This easy roasted hazelnut butter is coziness in a jar. Roasting the nuts with maple or date syrup allows for the flavour and sweetness to come into the hazelnut butter without causing it to seize, which means sweet, dreamy nut butter without any refined sugars.
Scroll to the bottom of the post or click “skip to recipe” above to see the recipe card with full ingredient measurements and instructions.
Ingredients
- Raw hazelnuts
- Maple syrup or date syrup (pictured – see substitutions)
- Cinnamon
- Sea salt
Method
Place the hazelnuts, syrup, cinnamon, and salt onto a high-sided baking sheet. It can be lined if you prefer, but doesn’t need to be. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon to coat the nuts, then bake for about 20 minutes.
Cool the hazelnuts for a few minutes, then blend in a food processor (keep the small lid attachment open to let steam escape). This takes about 10 minutes with my admittedly bad food processor. If you think it’s blended, go a minute longer! Store in a jar and cool fully before refrigerating.
Tips and Notes
If your food processor is a bit iffy, like mine, you can add a touch of coconut oil to speed things along a bit and encourage the butter to form. It’ll melt when it’s added because the hazelnuts are warm, and incorporates nicely during blending.
Make sure you’re using raw hazelnuts for this recipe, as roasting twice isn’t going to do you any favours. Blanched is good too and will have a much lighter colour than using hazelnuts with the skin on.
Keep an eye on the oven when the nuts are roasting. If your oven runs rather hot, they may burn or over-cook before the allotted time (this happened to me once – my oven was 50C too hot, disaster).
I usually keep nut butter on the counter, but I understand that this is uncomfortable for some people (I also have a cold Dutch house). You can refrigerate it if you prefer, or if you won’t be eating the whole batch within a few days.
Substitutions
You can use any number of spices here – nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves are all nice additions depending on what you’re going for.
I’ve used date syrup for the pictures, because I usually have it in the house from a brand I do photography for. The original recipe called for maple syrup and both are excellent choices. You can also use a runny honey in a pinch, or another liquid sweetener you like.
If you want a chocolate hazelnut butter, add a tablespoon or two of cocoa (to your taste) when it’s almost finished mixing. You may need to add a bit of oil to make up for the added powder as it will make the end result slightly less smooth.
Recipes with Hazelnut Butter
Chocolate Hazelnut Tart (V, GF)
Hazelnut Apple Crumble (V, GF)
Puffed Quinoa Bars (V, GF – actually peanut butter but particularly good with hazelnut!)
Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
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Roasted Hazelnut Butter
This easy roasted hazelnut butter is cosiness in a jar. Roasting the nuts with maple or date syrup allows for the flavour and sweetness to come into the hazelnut butter without causing it to seize, which means sweet, dreamy nut butter without any refined sugars.
Ingredients
- 300 grams (2 cups) raw hazelnuts
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) date or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150C (300F). Place the hazelnuts, syrup, cinnamon, and salt onto a large baking sheet with higher sides.
- Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix the nuts until fully coated, then bake for about 20 minutes, or until darker in colour and slightly toasty smelling.
- Cool the nuts for a few minutes before adding to a food processor. Make sure the small opening is open, then blend, scraping down the sides as needed, for about ten minutes.
- The nuts will turn into a meal first, then start to ball together as the oils are released. Continue to blend until a very smooth, runny nut butter forms.
- Transfer the hazelnut butter into a jar or container, then cool fully at room temperature before refrigerating.
Notes
I usually store this on my countertop as we eat it within a couple of days, so I'm not sure how long it'll last in the refrigerator. A couple weeks would be my guess - just toss it if there's any mould.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
32Serving Size:
1 tablespoonAmount Per Serving: Calories: 64Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 33mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
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This post was originally published in February 2015. It has been updated with new photographs and information, and some very slight adjustments to the recipe, as of October 2020.
Jessica says
I decided to give this recipe a try today. I am super wary of adding maple syrup to nut butters because of the dreaded seize. This concept, however, of roasting the nuts in the maple syrup first somehow worked! I am so happy with my little jar of perfect hazelnut butter. Thank you!
Alexandra says
I’m so happy to hear that, thanks Jessica!