Hazelnut Butter

Hazelnut butter has exactly one ingredient. It’s so easy to make, there’s no reason to spend a lot of money buying hazelnut butter. You can make nut butter out of any kind of toasted nuts, even peanuts, if you can tolerate them.

I think of hazelnut butter as a luxury, even though hazelnuts aren’t expensive. It has such a rich flavor, entirely different from cashew or almond butter, that goes well with so many recipes. My kids use it on toast or sandwiches (you know what kind), but I use it to add moisture in baking, in sauces, in smoothies, and for making hazelnut milk if I’m in a hurry.

The first time I roasted hazelnuts, I followed a recipe that told me to roast the nuts, then rub them gently between two dish towels to remove the skins. I tried it and 1) it most definitely did not remove the skins, and 2) it stained my new white dishtowels forever. I still have those towels, and no amount of chlorine-free bleach will remove those dark blotches.

As I tell my children: smart people learn from other people’s mistakes. Don’t do what I did. If you can’t tolerate the skins on hazelnuts, well, buy blanched nuts. I like the skins just fine (they do have a toasted flavor, but that’s OK by me) so I don’t ever try removing them. If they are loose, I brush them away, but that’s it.

I have a Vitamix, which makes nut butters in minutes. A food processor works almost as quickly. A regular blender will work, but it will take longer, and you may have to stop and push the nut butter down the sides of the blender with a spatula a few times.

You have to wait while the ground nuts liquefy into nut butter. The food processor grinds them into small pieces, then into paste, and finally into smooth nut butter. A high-speed blender does the same thing, only faster. A regular blender takes its time, but it will get there.

You can flavor the hazelnut butter with vanilla or maple, add salt if you wish, add cocoa powder (delish!), sweetener if you must. Add dried fruit powder for a fruity nut butter. The possibilities are endless.

Springhouse Turtle Eats

Print Recipe

Hazelnut Butter

By Springhouse Turtle – Serves: many

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes

Hazelnuts and a blender or food processor are all you need to make delightful homemade hazelnut butter.

Ingredients

• 2 cups hazelnuts
• Pinch of salt (optional)

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2

Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are toasted and fragrant.

3

Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and allow to cool.

4

Rub the hazelnuts gently to loosen their skins. Remove and compost any loose skins.

5

Put the toasted hazelnuts into a blender or food processor, add salt if using, and blend for 2-5 minutes until the nuts turn into a smooth butter.

6

Pour the hazelnut butter into a glass container.

7

Cover and store in the refrigerator. Makes about 1.5 cups.

Here’s the entire ingredient list: 2 cups of hazelnuts. Toast them in the oven, grind them in a food processor or blender, add a pinch of salt if you’d like, and you’ve got hazelnut butter.

Springhouse Turtle Eats