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A delicious ONE ingredient homemade hazelnut butter recipe with flavoured hazelnut butter options, health benefits of hazelnuts & hazelnut butter uses!
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of a delicious homemade hazelnut butter recipe is a homemade, vegan Nutella spread. And, if that’s what you want too then – fear not! I already have a recipe for that! However, this recipe is for the slightly unappreciated, yet delicious plain hazelnut butter – which can be an excellent ingredient to add to raw treats, baked goods and more! Plus, there are a surprising amount of health benefits of hazelnuts too (listed below!). I’ve even included a list of flavoured hazelnut butter options, and hazelnut butter uses below! Using just one ingredient- 100% hazelnuts, and around half an hour (half of that is baking time), this hazelnut butter recipe is quick and simple to make.
Just like with most homemade nut butter recipes, this hazelnut butter works out more cost-efficient than buying from the store, especially when purchasing your nuts in bulk. I’ve made this plain hazelnut butter using 100% hazelnuts, however, feel free to add a pinch of salt too, if preferred. As I do with all my homemade nut butter recipes, I’ll include some flavoured hazelnut butter options below as well as hazelnut butter recipes, to inspire!
I’ve also, as usual, kept this recipe 100% oil-free. It is possible to add a bit of oil to this recipe to help get its smooth texture quicker. I personally much prefer the few extra minutes it takes using a blender/food processor to know that this is just pure, healthy hazelnut butter.
With nut butter options popping up everywhere and in all kinds of flavour variations, I still feel like hazelnut butter is still unappreciated in comparison to your almond and cashew varieties. Hazelnuts more than carry their own though, as well as included a whole heap of health benefits.
Health Benefits of Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts may contain less protein than other nuts. However, they more than makeup for that shortfall with their other health benefits. For instance:
- Hazelnuts are loaded with healthy fats, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids and nutrients including Vitamin E, Copper and manganese.
- A single serving (28g) provides 11% of your recommended daily dietary fiber, thus good for your bowels if you know what I mean.
- Hazelnuts are a brilliant source of antioxidants, particularly ‘phenolic compounds’ which have anti-cancer properties, can aid in decreasing inflammation and blood cholesterol as well as benefiting heart health. (Although these are primarily in the hazelnut skin!)
- Due to the healthy fats and antioxidants, Hazelnuts have been found to reduce bad LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels, with improved heart health.
- Hazelnuts can have excellent skin benefits such as retaining moisture & hydrations, due to the high levels of Vitamin E and healthy fats.
So, without further ado, let’s get into how to make this homemade hazelnut butter recipe, how to use it and flavoured hazelnut butter combinations!
How to make homemade Hazelnut butter
To begin, roast the raw hazelnuts in the oven at 165ºC (fan assisted) for 15 minutes and then leave till cool-to-touch.
Now, we need to remove the hazelnut skins. While these skins are full of healthy nutritional value, they aren’t brilliant for the texture of our homemade hazelnut butter. They gotta go (Don’t judge me when I say this but – I have been known so lightly salt the leftover skins and eat some anyway. Every step to reducing food waste, I say!). To remove the skins you can use a clean tea towel and rub/scrunch between your hands. The skins will fall off the roasted nuts reasonably easily. The friction of the nuts rubbing together will cause the skins to loosen.
The hazelnuts are now ready to be blended. Place them in a high-speed food processor or blender and blend till smooth. This is best done in intervals, so the nuts (and machine) don’t overheat. The longer they are blended, the runnier consistency the homemade hazelnut butter will be. I like to blend them for around 15 minutes, with breaks every 2-3 minutes.
Once the hazelnut butter is ready, transfer to a glass container and store in the fridge for 2-3 months. It can also be kept at room temperature for around a month.
Some Flavoured Hazelnut Butter combinations
Note – Any additional ingredients to homemade nut butter can affect the shelf life. If I want to flavour any, I will make sure only to flavour a small portion of it, so none goes to waste. For some flavoured hazelnut butter inspiration:
- We all know the first flavoured hazelnut butter option has got to be this homemade Vegan Nutella spread!
- For a simple, delicious twist, pop in some homemade Vanilla extract or Vanilla Powder.
- For a simple, sweet version add your favourite natural syrup of choice. By adding maple syrup and some sea salt, you can make a delicious hazelnut caramel sauce.
