Homemade Nutella

This simple chocolate spread is great to dip strawberries into, or serve warm with mascarpone and crepes. It's a lovely dessert option, and tasty enough to give to carb-eating friends. It will keep in an airtight container for up to a month.

Ingredients

6oz Hazelnuts
6oz Dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
3/4 Cup soya milk
3 Tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup or stevia

Method

1. Spread the hazelnuts out on a roasting tin and oven bake for 15 minutes at 180/350 degrees.

2. Let the nuts cool for 5 minutes then blitz them in a food processor until they have the same texture as smooth peanut butter. It will take a while for the oil to come out of the nuts and give the mixture a smooth consistency, but give it time and it will work.

3. Melt the chocolate.

4. Add the melted chocolate, syrup and milk to the hazelnuts and blend until smooth.

5. Pour into a jar, refrigerate or leave in a cool place for it to set. Can also be nommed immediately.

Pro-Tip: Use a spoonful as 'icing' on low-carb chocolate almond cake.

Of course, if you are trying to lose weight, make sure to do the carb math based on the ingredients you use. The last batch I made used 85% chocolate, and contained about 28g of carbs in the whole jar (about 400g). Real Nutella has 57g of carbs per 100g.