How to make Hazelnut Butter

All you need is some unsalted raw hazelnuts and a super powerful blender to learn how to make hazelnut butter in just 20 minutes! It’s a really quick and easy 2-step recipe that produces velvety smooth, creamy, yummy hazelnut spread perfect for your favorite toast, adding to overnight oats, topping ice cream, or using in other recipes!

Jump to:

• 📖 Why make homemade hazelnut butter?
• 📖 Is Nutella and hazelnut butter the same thing?
• 📖 Smooth hazelnut butter vs. Crunchy hazelnut butter
• 🌟 Why this is the best recipe
• 📝 Ingredient notes
• 🥣 Equipment notes to make homemade hazelnut butter
• 👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe
• ✨ Flavor variations
• 🎓 Expert tips
• ❓Recipe FAQs
• 🍰 Hazelnut Butter Uses
• More nut butter
• Hazelnut Butter

📖 Why make homemade hazelnut butter?

Hazelnut butter is a little easier to find than Walnut Butter or Pistachio Butter at your local market. However, it often comes either sweetened or in the form of Nutella, which is super yummy but it’s not pure nut butter. Yet, it’s so simple to make your own nut butter at home.

So you no longer need to ask yourself where can I buy hazelnut spread without cocoa? After you learn how to make hazelnut butter you’ll see that it’s almost as easy to make it yourself as it is to buy it in the store. Not to mention, it’s more affordable to make homemade nut butter and much healthier too because they don’t have any added sugar or preservatives.

For people with dietary restrictions will be pleased to know that this homemade hazelnut butter is vegan and gluten-free just like all my nut butters on the blog.

📖 Is Nutella and hazelnut butter the same thing?

No, these 2 creamy hazelnut spreads are not the same thing. Store-bought Nutella is actually marketed as hazelnut cream but contains very little hazelnut or chocolate for that matter. The main ingredients of the well-known chocolate hazelnut spread are actually sugar and palm oil, which make up more than 50% of Nutella, followed by hazelnut, cocoa, and milk. Check my homemade Nutella recipe for a much healthier option.

Okay, so what is hazelnut butter? It’s a vegan and healthy 100% pure hazelnuts with no fillers added. So as you can see these 2 products are not the same at all.

📖 Smooth hazelnut butter vs. Crunchy hazelnut butter

The only difference between smooth and crunchy hazelnut butter is the texture. Yet, they are both made using just nuts and a blender.

To make smooth nut butter all you need to do is follow the recipe below. But making it crunchy requires one extra step. The easiest way to make hazelnut butter crunchy is to remove one-third of the hazelnuts from the blender while they are still crumbly. Then just continue to process the rest of the nuts in the blender until they are smooth and then mix the chopped hazelnuts into the creamy butter. The final outcome is chunky hazelnut butter!

🌟 Why this is the best recipe

Quick and easy – This simple 2-step method shows you exactly how to make the best hazelnut butter that is perfectly creamy and comes together in just 20 minutes. 

Super delicious and healthy – This unbelievably good ultra-creamy silky smooth nut butter spread made with hazelnuts is full of flavor and ever so slightly sweet. It’s amazing on anything you spread it on and fantastic in other recipes too.

Customizable recipe – What to do with hazelnut butter? Eat it as is or stir in other ingredients to make flavored nut butter. Mix-ins like warm spices, chocolate, honey, maple syrup, and freeze-dried fruit are all great options. Read my hazelnut butter uses recommendation at the end of this recipe.

📝 Ingredient notes

So what is hazelnut butter made of? Unlike Nutella, this homemade hazelnut butter recipe is made with just one ingredient! Unsalted raw hazelnuts.

And for the best results, I suggest using organic hazelnuts with the skins removed and toasting your own nuts. Store-bought already roasted hazelnuts will not produce the same texture or flavor. 

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

🥣 Equipment notes to make homemade hazelnut butter

Making homemade hazelnut butter is super easy! However, you need to use a blender that is powerful enough for nut butter recipes. A standard blender will not work and probably just burn down. So the question now is which blender to make nut butter?

I love my Bosch VitaBoost High Speed Blender 1600W, which turns the hazelnuts into creamy butter in just a few minutes. Some other good choices that are powerful enough are the Vitamix VM0197 Explorian Blender and the Ninja SS151 TWISTi Blender DUO. And as the nuts are turning into smooth butter, I always use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender. 

But let’s not forget that cooking is a science. So it’s also important to use a digital scale to weigh your nuts and a digital oven thermometer to ensure that you are roasting them at the right temperature. These two tools make a huge difference in the outcome any time you bake.

👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe

Now, let me show you how to make smooth hazelnut butter with very little effort with my easy 2-step process!

