Cacao-hazelnut spread

Being lactose intolerant for the large majority of my life means there are some things that I have just never got round to trying; think foods ingrained in most people’s childhoods like Coco Pops and Frube yogurt tubes. But then the other day my mum bought a pot of Nutella. After seeing lots of different ‘healthy’ versions of the spread I figured it must be good. A lot of people are making the effort to recreate something similar yet nutritious; surely I must be missing out. I was. After one small spoonful I knew I was about the join the pack of people attempting to recreate that chocolaty goodness.

I tried lots of different recipes but they just didn’t work; they weren’t sweet enough, not gooey enough, sometimes they seemed to resemble more of a brownie than a spread. But on my fifth attempt I nailed it. This spread is gooey, chocolaty and easy to make. It is just what I wanted my healthier version of chocolate-hazelnut spread to be.

Cacao-hazelnut butter: (makes one small-medium sized jar)

½ cup hazelnuts

½ cup medjool dates

2 tbsp. maple syrup

2 tbsp. cacao powder

 ¼ cup water

Directions:

Begin by pre-heating your oven to 180 °c. Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for 25-30 minutes, until the inside of the nuts have turned to a beautiful deep golden colour. Once done remove them from the oven. You now need to remove the hazelnut’s skins. It’s really easy to do this, just place some of the nuts in a tea-towel and rub! Don’t worry if some of the skins don’t come off fully. Transfer the nuts into a food processor and blend until they become a creamy nut spread. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until really smooth, add a little more water if required. Spoon your newly made chocolate-nut spread into an air-tight jar and keep in the fridge. Try your best not to continuously sneak to the fridge with a spoon!