- Cinnamon spiced hazelnut butter is sure to delight!
- We know hazelnuts and chocolate are a perfect match, so what about adding coffee for a delicious ‘Mocha’ version
How To Use Hazelnut Butter/ Hazelnut Butter Uses
Just like with all nut butter recipes, this homemade hazelnut butter works well as a simple spread, in overnight oats recipes. It can also be used to drizzle over porridge, fruits, pancakes and ice-cream. There are even ways to use it for homemade popsicles and ice-cream recipes.
Hazelnut butter can also be used as an alternative for these homemade Vegan peanut butter cups as well as for homemade energy balls, protein bars and other raw treats.
It can also be the base to making delicious hazelnut frostings and creams (think kinder Bueno filling!). It will also work beautifully in various baked goods such as cookies, cakes, brownies etc.
As always, if you give this hazelnut nut butter recipe a go then let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Also, feel free to tag me in your recreations @AlphaFoodie.
Homemade Hazelnut Butter
Ingredients
- 3 cups hazelnuts raw
Instructions
- To begin, roast the hazelnuts in the oven at 165ºC (fan assisted) for 15 minutes. Leave them to cool till warm-to-the-touch.
- Remove the skin from the hazelnuts. To remove the skins you can either simply scrunch them in your hands or bunch them up within a clean towel and rub between your hands. The skins will fall off the roasted nuts fairly easily, this way as the friction of the nuts rubbing together will cause the skins to loosen.
- Blend them in a high-speed processor/blender. It's best to do so at intervals so the nuts (and machine) don't overheat. The longer you blend the runnier the nut butter consistency will be. For a smooth runny hazelnut butter, blend for about 15 minutes with breaks every 2-3 minutes.
- Once the hazelnut butter is ready, simply transfer it to an airtight glass container and keep this in the fridge for 2-3 months or at room temperature for around a month.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I want to try this. Hazelnuts grow wild in Washington State where I grew up and gorged them freely.
Hi John,
Wild hazelnuts sound amazing. I hope you give this a try 🙂
For future reference and to save a headache and a trash bag full of seized nut butter for all future readers, due to the water content do NOT add nut milk to thin this… Instead use any type of neutral oil.
Thank you for your feedback, Kevin! I also recommend using a neutral oil as a last resort, never water nor milk.
Worked out perfectly! So yummy!
Can this be canned, or will the hot water bath ruin the flavour? I got a lot of nuts for freebies and I don’t want the butter to go bad.
BTW, my husband says step two worries him.
Thanks for the instructions. I’ve made all kinds of nut butters, but never hazelnut butter. Even though it’s not much different than making any other butter, and knowing that allows me to proceed with much more confidence.
Hi,
Glad you liked the recipe!
Sorry but I’ve never tried canning any nut butters. If wanted, you can freeze the hazelnut butter to extend the shelf life. I hope this helps.
Can I use almonds already blanched of the slins ?
Hi Julie,
You can still use skinless hazelnuts to make hazelnut butter.
I see that in your shop you also have a Braun Hand Blender with a similar blending function. Would you recommend using this one? I have not managed to go past the “paste phase” into the “creamy phase” 🙁 thanks a lot!
Hi Mireia,
When making nut butter it’s best to use a powerful machine that can break the nuts more easily – not sure the handheld blender is strong enough. In any case, always make sure to give your machine a break so it doesn’t overheat. And making the nut butter might take up to 15 minutes (depending on the strength of the machine). I hope this helps.
Turned out perfect!
Thank you for your comment, Ilse.
Hi, I am lucky to have an abundance of wild hazelnuts near by so the cost of this is a walk along the hedgerows. Looking forward to giving it a go when they are ready to be gathered. Sounds delicious by the way.
Thanks for your comment, Phil.
Hi, is roasting nuts necessary if you just blanch them using hot water?
Hi Mike, Roasting the nuts is needed to release the natural oils from the nuts. Peeling the skin is optional and is mainly needed if you wanted a very smooth texture. If you soak the nuts with water that would be then really hard to convert wet nuts into butter since water and oil won’t mix well. I hope this helps
Which food processor/blender do you use in the video??
Hi Ashley,
The food processor used in this recipe is from NutraMilk. The model is linked on the Shop page of the blog.
Very excited about making this next!
Would you recommend buying Hazelnuts with their skins or can you buy blanched/skinless ones for this recipe?