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Homemade Sugar-Free Nutella – Low Carb Recipe

Simply the best low carb chocolate hazelnut spread ever. This keto Nutella recipe is the stuff of legends. At least in my own mind, but a legend nonetheless. 

Keto Sugar-Free Nutella Recipe

It is very possible that I am among the first people to have ever created a low carb, sugar-free Nutella copycat recipe. I can’t say for sure that I was THE first, but I have been blogging since 2010 and I am certainly earliest low carb food bloggers. I first started blogging because I was trying to create lower sugar recipes after my experience with gestational diabetes. I wasn’t fully low carb or keto because I did not know at that time that my blood sugar issues were going to stick around. But I was experimenting with sweeteners and trying to keep my sugar consumption down. And one of the first things I ever made was a sugar-free chocolate hazelnut spread. I’d spied some paleo bloggers making version with honey and I thought…well, I can do better than that!

How To Make Low Carb Nutella

I didn’t even think to blog about it right away, I was just psyched that I could come up with something that tasted even better than the sugary, high carb original. That must have been in March or April of 2010 because in May, I decided to try making something with the homemade Nutella and I turned it into low carb cookies (which I cutely called “Notella” Cookies). From that point on, I was hooked on making my own keto chocolate hazelnut spread and using it in other recipes. Really, I was putting it into anything I could think of… Keto Nutella Cheesecake Ice Cream! Keto Hazelnut Cream Cake! Keto Nutella Truffles! Keto Nutella Swirl Bread! The list goes on. And on and on and on.

Easy low carb Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

The funny part is that I didn’t think to actually publish the Keto Nutella recipe by itself until 2015. I just kept making it part of each individual recipe. Because sometimes I catch on slowly, and I finally realized that I need to make the Homemade Sugar-Free Nutella recipe a stand alone post so that I could refer to it and not have to type out the ingredients over and over and over again. Because let me be frank, I intend to keep making recipes with my homemade Nutella. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

I really do love this stuff, and so does my family. Love is probably an understatement. I make batches and batches of it and it somehow disappears faster than I can keep up with. We put it on everything…my coconut flour pancakes, my almond flour crepes, ice cream, muffins. And I am not above just spooning it into my mouth straight from the jar. I buy the pre-roasted, unsalted hazelnuts from Trader Joe’s by the dozen and I make a jar or two every week but it never lasts. If I want to make a recipe with it, I have to hide it from my kids. It’s truly that delectable.

Simply the best homemade sugar-free Nutella recipe

I make this so often, I don’t even measure anything anymore. I dump my hazelnuts into the blender and grind them up until the blender can’t get them any finer. Then I add a little oil and blend them until they liquify. Only at that point do I add the cocoa powder and the sweetener…I’ve found that if you add those too early, it won’t grind up properly and become a smooth butter. I have made one change to the recipe recently, and it’s a change for the better. Because my Blendtec blender is so powerful, it makes this sugar-free Nutella pretty goopy. It blends it so smoothly that it’s quite runny at room temperature. I found that by changing the oil to melted coconut oil, it firms up nicely when refrigerated and is a little less goopy at room temperature.

Still the same great taste, but a lot less mess!

4.84 from 12 votes
Keto Sugar-Free Nutella Recipe
Print
Homemade Sugar-Free Nutella
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 
Simply the best low carb chocolate hazelnut spread ever. This keto Nutella recipe is the stuff of legends. At least in my own mind, but a legend nonetheless. 
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Breakfast
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 158 kcal
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a food processor or high powered blender, grind hazelnuts until finely ground and beginning to clump together.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons oil and continue to grind until nuts smooth out into a butter. Add remaining ingredients and blend until well combined. If the mixture is very thick, add an additional tablespoon oil.
Recipe Notes

** To toast and husk hazelnuts, simply spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Then rub the hazelnuts with your fingers (after they cool a bit!) to take of most of the husk. Some of it will not come off and that's okay, just grind it all up. If you live near Trader Joe's, consider purchasing their already roasted hazelnuts...makes your life even that much easier!

