Homemade Nutella! Oh my!

Good morning! How are you this morning? Got any exciting plans for the day?

I have work and am feeling a little under the weather and therefore a wee bit sorry for myself. However i don't think you can be too grumpy when it's so close to Christmas so i'll make sure i have a mince pie, whack on some festive tunes and that'll not doubt cheer me up.

I am spending a lot of my time on Pinterest at the moment, looking at recipes, and this little gem caught my eye. Now i have been known to partake in the odd bagel covered in chocolate spread (quite a bit actually) so the though of being able to make my own appealed to me. Yummy yum yum.

Homemade Nutella
The original recipe instructs to strain the spread at the very end, but a little nut texture is not a problem and it seems a bit of a faff. Adapted from the Encyclopédie du Chocolat, by way of David Lebovitz and Julie VR.

1 1/2 cup whole hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup powdered milk
1 Tbsp of mild-flavored honey
pinch salt
1 heaping cup chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, or chips
1 scant cup chopped milk chocolate, or chips

1. On a rimmed baking sheet, toast the nuts in a 400ºF for 10 minutes, or until fragrant and their skins begin to pop. Transfer to a tea towel, gather into a bundle and rub together to remove as much of their skins as possible. While warm, transfer to the bowl of a food processor and blend until they go from finely ground to pasty and thick, like natural peanut butter.

2. Meanwhile, warm the milk, powdered milk, honey and salt in a small saucepan just until it starts to boil. Remove from heat. In a glass or stainless steel bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in the microwave), melt the chocolates, stirring occasionally until smooth.

3. Add the melted chocolate to the ground nuts and continue to process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the warm milk mixture and process until everything is well blended and as smooth as you can get it. Makes about 2 cups.

I cannot wait to have a go at this, but at the moment finding the time to do anything is a bit of a problem so it'll probably have to wait till January. Boo.