Hello my lovelies! How have your weeks been? It’s been a bit slow around here, mostly because retraining yourself to walk and run properly in your thirties sucks. It’s not just my jokes that are lame. I have a bonus recipe for you today – a better Nutella. I was experimenting and am excited to share it with you. I added a fabulous new chair to my room. I love to continuously nest. Adding things here and there. Rearranging. I watched some horror films with my friend and ex-flatmate. It’s a thing we do. I am trying to eat a little healthier to reset my bod – especially since I’m not getting as much exercise while I fix my legs. So there will be a few weeks of recipes with a little less sugar.
Further to my visit to the podiatrist, I have been doing exercises to strengthen my joints and also retraining my running and walking form. Ugh it’s hard. My legs ache all the time. Who knew undoing the damage of decades would be such a tough job… It has been getting me down a bit. Nagging discomfort when you do almost anything is a major drag on energy levels. I know I’m helping myself long term but all I want to do is lie down half the time!
Now that my whining is out of the way I have a treat for you. “What’s really in Nutella” has been doing the rounds lately. Considering the texture and taste the ingredients are not that surprising. But it reminded me that making a better version of it was on my to do list. My Head of Tasting loves to snack on Nutella or off-brand equivalents so I had been meaning to investigate. I started with almond butter and tried some things out. Since none of us have industrial grinding machines at home the texture isn’t as smooth but the flavour is excellent. It’s less sweet, which I prefer. And as a bonus it’s a snap to prepare. Printable follows!
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
Cook Time : 15 mins | Blitz Time : 15 mins | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Easy | Makes : approx. 1 cup
Guilt-free chocolate hazelnut spread made with the goodness of almonds and hazelnuts and no refined sugar
Ingredients:
- 250 grams raw almonds
- 50 grams roasted hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients –
Equipment:
- Food Processor
- Shallow baking tray lined with baking paper
- Clean glass jar(s)
Directions:
I like to toast my own almonds but buy pre-roasted hazelnuts. I can never get the flavour as good and messing around getting skins off annoys me. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Spread the almonds out in a single layer on a shallow baking tray.
Toast the almonds in the oven for around 15 minutes, turning them once or twice, until they are nicely golden. Cut one open to see how toasted they are in the centre. I like my almonds quite toasted.
While the almonds are still warm, put all the ingredients in the food processor and leave to process until very smooth.
Cook’s Notes:
- You need to use at least 50 grams of toasted hazelnuts but if you want a stronger hazelnut flavour just swap out some more
- Resist adding extra oil as it takes time for the nuts to completely break down into a paste
– This spread is best kept in the fridge. The coconut oil will help the texture to stay thick as it’s solid at cool temperatures –
© 2017 The Winsome Baker. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.
When I was out and about with my friend Jenn the other week, I spotted a chair I liked at her house. She was clearing out excess furniture and I was like “ummm are you keeping that chair?” and she was like “nope, I’m going to sell it” and I was like “mates rates?” I was looking for a comfy but structured chair I could sit in to read or write, hopefully with a footstool. Now I am all set. I love to pick away at the house. Adding things over time. I keep a mental list of things I’m on the lookout for. Things that need a little something but I don’t know what. Sometimes I move things around to see how I like it. Then move them back. OCD anyone? My secondary workstation:
This week’s friend adventure was a relaxing evening eating home made pizza and watching horror movies with my friend Steven. We flatted together for NINE YEARS before I moved in together with my snug-bug. Watching trash and talking trash is one of our favourite activities. Because we lived together hanging out was easy. Now it’s so easy for too much time to go by without organising anything! It’s something I really need to be better at. We also had lolly cake made from the rest of the stroopwafel offcuts from last week. Gotta use what you got. I needed more crumbs that with commercial biscuits. Probably because of the butter content of the cookies themselves. If you are going to experiment with the recipe make sure you have extra cookies on hand in case you need to add extra.
{insert witty segue from cookies held together with more butter and condensed milk to healthy eating} Since my legs are bung I’m not getting the cardio I usually do at the moment so I’m having a hard time with my energy levels. I am also conscious that the amount of treat food that I’m eating is creeping up because it’s always around. I had read a couple of great pieces by other bloggers (including this one from Michelle at Hummingbird High) about finding balance when there is food everywhere. I need to reset my eating habits for a few weeks. Because exercise isn’t giving me a full boost at the moment, it really helps me mentally to bump up my self care in other areas. It doesn’t hurt to reset my palate either. Bear with me while we look after ourselves for a bit.
Have a wonderful week filled with joys big and small. Look after each other.
xx
