Chocolate hazelnut butter (recipe by moi)

Okay, I admit I am obsessed with this stuff - specifically, Justin's organic and fair-trade brand, which is notoriously hard to find at Whole Foods.  I should know -- I've been known to ransack the shelves at two stores in a given day.  And at $10 a pop, it's really not the best habit.  So, I decided to make my own.  I didn't measure the ingredients, which is my favorite way to bake/cook but I have approximated the amounts, below.

Recipe (approximated):
3/4 c. hazelnuts
1/2 c. grapeseed oil
1/2 c. Theo's sipping chocolate (organic and fair-trade chocolate from Seattle)
 1/4 t. vanilla (alcohol-free)
pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

All the ingredients are from Trader Joe's except for the chocolate, which is my not-so-secret secret ingredient.  You can substitute the semi-sweet dark chocolate chips from Trader Joe's.

Dry roast the hazelnuts for 5-10 minutes at 250 degrees.  Cool.

Place the hazelnuts in a food processor.  Puree.  Add the oil and pulse.  Add the chocolate, vanilla and sea salt.   Pulse again.

Taste.  Smile.  Share.

The salt is essential -- I tasted pre-salt and it was lacking something.  Salt makes the chocolate flavor sing!   Notice there is NO ADDED SUGAR in this recipe.  The only sugar is what is already in the sipping chocolate.   If it is not sweet enough for you (maybe you are used to Nutella, which is way sweeter than Justin's), just add some sucanat, molasses or even turbinado sugar (Trader Joe's sells the latter).  Whatever you do, don't add refined white sugar (or brown sugar, it's just as bad), please!  Your body will thank you...

It's delicious, not overly sweet and so easy to make.  Dip salty pretzels into the chocolate-y goodness and you are in business.  Or, if you are like me, just use a spoon. ;)

The star ingredients

Close-up of the luscious mixture

Even closer -- gritty goodness.

I will continue to experiment with the recipe, as I so love to do and may use coconut flakes, dried cherries or cinnamon in the future so stay tuned for yummy updates.  Also, I want to cut down on the oil and substitute some unsweetened applesauce in its place. I may even replace the Theo's chocolate with an unsweetened variety so that I can control the amount of sugar.  I would use a liquid sugar like agave nectar for the desired consistency (or pureed raisins or dates) rather than Sucanat/molasses granular sweeteners.  Can't wait to get some feedback on my initial batch and experiment some more!  As always, I will share the love!