You may call this “homemade Nutella for grownups”.
This morning I found myself battling against the will of a stubborn 5 year-old, convincingly arguing his point as why he shouldn’t go to school today (or any day, really).
I tried to kindly, yet firmly persuade him that “school is fun”, but who am I kidding? I had no choice but use bribery.
” I make you a Nutella sandwich for breakfast, you stop pestering me”
Not surprisingly, the proposition was accepted.
As I was spreading the scrumptious paste on a slice of home-made sandwich bread (a little bragging here…) I suddenly had an epiphany! What if I made him a sort-of-nutella-thingy that didn’t include the dreaded palm oil?
Better still, what if I made it for me??
After I bit of brain churning, this is what I have come up with.
Ingredients (this will yield around 500 gr/16 oz of chocolate spread)
395 gr/14.10 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/3 of a cup of ground almonds
1/2 cup of good quality cocoa powder
3 table spoons of grape seed oil
1 teaspoon on vanilla extract
1 scant table spoon of ground coffee beans (you can substitute with instant coffee)
In a food processor combine the ground almonds, the cocoa, the oil, the coffee and the vanilla.
Process for about 2 minutes, or until you have obtained a sticky paste.
I like my chocolate on the bitter side of bitter-sweet. Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar if you prefer a mellower chocolate spread.
Put the paste in a small saucepan over very low heat. Add 5 tablespoons of condensed milk and allow for the paste to melt, while you stir with a whisk.
Add the remaining milk, stirring gently for 1 or two minutes to remove any lumps. Turn the heat off.
Pour the luscious concoction in sterilized glass jars. Allow to cool to room temperature, then keep in the fridge.
As it cools down, the spread will thicken slightly.
Naturally, you can leave the coffee out and make this a more family-friendly treat.
I didn’t…Bad Mamma I am!
Silvia Colloca 
This might be a dumb question, but for people with a nut allergy, could this be made without the almonds?
Hi Andrea,
good question… Desiccated coconut would be quite nice, I reckon.
I’m assuming that you would just use the same amount of coconut as you would almonds.
I will give it a try and let you know how it comes out with the coconut!
Yes, I would think so. In the light of this, I would probably use coconut cream instead of grape seed oil, as the binding fat.
MMM thais sounds great! You may also want to take a look at this http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/09/better-than-nutella/ recipe for home made Nutella. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Alan and then you for the link too, great blog.
I like Nutella, I think I’ll love this! Thanks for working this out for all of the chocoholics
Pleasure!
This sounds scrumptious! MMMMMM!
I love this recipe, as I never seem to have chocolate in my fridge for very long but always cocoa, so can start this right away! Thanks, lovely blog.
Thanks Johanna, let me know if you like it!
Would flaxseed oil work as well as grape seed oil?
Your recipe sounds delicious, and so much healthier than irresistible Nutella.
Absolutely. Canola or a light olive oil work just as well too.
What if I don´t add oil as I don´t like it very much? Will it work?
You need a little oil to blend the nuts, otherwise the texture will be grainy.
I know this may sound like a sill question, but… What is the difference between condensed milk and sweetened condensed milk? I can’t seem to find the condensed milk anywhere…
I think you will be just fine with sweetened conduced milk!
Silvia, I can’t wait to give this a try and thanks for providing the grape seed oil substitution above! Pinned.
My pleasure!
Silvia, I’m making my second batch of this right now. This is a million times better than Nutella. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
My daughters adore Nutella! They would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I would let them, so I was really happy to find this reciepe. I can’t wait to try it, but just one quick questions, can you use hazelnuts in place of the almonds?
I did once, Becky, and although the taste was nice, the texture was a bit grainy, so I have been making it with almonds instead. Hope this helps! Silvia
It does thanks! I have one more question. Sorry to bother you about, but I am very excited about this recipe!! Can you use coconut oil in place of grape seed oil?