Love Frangelico but don’t like the added sugar? Make your own low carb, sugar free hazelnut liqueur. It’s easy and delicious!
I really am having a ball making my own homemade sugar free liqueurs. I knew I was on to something after that first batch of homemade Kahlua turned out so well. I’ve been so gung-ho about the whole thing, I even went out and bought a whole slew of flask-sized bottles with swing-tops to store my collection. I envision giving them as gifts come the holidays, but that’s a long way away right now. For the time being, I am having fun making small batches at a time to see how they turn out. That’s all I really do…make them and then bottle them up. I don’t really drink them, I just admire them in their bottles because they look so nice. Ahem…and if you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you!
Actually, the truth is that I’m really not quite sure what to do with this homemade Frangelico. I’ve never kept Frangelico around the house as it is, but I love hazelnuts and I really made it just to see if I could. Could I really get substantial hazelnut flavour by letting the chopped nuts “steep” with a bunch of vodka and a bit of brandy? I found a recipe on Serious Eats that seemed worth a try, but I admit I had my doubts. And I love hazelnuts enough to be leery of wasting a half pound…not to mention the vodka and the brandy!
I did adapt the recipe slightly, adding a touch more water and sweetener to make it less intensely alcoholic. And I didn’t bother with the vanilla bean, but went with a touch of hazelnut extract and some vanilla extract (you could easily do all vanilla). And then I waited, shaking my jar of nuts and alcohol every few days, wondering what would come of it. Do I even need to tell you that everything turned out beautifully? Can’t you tell from the lovely golden liquid in the photos? That colour is gorgeous and that’s all hazelnut…I didn’t add anything special to produce that. And the flavour is all hazelnutty goodness.
Now that I have it, I am really not sure what to do with it (except admire it in the bottle!). Most Frangelico-based drinks are overly sweet and sugar-y and not really my kind of thing. I do have one cocktail in mind to share with you, but that is waiting on my jar of homemade raspberry liqueur to finish aging. Oh yeah, I am into the berry liqueurs too and I will let you know how that turns out as soon as I can! In the meantime, I find that a little homemade hazelnut liqueur with a touch of cream makes a lovely aperitif! But if you have any other Frangelico cocktail suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them!
Love Frangelico but don't like the added sugar? Make your own low carb, sugar free hazelnut liqueur. It's easy and delicious!
- ½ lb raw hazelnuts coarsely chopped
- 1 cup vodka
- ½ cup brandy
- ½ cup water
- 3 tbsp Swerve Sweetener or other granulated erythritol
- 3 tbsp xylitol
- ½ tsp hazelnut extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
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Combine chopped hazelnuts, vodka and brandy in a quart jar and seal. Shake and let steep for 2 weeks, shaking every few days or so.
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In a small pot over medium heat, bring water, erythritol and xylitol to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, until sweeteners dissolve and mixture thickens slightly. Let cool.
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Add cooled water/sweetener mixture to the jar, along with hazelnut and vanilla extracts. Seal, shake and let steep for another week.
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Place a large sieve over a bowl and line with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Let mixture drain through sieve (you may need to change the coffee filters once or twice to get it all to drain properly).
Serves 10. Each serving has 2 g of carbs (mostly from the xylitol).
Donna says
Just a hint but Frangelica and Bailey’s makes a wonderful Toasted Irishman. Just in time for St. Patty’s day! LOL Now do you have a recipe for reduced calorie, gluten free Bailey’s?
Carolyn says
I’m not a huge fan of Irish Cream but I may have to look into it!
Pam says
Actually I believe Frangelico and Bailey’s (or other cream liquor) is a Nutty Irishman…a Toasted Irishman is Irish Mist (Irish Whiskey), Kahlua, and Amaretto. Either way…yummy!
jo says
i want to put it in my morning coffee….! Or add to your vanilla ice cream recipe, instead of the vodka. and then add that to my morning coffee… Getting carried away here – can’t wait to make this.
Barbara says
I, too, would love to put some of this in my morning coffee, but I’m thinking my boss would not be nearly as enthusiastic about the idea.
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
It is beautiful! I’d love a little in my cuppa!
Stacy | Wicked Good Kitchen says
I’m seriously nutty about Frangelico, Carolyn. The only other rival to it is my new fave, a biscotti liqueur! To. Die. For. Thanks for another great sugar-free recipe! xo
Carolyn says
Um, WHAT? Biscotti liqueur? Yer killin’ me!!!
