, cover and refrigerate until needed. Allow the spread to come to room temperature before using, as it thickens considerably when refrigerated. It will keep for at least a week.

Each tablespoon: 109 calories; 2 grams protein; 8 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 13 mg. sodium.