Homemade Nutella
The jar you'll actually hide from yourself
The original Nutella, invented by Pietro Ferrero in Alba, Italy, in 1946, was born of necessity. Cocoa was scarce in postwar Europe, but hazelnuts were abundant in Piedmont. Stretching precious chocolate with ground hazelnuts produced something accidentally magnificent—a spread that tasted richer than its ingredients would suggest. The recipe has since been optimized for industrial production, which is to say it now contains more sugar and palm oil than strictly necessary.
Making Nutella at home corrects this historical drift. The Thermomix version is particularly elegant: the machine first pulverizes the nuts to a paste, releasing their oils, then melts the chocolate and combines everything into a homogeneous spread. The result is darker, nuttier, and less cloying than the commercial version—closer, arguably, to what Ferrero originally intended.
The recipe below uses dark chocolate and coconut oil rather than milk chocolate and palm oil, which shifts the flavor profile toward sophisticated and away from merely sweet. If you prefer something more faithful to the jar on your childhood breakfast table, substitute milk chocolate and increase the sugar. Either way, the finished product will be superior to anything you can buy, and will last approximately three days before you eat the entire jar with a spoon.
Method
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1
Mill the sugar
Add sugar to TM bowl. Mill for 10 seconds on Speed 9 until powdery fine.
💡 Powdered sugar dissolves more readily into the spread.
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2
Add hazelnuts
Add toasted hazelnuts to the sugar. Mill for 10 seconds on Speed 9 until they begin releasing oil.
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3
Add chocolate
Add chocolate pieces to the bowl. Mill for 10 seconds on Speed 9 until the chocolate is finely ground with the nut mixture.
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4
Add remaining ingredients and cook
Add cocoa powder, almond milk, and coconut oil. Cook for 6 minutes at 60°C on Speed 3, allowing everything to melt and combine into a smooth spread.
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5
Transfer and store
Pour into a sterilized jar while still warm. The spread will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
💡 The spread sets firmly when cold—let it warm slightly before spreading.
Notes & Tips
Hazelnut preparation
- • Toast raw hazelnuts at 180°C for 12 minutes, then rub in a kitchen towel to remove loose skins. Some skin will remain—this is fine and adds character.
Chocolate quality
- • Use good chocolate. The spread is mostly chocolate and hazelnuts, so quality matters. Avoid compound chocolate or anything that says "chocolatey."
Texture adjustment
- • If the spread is too thick, add more almond milk 15ml at a time. If too thin (unlikely), add more cocoa powder.
Variations
- • Add 1 tsp vanilla extract for depth
- • Use roasted walnut oil instead of coconut oil
- • Add a pinch of sea salt for salted chocolate-hazelnut
- • Substitute pecans for hazelnuts
Storage
- • Refrigerated, the spread keeps for 3 weeks. At room temperature, use within 1 week. The coconut oil may cause slight separation—stir before using.
Dairy-free note
- • This recipe is naturally dairy-free when made with coconut oil and almond milk.