Homemade Nutella,Grainy Grain-Free Toast Bread

HOMEMADE NUTELLA
Hazelnuts ready to roast.
Homemade “Nutella”!
The Best Part.
It seems there are a hundred different variations for making Homemade Nutella and I’m fairly
confident that most of them taste delicious because it’s pretty hard to go wrong with the basic
flavours here – we’re talking chocolate and hazlenut.
Our recipe is easy and and makes a yummy spread that’s perfect for toast, pancakes, waffles, fruit
and more! You can make it with chocolate or cacao.
I’m sure you’re going to love our version of this popular hazelnut spread because it’s:
Rich
Creamy
Choc-a-holic worthy
Sweet but not too sweet
Spreadable
So easy to do
Versatile
We ended up making this recipe two different ways – one with a bar of chocolate and another time
with cacao. You could also make it with cocoa. The version with the chocolate bar definitely seemed
creamier but using the cacao was also good but in that case we did add 1 1/2 tablespoons of maple
syrup to the mixture.
Either way, totally yummy-licious!
Another option that we’ve not tried but which I’ve seen others use is to substitute the hazelnuts for
walnuts. This means you don’t need to roast and remove the skins of hazelnuts so saves time and
walnuts generally cheaper than hazelnuts.
WHAT ABOUT USING SWEETENER?
You can also use stevia instead of your usual sweetener. I’m not such a fan of the stevia taste but if
you do substitute 1/2 of your sweetener for stevia then you should only taste the taste of the
sweetener not the stevia. In this recipe you might start with 1 tablespoon of stevia for the
additional sweetener per the notes below as an example. Obviously the aim is to reduce sweetener
as much as possible. But if you go too low the first time such that you and/or your children refuse to
eat “that homemade stuff” and only want the “normal” then my thoughts are that its better to at
least be eating this version that might be a bit high on the sweetener side that to be eating the
store bought Nutella with which is nearly 50% sugar and also has vegetable oil.
Totally Yum Home-made “Nutella”
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
15 mins
Total time
30 mins
Easy and delicious Nutella that’s perfect for toast, pancakes, waffles, fruit and more! Can be made
with chocolate or cacao.
Author: Dom’s Kitchen
Recipe type: Spread, Desert, Snack
Type of food: Gluten Free, Paleo
Serves: 2 cups
What you need:
2½ cups raw or roasted unsalted hazelnuts
100 grams of dark chocolate (80% plus best), chopped (see also option for cacao version)
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon sea salt
What to do…
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and add hazelnuts to a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. If
raw, roast for a total of 10-12 minutes or until the nuts have darkened slightly and the skins are
starting to loosen. (If already roasted it’s still preferable to roast the nuts for about 8 minutes
just ensure the natural oils are warmed up and to loosen the skins. This steps makes it easier to
transform the nuts into a butter consistency.)
2. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
3. Use your fingers or a towel to remove the skins from the hazelnuts. They should come off pretty
easily. Don’t worry if there are some random pieces of skin that you can’t get off but the more
you get off the creamier the spread will end up.
4. Place the hazelnuts (without the skin) and the coconut oil in a high-speed blender or in a food
processor. Process for about 30 seconds or if your blended is not high-speed or in danger of over
heating you will need to do with breaks and pulsing probably for about 10 minutes. In any case
you are aiming for a creamy consistency*
5. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a bowl in the microwave, then stir.
6. Pour the melted chocolate into the blender or food processor with the nut butter and pulse until
completely combined and smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Add the sea salt and vanilla and pulse to combine.
8. Remove from blender and store in a closed container in the pantry or fridge for up to 2 weeks. In
the fridge it will keep longer
9. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt or vanilla if desired.
Chef Dom’s Tips:
If you think the Nutella isn’t sweet enough you can add 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey. Be
aware that (aside from obvious extra sugar) the more syrup or honey you add the firmer the spread
will get, so I would use it sparingly. But for sure when changing from store bought nutella you may
well have to add at the higher end of sweetener. You can use cocoa or unsweetened cacao powder
instead of chocolate. Add 3 tablespoons of cacao or cocoa when you add the vanilla and salt.
GRAINY GRAIN-FREE TOAST BREAD
Paleo Grainy Bread
We have tried out a variety of grain-free recipes both crunchy ones with seeds like this one and also
ones made with ground up nuts that make a “plain” loaf. You can make this one less crunchy by
blending or chopping up your seeds. But if you really love something that more closely resembles
white bread or a non-grainy bread then this is not the recipe for you!
Also, we’ve not used any yeast or gums or other additives in this recipe. It’s very plain and simple.
You can use gums like xanthan and guar gum so as to get non-gluten containing flours to have the
shape, texture and taste more akin to those that do have gluten. Gluten is the glue in bread. We
haven’t tried doing that as I think there are a lot of questions over the use of gums in food and I
prefer to keep it simple. Plus we love the taste as it is. However, if you’re trying to convert someone
(or yourself!) to move away from standard toast you may want to check out some of the grain-free
options for sale commercially which use the gums (or experiment yourself!) if is not bread-like
enough for your tastes.