 

Nutrition Facts
Homemade Sugar-Free Nutella
Amount Per Serving (2 tbsp)
Calories 158 Calories from Fat 164
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 18.23g 28%
Total Carbohydrates 4.74g 2%
Dietary Fiber 2.72g 11%
Protein 3.33g 7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Great uses for your low carb, sugar-free Nutella:

Nutella Swirl Loaf

Nutella Swirl Loaf

Low Carb Nutella Stuffed MuffinsNutella Stuffed Muffins

Low Carb Grain-Free Nutella Swirl Cheesecake Recipe

 Nutella Swirl Cheesecake

Low Carb No Bake Chocolate Hazelnut Energy BarsNo Bake Nutella Energy Bars

Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

    • Yes to refrigeration and it lasts for a few weeks so I don’t think you’d have any need to freeze it. I’ve never tried to freeze mine so I can’t say how it would fare.

      Reply

  2. Hi,I LOVE all your recipes ,I was wondering if I can use hazelnut flour instead of whole nuts that I grind ?

    Reply

    • Yes, probably. But it’s not toasted, so I might try toasting it in the oven to bring out the hazelnut flavour. I don’t know how long you would do it but watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn.

      Reply

      • For toasting hazelnut flour, I’ve done it before by putting it in a frypan on the stove (no oil, just dry) and dry-frying it a bit at a time– that way you don’t run the risk of leaving it a touch too long and burning it all and you can see and smell when it gets to the right level of toasty. It doesn’t take long at all!

        Reply

        • please advise the qty of hazlenut flour to use in this recipe, not sure how much 3/4 cup og whole hazlenuts give once ground.
          many thanks

          Reply

          • You can just do the 3/4 cup. It’s not exact but it doesn’t really need to be. It’s rather forgiving.

          • You could weigh ¾ cup of whole hazelnuts, and use that equivalent weight of hazelnut flour.

    • I have made mac butter, although not with cocoa powder. You will probably need to cut back on the added oil because macs are so oily as it is.

      Reply

  4. Looks wonderful! Trader Joe’s now carries Hazelnut Butter. Do the ground hazelnuts end up being the same measurement as the whole ones you put into the food processor?

    Reply

  6. love your recipes. my fave way to save them is with mastercook. its a recipe program with a icon on the menu bar on my internet bookmarks bar. i click it saves to my mastercook cookbook of my choice and to the mastercook online trending recipes. mastercook.com if you want to check it out. love this program. does nutrition automatically, menu planning, searches. great stuff.
    Linda

    Reply

  7. The link for the “No Bake Nutella Energy Bars” leads to the recipe for the nutella cheesecake. Just thought you’d want to know.

    Reply

  8. Hi Carolyn
    i’m so excited to try this with your crepe recipe. I’ve never used or bought nut oils before. Do you have a preferred nut oil for your nutella recipe that you would recommend?

    Thanks so much

    Reply

  9. This came out uber thick and a bit grainy. I did it in my Cusinart mini prep food processor and have made nut butters in it before with good results. Transferred it to my Cusinart Immersion blender with attachment. I did add a bit more oil and additional vanilla. I was wondering if it is the brand of cocoa powder and maybe I shouldn’t have used as much. I used Rademaker Dutch Process unsweetened. Always had good results with it for baking and such. What cocoa powder do you generally use ? I guess I was expecting something creamier. Any ideas ?

    Reply

    • Hmmm, not really sure here. I often use Hershey’s Dark when I make this recipes. I did once have it clump up and no amount of oil could thin it back out again, and that was with a different brand of cocoa (I can’t remember which one). But it only happened the one time and i’ve made this a lot. Not sure if that helps!

      Reply

  10. Hazelnuts toasted and husked is a necessity, I learned the hard way yesterday. Today I did it all over again and this time it turned out exactly like your picture. Nice and smooth and spreadable.

    Reply

  15. Maybe I am an idiot, but I can’t figure out the calories for 2 tablespoons. Is it 158? What does the “k” mean? Love the recipe and your site.

    Reply

    • kcal is just another formal way of writing calories. So yes, it is 158 per serving and a serving is 2 tbsp.

