Because I Can: Homemade Nutella

I was originally going to call this blog "The Back Burner," since I tend to procrastinate from my responsibilities by cooking — and because I thought it was really clever and cute.

The name might not have stuck, but the truth is that I should be editing my thesis right now, and instead I'm making homemade Nutella. I'm not sure why — Nutella is relatively cheap compared the strange ingredients I'd have to buy to make it from scratch, so I'm not sure it's cost-effective. I have no idea what the nutrition is for hazelnuts, either, so I'm not sure it's any healthier, either.

But lo, anything but real work. Maybe eating homemade Nutella by the spoonful will help me get through bouts of self-loathing later when I'm hurriedly scrambling to submit my thesis in a few weeks' time.

Ingredients
{Printable recipe}
1.5 cups whole hazelnuts
1 12-oz bag semisweet chocolate chips
1.5 cups skim milk
3/4 cup powdered milk (found next to evaporated & condensed milk)
1 tbsp honey or agave nectar
pinch salt

Preparation

Roast the hazelnuts at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until they look browned. 

Mine looked almost burnt.

Whoops.

While the hazelnuts are toasting, warm up the milk, powdered milk, and honey in a saucepan. Powdered milk is probably one of the weirdest things I've ever bought. What the heck am I going to do with the rest of it? Hm — I'll have to get creative.

Looks sort of retro

When the hazelnuts are done, roll them around in a kitchen towel to get all the skins off.

Throw them in a food processor and blend until they're very smooth, like natural peanut butter.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips. Do it in short increments in the microwave. Melt half the chocolate chips first, then pour the rest in to let the residual heat melt them as well (I learned that from Ina Garten … not personally, though). 

Zap them for a few more seconds if you need to.

Pour the melted chocolate in with the hazelnut butter. 

When combined, scrape down the sides of the processor and pour in the milk mixture a little at a time until smooth and incorporated.

It's finished! Let it cool and store in mason jars. I don't know if you have to refrigerate this Nutella, but since it doesn't have any preservatives, I would just in case.

Divine. I'll worry about guilt later.