When asked if I liked, and wanted, hazelnuts, I said sure! Hazelnuts are delicious, right? It turns out I don’t actually like them by themselves but rather only in chocolate. Oops.
I finally used some to make cocoa-hazelnut spread. I based it on this recipe, but the recipe is British and required some translation. It is delicious! Just a little nibble makes a tasty snack.
Apparently, 200 g of hazelnuts is about 1 1/2 cups.
Peanuts are a type of groundnut, so I used peanut oil. If you don’t have any peanut oil you can substitute other oil. It doesn’t contribute to the flavo(u)r. I think I used a little more than they called for to get it all to come together.
I assumed vanilla essence is either another name for, or similar to, vanilla extract.
Caster sugar is between granulated and powdered sugars. The link suggests making it from granulated sugar in the food processor. Since I needed the food processor for this recipe anyway I gave it a go, but I think it was too little sugar to work well. Next time I would use honey.
As I typically do, I tried the recipe as-written the first time (or as close as I could get). I tasted it and then doubled the cocoa powder.
My least favorite part was getting the skins off the roasted nuts. It took way too long for such a simple recipe. I wonder how much it affects the finished product to leave the skins on.
Overall, I like this recipe. It is simple, tasty, and a good way to use up the hazelnuts in my possession. The sugar was just a tiny bit gritty and this version was too sweet for sandwiches for my taste, but reasonably spreadable and not at all sticky. Next time I will start unsweetened and add a little bit of honey at a time, to taste.
P.S. I bet this would make awesome truffles.