      Reply

  18. Oh, my gosh, mine turned out chalky. I have five pounds of hazelnuts to process for Christmas gifts. What am I gonna do??!! I made my first batch of 2 cups and it is really not satisfactory? Any suggestions?

    Reply

    • What kind of cocoa powder and what kind of sweetener are you using? One of the real tricks here is to grind the hazelnuts on their own for a bit before you add other things. If you try to add them all at once, it clumps up. Are you using a food processor?

      Reply

      • I am using a Vitamix and I did grind the nuts quite a bit, first. I actually think I figured out that my oven is a lot hotter than I realized and I toasted the nuts a little too long. They were very dry when they came out of the oven. I don’t know what made me think that the recipe would magically change this. I am going to try, again, and watch the toasting process more carefully. Thanks.

        Reply

        • My other tip would be to grind in small batches. Even my really good Blendtec gets overloaded. Don’t to more than 1 cup of nuts at a time. Make that into Nutella and then work on the next batch. I pour it all into one big bowl and then fill the jars after that.

          Reply

  19. Hi again,
    I wanted to try the Braid Tues. because I was intrigued by the dough. I made the spread using a cup of the hazelnuts and 4T of walnut oil so I would have enough for two batches. The spread was very “liquidie” so I refrigerated it overnight. That helped but it was still too loose to actually roll up. When I tried it was just pushed along, so I ended up rolling from both ends which created a sort of pool in the middle that I captured by turning up each end to seal. It baked up ok and is more than edible, but not what I was after obviously. I have never bought real Nutella so I have no idea what the texture should be like, but I imagined it would be like a warm peanut butter. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
    Thx

    Reply

    • The homemade Nutella does tend to be liquid-y, especially if you have a really good, strong blender. Mine always is and for this braid, I spread it pretty thinly so I don’t have issued with it pooling. But if you are having that problem, try whisking in another tbsp or so of cocoa powder to the nutella to help thicken it. If you need to add a little more sweetener to offset the bitterness of the cocoa, you can do that too.

      Reply

      • I will try all of the above and maybe just drizzle the oil to make so to speak. I can’t see any real downside to a lesser amount of oil, can you?

        Reply

          • I had one more thought that may have added to my problem. Not having made this dough b4 I was not certain just how mixed together the melted butter and cheese needed to be. I kept in on the heat long enough to be fully combined but also long enough to get some sticking to pan (not a good thing particularly). I never did get the dough to 12X15, so I’m thinking that perhaps my technique yielded a stiffer dough and thereby a smaller surface on which to put the same 1/2 c of spread, and thus pooling. Any thoughts on that possibility?

            thx,

          • Basically, the cheese should be super melted and mixing with the butter but not really sticking to the pan. That may have played a part, too. Also keep in mind that some stoves are hotter than others. I have a gas stove and I have a heck of a time with electric because the heat is harder to control. With gas, you can reduce the flame and increase it, according to how quickly things are cooking. Once your cheese is melty, maybe turn off your element and keep stirring for a bit.

          • Yes I know the tribulations with electric; short of inducton I wouldn’t have it. I think I just took it a tad too far which would have dried it out some.
            Thanks again for your responsiveness.
            BILL

  20. Why did I wait so long to make this!!??? DELICIOUS! So appreciate you, Carolyn, and all the work you do to gift these recipes to us. I’ve already pre-ordered your new cookbook. Cannot wait to dive into those recipes. #grateful

    Reply

  21. This post came to me at the perfect time. I was just reading another recipe that included Nutella and I wondered if it could easily be made rather than purchased. And with this healthier version, BONUS!

    Reply

  23. This video is the first time I’ve seen the whole you – you look and sound great! You definitely should have your own cooking show. With about half of Americans with diabetes and prediabetes, it certainly would be popular. Being prediabetic yourself gives you “street cred” too.

    Reply

    • Thanks, Kate. I actually have two other of these videos posted… Sheet Pan Chicken and Pepper Jack Cauliflower! I plan on doing more too.

