When I have great ambitions to re-create a favourite food product at home, it usually takes the right moment of inspiration to push me along. Or, it simply takes remembering to snap the photos before the husband and I eat the entire batch (such was the case with my vegan cookie recreation from Zephyr Café…doh).
This time, my inspiration came from spotting a huge bag of raw hazelnuts at Costco. I knew it was time to try and re-create my beloved Rawtella!
Rawtella is just about one of the best spreads I’ve ever tasted. It’s made with raw hazelnuts, coconut sugar, and cacao nibs. My favourite is their coffee flavour which includes ground coffee beans creating a super crazy intense chocolate flavour. Ohhhh yeaaaaa.
Instead of using raw hazelnuts, I roasted them because I wanted to remove the somewhat bitter-tasting skins. Roast the hazelnuts at 300F for about 13-15 minutes. As you can see, the skins darken and begin to loosen in the oven:
Now all you do is grab an old damp tea towel. Key word being OLD because this makes a huge mess! Place the roasted nuts on the damp towel and wrap the towel up as shown below.
Rub the hazelnuts vigorously with the tea towel to remove the skins.
After a couple minutes, it should look like this:
At this point, remove the nuts without skins and place them in the processor. Keep rubbing the others, but it’s ok if all the skins don’t come off. Mine never do!!
Here is a breakdown of how the hazelnuts should look at various stages of processing (click to enlarge):
Yes, it took a full 15-20 minutes for my processor to get the nutella as smooth as I wanted it. After you add the coconut sugar, it thickens up a lot, but if you keep processing and scraping down the sides, it will heat up and thin out. Patience is key here. I know, I know, it’s hard when you just want to grab a spoonful of your homemade nutella. I didn’t say this would be easy.
But, you’ll be rewarded with a silky, intensely chocolate mocha latte frappe espresso (or something) knock-off of the store-bought stuff at a fraction of the cost. It probably goes without saying, but this would make a lovely gift for that special chocolate-crazed someone! Aka, me & YOU!
Homemade Mocha Nutella
Inspired by Rawtella
Yield: 1 & 1/4 cup
Ingredients:
- 2 cups raw hazelnuts
- 1.5-2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/4-1/2 tsp espresso powder (I used 1/2 tsp)
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
1. Preheat oven to 300F and roast the hazelnuts for 13-14 minutes, watching closely, especially if you aren’t sure of your actual oven temperature. When ready, the skins will have darkened and some will have come loose.
2. Place nuts into the centre of an old damp tea towel. Cover it up like a purse and rub the nuts for a couple minutes to loosen the skins. Pick out the “naked” nuts and place into processor. Repeat towel rubbing for the rest. It’s ok if all of the skins don’t come off. Add the rest to processor.
3. Process the nuts, stopping to scrape down the bowl every minute or so. After 9-10 minutes of processing, add in the coconut oil and process until smooth. This will help thin it out a lot and I don’t recommend skipping the oil.
4. Now add in the rest of the ingredients slowly and keep processing and scraping down the bowl for another 5-10 minutes, or until silky smooth. It took me 15-20 minutes total processing. The sugar will thicken up the spread significantly, but keep processing and the heat will smooth it out once again.
5. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will harden slightly when chilled. Simply bring it to room temp or heat it to soften.
A few notes:
– Coconut sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, hazelnuts, and cocoa powder were all purchased at Costco. Espresso powder was purchased at my regular grocery store in the coffee section.
– I assume you can sub another sugar in place of the coconut sugar. Add it to taste. I don’t recommend using a liquid sweetener like maple syrup because I find it can produce a strange thick texture in nut butters.
– You can probably sub the coconut oil for another light tasting oil like grapeseed oil. You can also use hazelnut oil for obvious reasons. I am leery about using extra virgin olive oil since it has quite a powerful flavour. Use at your own risk…
– Like all homemade nut butters, I don’t recommend making them without a heavy-duty food processor. I use a 12-cup Cuisinart and it works great for nut butters.
Want to know a secret? I don’t think I’ve ever had actual Nutella before – (just Rawtella as an adult). Is that weird? I don’t find Nutella is as big here in Canada as it seems to be in the US (or maybe I just lived under a rock as a kid).
NNOOMMM!!! This is amazing! I’d love to have this on my shelves! This is a great gift idea too! Woah! I’m excited, thanks!