3.0 from 2 reviews
Grainy Grain-Free Toast Bread
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
45 mins
Total time
1 hour
Author: Dom’s Kitchen
Recipe type: Breakfast
Type of food: Paleo
Serves: Loaf
What you need:
Dry ingredients:
1 cup almond flour
1 Tbsp coconut flour
¼ cup flaxmeal (ground linseeds)
2 Tbsp chia seeds (white or black)
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp baking soda
1½ cups of seeds (whole or chopped). You can substitute ½ cup of seeds for nuts – cashew,
macadamia or almond nuts (in slivers or chopped finely).
(For the bread in this picture we used ½ cup pumpkin seeds, ½ cup sunflower seeds** and ½
cup sesame seeds all in their whole form.)
Wet ingredients:
5 eggs (large size)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (ACV)
2 Tbsp coconut oil
Extras
Handful of nuts/seeds to sprinkle on the top.
What to do…
1. Assemble all your ingredients first :-).
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
3. Place the first set of dry ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Add the seeds (and/or nuts) to the dry ingredients and mix.
5. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
7. Promptly (don’t muck around as the ACV will start to react immediately with the baking soda)
pour into your baking tin (we used standard size loaf tin 20cm X 10cm). Note this is a wet mix
not a dough so it should be pour-able.
8. If you like, sprinkle some seeds and nuts on the top.***
9. Place immediately in pre-heated oven and cook for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer
comes out clean. We use fan bake setting on our oven and check at 45 minutes. Unless you see
an obvious issue, don’t check before 40 minutes as you will interrupt the rising process.
10. Wait until it’s cooled to slice up. Slice on the thick side (i.e. toast slices). Best toasted with butter
smile emoticon.
Chef Dom’s Tips:
If you use sunflower seeds then the seeds may turn green after baking. This is due to a chemical
reaction with the baking soda. If want to avoid this then don’t use sunflower seeds – it doesn’t
affect the taste though.
For the seeds or nuts on top. Don’t go overboard as they can burn if you’re using a conventional
toaster. Can avoid by grilling bread in oven to toast or just use less and keep an eye on them when
toasting.
We slice our loaves up and then keep in the freezer (with baking paper between the slices – see
pictures). A loaf like this would last us 3-4 weeks or more because we’re not eating it regularly.
HOW TO MAKE CAULIFLOWER TASTE AS GOOD AS
FRENCH FRIES?!
Baked Cauliflower “Popcorn”
“HOW TO MAKE CAULIFLOWER TASTE AS GOOD AS FRENCH FRIES!“
This was the headline that grabbed me and so we gave it a go. It’s just baked cauliflower but
possibly as you’ve never experienced cauliflower before!
The end result – well OK, the cauliflower won’t taste exactly the same as potato fries would. BUT…
this trick sure does transform plain old cauliflower into something special.
There are various methods I’ve now seen baking cauliflower but the one we used is as follows:
1. Preheat your oven on high fan bake (250 degrees celsius).
2. Take 1/2 a large cauli (or a small one) and chop in up into little florets.
3. Spread over baking dish (not overlapping) and drizzle coconut or olive oil all over and ensure
well coated (use your hands for this).
4. Salt generously. Optionally sprinkle also with curry powder of your choice or (as we did) some
ground paprika.
5. Put tinfoil over top of cauliflower and bake (steaming).
6. When cauliflower has turned more translucent (around 15 minutes) then remove the foil and
toss with tongs then put back in for another 8-10 minutes and repeat this process a second or
even third time until cauliflower well browned. (But watch it you don’t want to burn it!)
Remove cauliflower give it a final toss and sprinkle with salt then serve. Yum Yum Yum. This really
does make cauliflower taste as good as french fries.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can get your family to ditch packet foods for
real foods – get your FREE webinar and eBook at The Paleo Family Toolkit.
“MISH MASH” SALAD WITH FRENCH DRESSING
Mish Mash Salad – With Fermented Cabbage.
I love to eat a “mish mash” salad for lunch with just a bit of this and that all chucked together. The
more colourful the better. This salad starts with bed of salad leaves and then has 1/2 an avocado, 1
hard boiled egg, couple of tablespoons of red cabbage sauerkraut (this is Be Nourished brand) with
a sprinkling of almond nuts and seeds (pumpkin and sunflower) as well as some croutons made of
toasted grain-free bread. What really finishes the salad of taste-wise is the drizzling of French
dressing over the top. Yum!
To make the dressing just combine 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar with 1/2 macadamia (or olive) oil,
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Shake
vigorously and pour what you like on your salad. The rest will keep in fridge for up to a week.