Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
While the commercial spreads are reassuringly familiar, they can be too sweet for me and often contain palm oil, which I prefer to avoid. For this recipe, I like to toast my hazelnuts a dark brown, lending the spread a deeply nutty taste. At holiday time, a jar of this can make a wonderful host gift along with some homemade cookies.
--------
*• Recipe Information •*
Makes about 1½ cups (375 mL)
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus chilling
Cook time: 18 minutes
Note: The spread will keep in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 6 weeks or in the fridge for up to 3 months. It will solidify quite firmly in the fridge, so you can spoon it out and microwave it to soften, or leave the jar out on the counter for a few hours before using.
--------
*• Ingredients •*
1½ cups (200 g) whole hazelnuts
½ cup (65 g) icing sugar
4 oz (120 g) semisweet baking chocolate, melted
¼ cup (30 g) cocoa powder
2 Tbsp (30 mL) sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp fine sea salt
Don’t have time (or time to bother) with roasting hazelnuts? Use hazelnut butter instead. In a food processor, blend ¾ cup (180 g) smooth hazelnut butter with the same measures of icing sugar, melted chocolate, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt (no need for the oil). It blends up in a snap and tastes delicious!
Really stuck and can’t find hazelnut butter? Use the same amount of smooth almond butter for a chocolate almond spread instead.
--------
*• Directions •*
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer in a pie plate or other baking dish and roast, uncovered, for 15 to 18 minutes, until the skins split on the nuts and the nut surface browns. Cool the hazelnuts in the pan.
3. Roll the hazelnuts around in the pan so that the skins loosen and fall off. Place the skinned hazelnuts into a food processor or mini chopper, add the icing sugar and chop on high speed until finely chopped. Add the melted chocolate, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla and salt and purée until the mixture is smooth. Depending on your machine, this can take a few minutes.
4. Transfer the spread to a sealable container and chill to set the chocolate, about 2 hours, then pull from the fridge and store in the pantry (it is spreadable at room temperature).
--------
Excerpted from Anna Cooks by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2025 Anna Olson. Photographs by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
While the commercial spreads are reassuringly familiar, they can be too sweet for me and often contain palm oil, which I prefer to avoid. For this recipe, I like to toast my hazelnuts a dark brown, lending the spread a deeply nutty taste. At holiday time, a jar of this can make a wonderful host gift along with some homemade cookies.
--------
*• Recipe Information •*
Makes about 1½ cups (375 mL)
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus chilling
Cook time: 18 minutes
Note: The spread will keep in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 6 weeks or in the fridge for up to 3 months. It will solidify quite firmly in the fridge, so you can spoon it out and microwave it to soften, or leave the jar out on the counter for a few hours before using.
--------
*• Ingredients •*
1½ cups (200 g) whole hazelnuts
½ cup (65 g) icing sugar
4 oz (120 g) semisweet baking chocolate, melted
¼ cup (30 g) cocoa powder
2 Tbsp (30 mL) sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp fine sea salt
Don’t have time (or time to bother) with roasting hazelnuts? Use hazelnut butter instead. In a food processor, blend ¾ cup (180 g) smooth hazelnut butter with the same measures of icing sugar, melted chocolate, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt (no need for the oil). It blends up in a snap and tastes delicious!
Really stuck and can’t find hazelnut butter? Use the same amount of smooth almond butter for a chocolate almond spread instead.
--------
*• Directions •*
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer in a pie plate or other baking dish and roast, uncovered, for 15 to 18 minutes, until the skins split on the nuts and the nut surface browns. Cool the hazelnuts in the pan.
3. Roll the hazelnuts around in the pan so that the skins loosen and fall off. Place the skinned hazelnuts into a food processor or mini chopper, add the icing sugar and chop on high speed until finely chopped. Add the melted chocolate, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla and salt and purée until the mixture is smooth. Depending on your machine, this can take a few minutes.
4. Transfer the spread to a sealable container and chill to set the chocolate, about 2 hours, then pull from the fridge and store in the pantry (it is spreadable at room temperature).
--------
Excerpted from Anna Cooks by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2025 Anna Olson. Photographs by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