1. How to roast hazelnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 356 F (no fan).
2. Spread the nuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Now, roast them for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are slightly brown and fragrant. 
3. Once the hazelnuts come out of the oven remove their skin by massaging them with your hands using a clean kitchen towel.
4. Allow the nuts to come to room temperature before attempting to process them.

💡 Top Tip: Stir and flip the nuts over halfway through roasting to prevent them from burning and also so that they toast more evenly on all sides.

2. How to make hazelnut butter

1. Add the toasted nuts to your blender or food processor. Then process them on high power, stopping every 30 to 60 seconds to scrape down the sides of the machine. 
2. First, the hazelnuts will break down into crumbs and then turn into a paste before they become a smooth liquid consistency. 
3. Making nut butter can take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes depending on the power of your machine. 
4. After reaching your desired consistency, you can add a pinch of salt, sugar, or any spices you like to balance the flavor.
5. Store it in airtight container refrigerated for 4-6 weeks

💡 Top Tip: Do not add any other ingredients until after the nut butter is fully processed. Doing so can cause it to seize up and make it much harder to blend.

✨ Flavor variations

One ingredient hazelnut butter is perfect just the way it is! But maybe you want to know how to make hazelnut butter with different flavors added! Here are some good additional hazelnut spread ingredients to add to the nut butter to give you some ideas!

Chocolate and cocoa powder: Turn this hazelnut spread into the most amazing homemade Nutella.  

Vanilla: Add a bit of pure vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or vanilla sugar to make vanilla-infused nut butter.

Ground Cinnamon: Make spiced cinnamon hazelnut butter with some ground cinnamon.

Honey: Sweeten it with a bit of honey and then add a dash of cinnamon. Maple syrup or agave is another fantastic option. 

Caramel: Stir in some of my yummy Homemade Caramel. 

Coffee: Fold in a bit of espresso powder to make coffee-flavored nut butter. Now, add a bit of chocolate if you like to make it mocha flavored.

Freeze-dried fruit: Blend in some ground freeze-dried fruit like strawberries and apples to make it fruity flavored.

Seeds: Make superfood nut butter by mixing in some chia seeds, hemp seeds, or flax seeds. 

Dates: Mix in some chopped-up Medjool dates to add another layer of flavor.

Nuts: Use two different kinds of nuts! Popular combinations are hazelnut spread mixed with almond butter or Pecan Butter.

🎓 Expert tips

1. Roasting the hazelnuts in the oven will make the nut butter more flavorful and easier to process. You can also toast them in a dry pan on the stove if you like.
2. Use a timer when you are toasting the nuts. You can’t make yummy nut butter with burnt hazelnuts.
3. For the best flavor use a kitchen towel to remove the skins from the hazelnuts after they have been roasted. 
4. You need to use a high-speed blender or food processor to make this hazelnut spread recipe. My blender is 1600w. A standard machine can’t handle nuts and will burn down.
5. Hot nuts can overheat your machine. The hazelnuts must cool to room temperature before you can process them.
6. If you’re having trouble blending the hazelnuts even after 10 minutes, you can slowly add a bit of coconut oil, water, or maple syrup to loosen them up. I do this when I make Cashew Butter. 
7. It’s important to use the right amount of nuts for your machine. Too few and they will get lost in the blender, but if you use more than 3 to 4 cups it’s hard to process them.
8. Any extra ingredients must be added to the nut butter after it’s made or it can cause it to seize up and not process well.

❓Recipe FAQs

🍰 Hazelnut Butter Uses

So now you know how to make hazelnut spread and you’ve got some delicious nut butter! Of course, you can spread it on toast but now what to make with hazelnut butter? These are just a few hazelnut butter dessert recipes and other options! 

Use it as a hazelnut paste for Chocolate Hazelnut Macarons.

Mix it with a bit of melted chocolate to make chocolate hazelnut butter and then use it to fill cupcakes. 

Drizzle it over these Mini Brownie Bites and then add a dash of whipped cream.

Replace the pistachio paste with hazelnut butter to turn my Pistachio Ice Cream Bar recipe into hazelnut flavored.

Spread some between 2 of my Coffee Cookies to make a yummy cookie sandwich. 

Use it instead of hazelnut praline to make my Paris Brest. You just need to add a bit of sugar because the praline is 50% sugar and 50% hazelnut.

Spread some on my delicious Nutella Babka for even more hazelnut flavor. 

You can replace hazelnut praline with the combination of hazelnut paste and sugra in this Hazelnut cake.

Replace the pistachio paste in this Pistachio Cheesecake to turn it into a luxurious Hazelnut cheesecake.

Make this Hazelnut tart filled with hazelnut ganache.

Add it to yogurt, overnight oats, as a topping for ice cream, or use it in other recipes just like you would use peanut butter.

More nut butter