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious says
Is just put it in a travel mug and carry it around all day…. But maybe in a brownie or a biscotti like the other caller mentioned 🙂
Impness says
Frangelico with fresh lime over ice is great.
However, my favourite is frangelico with ginger ale. it simply tastes like a hazelnut soda.
Yum!
Laura says
This is giving me all sorts of ideas! Amaretto could be made the same way, I’ll bet! I love your beautiful photography.
Carolyn says
Amaretto is next on my list! 🙂
Esther R. says
Carolyn you might want to try s/f Kuhua , s/f Baileys and s/f Raspberry Liqour. I’m not a drinker either but they are great to bake with. YumYu!!!
Carolyn says
shhhhh, I have s/f raspberry liqueur aging in my cupboard 😉
Esther R. says
LOL Good for you. It makes great brownies too.
Diane says
My favorite drink is a dessert at Ruths Chris Steakhouse. It’s called a Chrissy. It’s vanilla ice cream, I part vodka an 2 parts frangelico, now with all your sugar free recipes I can drink this every weekend. Thank you.
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
How delightful! Have never thought to do hazelnut liqueur but I bet it tastes great!
Laurie says
I just recently made this martini drink using Frangelico. Like you I don’t like overly sweet drinks, but this one with the added bourbon I could fall in love with too much. I hope you will try it.
http://www.erinsfoodfiles.com/2010/03/bourbon-ball-martini.html
Carolyn says
Sounds good, I will have to try it!
Jean B. says
Hmmm. I wonder how this would be made with TOASTED hazelnuts–or half raw and half toasted?
Once again, you ROCK, Caroline. I want to see a book/books by you available in book stores!
Anita at Hungry Couple says
Oh, nice! And we have a whole set of bottles like that, too… 😉 We’ve actually been working on a Frangelico cocktail that will be posted soon. Sounds like a good use for this lovely.
Carolyn says
Oooh, can’t wait to hear about it!
Sharon says
How did your raspberry liqueur turn out? I love to mix Frangelico with Chambord and cream…Nuts and Berries.
Carolyn says
It was great! Here’s the link to the recipe I followed…the only thing I did differently was use Swerve in place of the sugar! http://www.goodcocktails.com/liqueur_recipes/raspberry_liqueur_recipe.php
Sharon says
Thanks. I’m going to give that a try.
christine says
could i use xylitol only in this recipe..
Carolyn says
Absolutely!
Terra says
Since being told I had to go on the Diabetic diet, I immediately started enjoying blogs like yours…..of course I have always enjoyed your site! Now my new addition is also a low sodium diet, so that is interesting. Thank you for all your creative recipes, it really helps give me ideas, and decide what to make:-) I love love the idea of making homemade liqueur, and definitely plan to make some VERY soon! I love adding frangelico to my baked treats, it gives the baked treat another dimension of flavor. Take care, Hugs, Terra
Elena says
I had an amazing Easter dinner where our hostess served up homemade liquor from loquats. It tasted amazing, in fact tasted a lot like cherry liquor. Now that my own loquat tree is needing harvesting, I’d love to try your recipe with the loquats. I’m diabetic so I can’t do the sugar either. I’m thinking to use stevia and xylitol mixed. Any thoughts on stevia? Or will that leave an aftertaste?
Carolyn says
I think stevia and xylitol should work fine. Go lightly on the stevia until you know how sweet it is (taste test a bit). In the end, you can always add more stevia (liquid version) after the liqueur is made if it’s not sweet enough.
Jillian says
Thank you for this article, and I look forward to trying it out. I find that I enjoy hazelnut liqueur with hot chocolate. It’s sooo good on a cold snowy day. Have a beautiful holiday everyone.
Lilly Murphy says
I made your recipe last nite , only change was I toasted lightly 1/2 the Hazelnuts, and looking forward to the end result, YUM !!! Tic-tock ?
Tex says
Frangelico and fresh lime over plenty of ice makes a simple yet delicious drink – and I’m all over this recipe, Carolyn, thanks a million!
Pamela says
A local restaurant here makes an amazing cedar plank salmon with a frangelico cream sauce and toasted pecans sprinkled on top. It is one of the few items I still have occasionally even tho on Keto I try to avoid sugar as much as possible. I will have to try to replicate it using your SF frangelico! Thank you!
Alana says
This looks delicious, but do u think its possible to make a sugar free coconut rum?
Carolyn says
That’s an interesting thought!
Lynn Delgado says
Can you use just swerve .. why the use the xylitol ??
Carolyn says
Because Swerve does not stay in solution and so you end up with most of it settled at the bottom.