This holiday-inspired gingerbread chocolate hazelnut butter is nutty, chocolatey and creamy with a subtle layer of warm spices. Made with healthier ingredients and without refined sugars or dairy. It makes a delicious homemade holiday gift!
Homemade holiday goodies are the best, and make for a delicious and affordable gift idea too. This dairy-free gingerbread chocolate hazelnut butter is an extra special one to share this holiday season and will surely make any recipient happy.
First off, who doesn’t love chocolate hazelnut spread (aka Nutella)? It’s nutty, chocolatey, creamy and sweet. Is there anything better? While it’s amazing just the way it is, I thought a gingerbread version would not only be unique, but also lovely for the holiday season. So, it features all the gingerbread spices plus vanilla extract, blackstrap molasses and maple syrup. It’s not too sweet or overly spiced either, but the layer of flavors is oh-so nice.
The recipe is quite simple, though does take a bit of blending, so a good food processor is a must. To start, the hazelnuts are first roasted, which adds a nice toasty flavor and helps loosen the skins. Then, after removing some of the hazelnut skins, the blending begins! It’s basically blend, scrape, taste and repeat, if needed.
As for eating, there’s lots of options: on a spoon, with fruit, drizzled into yogurt or ice cream, on gluten or grain-free toast, waffles or pancakes, etc. Really, there are endless possibilities. I think it’d be awesome to use for a homemade grain-free cookie of some sort too.
Interested in other nut butter recipes? Check out my vanilla cinnamon espresso hazelnut butter, which would also be a great holiday gift.
Cheers and enjoy!
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Dairy-Free Gingerbread Chocolate Hazelnut Butter
Ingredients
- 2 heaping cups raw hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup cocoa or cacao powder
- 2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted (start with 1 Tbsp)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2.5 tsp ground ginger
- 2.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast hazelnuts in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until fragrant and light golden brown. Give pan a shake halfway through roasting time. Once hazelnuts are cool enough to handle, remove some of the skins (doesn’t have to be perfect!). It’s up to you how much you want to remove, but less skin will result in a creamier consistency (the skins can also be bitter). You can also place the hazelnuts on a damp kitchen towel, fold it over, and rub the skins off inside the towel.
- Next, add the hazelnuts (minus the skins) to the food processor. Blend for about 5-6 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as needed. Once creamy, add the cocoa or cacao powder, molasses, maple syrup, vanilla, spices, sea salt and 1 Tbsp of the melted coconut oil. Blend a couple minutes or until smooth, scraping down the sides, as needed. Taste and adjust flavors as you like. Also, if mixture is too thick or dry, blend in remaining 1 Tbsp of melted coconut oil. It also depends if you want a more drippy nut butter or not.
- Store in a glass jar at room temperature and use within 2-3 weeks. Or, store in the fridge for up to a month.