I also never had Nutella as a child! I bought some as an adult, and I don’t really get what the fuss is about- sure it’s chocolate but I’d rather just eat some high end chocolate then put it on my toast. Each to their own I suppose
I can’t wait to make this and maybe give some as hostess gifts for the holidays.
Just wondering if I missed the recipe or post on the Zephyr cookie experiment? Every time we head to Squamish or Whistler we go there so I can pick up a couple cookies. I would LOVE to make them!
Thanks as always for your wonderful recipes.
I never had Nutella until my senior trip to Europe – street vendors in Paris were selling huge nutella crepes for a Euro or two. I have to admit they were incredible!!
My fiancé is Austrian and we go there every few years and Nutella is huge!! As a contrast, most of them have never had or heard of peanut butter!!
This looks great – perfect for the holidays!
Saw the recipe – drooled – made it – turned out great! :D Some tweaks: I used almonds instead and cut down on the sugar. FYI I have great success with making nut butters with my high-speed Kitchen Aid blender! I just have to stop a few times and scrape down what clings to the bowl. It helps if nuts are roasted and warm as well. And I hear you on how funky nut butters become if watery sweeteners are added! Not happy with that…
^ Almonds instead worked? Cool, I’ll have to try that, I actually have a huge bag of those right now, as oppose to hazelnuts. Then later when I can purchase the latter, I’ll re-make this with those.
Hey Hanna, So glad it worked out for you! I will have to try it out with almonds next time. :) yum
I so love nutella and this recipe is amazing. Imagine how you could cut the cost from buying the commercial nutella. 15-20 mins of waiting isn’t that bad. I’m surely gonna try this homemade sweet at home. Thanks for sharing Angela!
I’ve wanted to try rawtella but it tends to be so pricey. This looks delicious though! Chocolate and coffee are a beautiful thing.
This looks wonderful! I am so happy I can get all the ingredients in Ottawa. :) Project for this weekend, as I am due to go to Costco. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
I was on a nut butter making extravanganza yesterday and used everything from cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, to white chocolate – but no espresso powder and boy, you have me wanting to dirty up my food processor again :)
I love Nutella! This post makes me want a food processor even more than I already did! I know what I’m asking Santa for this year.
Wow!! This looks crazy delicious! :D I love the step-by-step photos of how it should look at various stages in the process. Excellent recipe that I can’t wait to try! Now I need an old rag to wipe up my drool from the floor and another one to make this recipe. ;)
Not only does this look deliciously yummy, but that first photograph is beyond amazing. One of the best I’ve ever seen on your blog. What skills you have!
Wow! Thank you for the kind compliment :) once and a while, the lighting stars align. hah
this looks delicious Ang!! My sister loves nutella – I had planned on making her a jar of your dark chocolate almond butter for Christmas but maybe I’ll make this instead! :) Thanks!
I think I just had a food-gasm. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I’ve been hearing so much about Nutella this season and was shocked to see how many people think that it is a healthy food. I loved Nutella as a kid, but as adult I refuse to buy it; that doesn’t stop my mouth from watering every time I pass it in the supermarket though. This sounds like a great alternative, I can’t wait to try it! Also I had no idea that Costco sells organic coconut oil in bulk, I find myself scraping the bottom of those tiny jars at least once a month.
I love that this is a naturally sweetened version of Nutella…I had a Nutella latte the other day at a cafe and wanted to create a healthy Nutella at home so I can replicate that drink!
it’s times like this that i wish we could lick our computer screens and be able to taste the photo. -sigh-
Laughing–I felt exactly the same way when I saw that first photo.
This looks insanely good! I can’t wait to try this (after I get hazelnuts and I was at costco this morning – boo). Another awesome recipe ;)
I have always found removing hazelnut skins to be SO frustrating until I learned a new method last weekend. Instead of roasting and then rubbing the skins, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, add about 4 tablespoons of baking soda and your hazelnuts. Boil for 3-5 minuts and then douse the hazelnuts with cold water. You can then pop the skins right off! You can then roast the skinned hazelnuts. I was worried that the boiling would negatively affect the taste or texture of the hazelnuts but it didn’t. This is a much easier and far less messy method. It isn’t “raw” but I’d rather be sane than raw ;)
Ok, Nutella is one of the world’s finest condiments but THIS sounds amazing!! I’m pretty sure a batch would last no longer than about 15 minutes in my house. I’m thinking perhaps a Mocha Nutella smoothie might be in order…. ;)