Cocoa Hazelnut Butter

Hazelnuts are very high in energy and loaded with numerous healthy nutrients Raw hazelnut butter provides the good fats high in cholesterol-reducing monounsaturated fats, vitamin E (more than twice as much as peanut butter!) and magnesium. 

Other benefits of raw hazelnut butter include high levels of folate, a good balance of zinc, iron, and potassium, and a good source of protein and dietary fiber also hazelnut butter is naturally sodium-free!

Unroasted hazelnut butter possesses greater nutritional value and more beneficial enzymes. But, to make your hazelnut butter really nice and creamy, you’ll want to remove the skins from the nuts, because they are kind of dry, tough and fibrous.

Ingredients:

1.5 cup Raw Hazelnuts

2 tbsp Cocoa powder

1 tbsp Honey(per taste or use sugar or sweetener)

2 tbsp Olive oil(optional)

Method:

1. Toast the hazelnuts so you can get a better nutty flavor. One can dry roast in a pan until they start turning darker and starts to smell the delicious roasted hazelnut scent. Or can also roast them in the oven at 375 F for a few minutes.

2. You can keep the skins on for the nut butter, but if you want smooth texture, feel free to remove them. 

3. Put your freshly roasted hazelnuts in a dish cloth, wrap them up, and roll them around on your counter top. Grinding them against each other helps the toasted skins flake off easily.

4. Blend roasted hazelnuts, Cocoa and Honey in a food processor/blender.  Process the nuts until they turn into a creamy butter, about 5 minutes. Put olive oil in between for more creamy texture(optional) while scraping down sides.

5. Transfer to a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. No need to refrigerate. Enjoy!

Note:
1. Can use this as base butter and add other nuts for fancy varieties.

2. If you want raw hazelnut butter, skip all the roasting and go right here to step 4.