      Reply

  26. I thought I’d share a tip that I prefer when working with hazelnuts. There’s another way to skin hazelnuts. You bring a pot of water to boiling. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda and the hazelnuts. Boil for 3 minutes. Pour into a colander. Run cold water over them to cool them off. The original instructions say that you have to skin each nut individually, but that’s not true. You can rub the nuts together under running water and the skins easily peel off. The advantage of this method is that all of the skin is removed. The disadvantage is that you have to toast them separately, if you want toasted nuts. If you’re not using them right away, be sure to let them air dry before storing them or they’ll get moldy.

    And, thanks for the recipe. Sugar-free nutella is a win!

    Reply

  27. I am very excited to have this recipe! Thank you for sharing. I was wondering though if stevia would be a good sub for the swerve?

    Reply

  29. Hey, Carolyn — I always check the math, and without starting from scratch and looking up the nutrition values, I can tell immediately that at least some of your nutrition values here aren’t right. For one thing, total calories are less than fat calories! And if you do the math (multiplying fat grams by 9), the fat calories reported in your nutrition data are correct — but then there appears to be no accounting for carb and protein calories.

    But I can’t say just that, I have to add “Thank You” for the blogs and joy you spread!

    Reply

    • Hi Koshie, I’ve been having a LOT of trouble with my website lately and it seems to stem from my recipe plug-in. I have people working on it but no one has quite been able to identify the issue. I don’t even know why “calories from fat” is showing up because on the back end, there’s no data entered in there! The other numbers appear to be correct so I think it’s calculating the total calories incorrectly. I am going to have to investigate this further. Thanks!

      Reply

  34. I couldn’t find them at our Trader Joes. I did find roasted hazelnuts on nuts.com. I understand that you don’t have to get all of the husks off, but I am having a hard time getting much of the husks off at all. Any other tips?

    Reply

  35. I seem to have mended a lot more oil. I forgot to dehusk as a result a slightly bitter taste not sure why I needed extra oil though. I’ll try again as this was my first try thanks for all the sweet low carb recipes I use Vitafibre so always on the look out for protein powder and Vitafibre recipes to help me stick to diet and stop me eating high carb versions.

    Reply

  39. Sorry I left my comment on the wrong post!
    What’s your Blendtec capacity? I have 9 cup food processor (Cuisinart). Would it be too big to make this recipe? Thanks!

    Reply


  40. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I made mine exactly as you did, but noted that the coconut flavor from the coconut oil really dominates the taste and does not allow the spread to taste much like hazelnut. I also noted that the amount of powdered erythritol used here was not as sweet as the real thing (which I understand is the challenge we face when we want to make something commercially made). I turned my batch into tea cookies.
    So next time I will use hazelnut or avocado oil and will make it a bit sweeter.
    If (just if) you decide to replace this video with another updated one, may I suggest doing one of those fast videos with ingredient name written? Many Thanks

    Reply

    • I had the same result as you — the coconut oil was just wayy too strong. It didn’t taste like Nutella at all or even very pleasant. I want to try with another oil as well. Did you get any better results with hazelnut oil or avocado oil?

      Reply

      • I wonder what kind of coconut oil you are using because I can barely taste it in mine. I have used Avocado oil many times and it’s great but it’s goopier.

        Reply

        • Thanks, Carolyn! Good point that it may be the coconut oil…we buy it in bulk and it’s not high quality. I bought some good hazelnut oil and just tried again a few minutes ago, and it’s REALLY good!! If I do it again with coconut, I’ll get a higher quality, but I’m happy with the hazelnut oil results!

          Reply

    • Well it sort of depends on what’s on sale sometimes! But I love Rodelle for both cocoa powder and vanilla extract.

      Reply


  42. I have used clarified butter (or butter, I just always have clarified butter on hand) just a bit which gives it the perfect consistency once refrigerated. Cocao butter does the same and is another option. Oils don’t solidify in the fridge (except coconut oil, but I don’t want my nutella tasting of coconuts) so I find butters a better option.

    Reply


  44. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU HOST A “FOOD NETWORK” TYPE SHOW FOR LOWCARB/GF/KETO I LOVE YOUR PRESENCE ON SCREEN… AND ALL YOUR RECIPES!!!!

    Reply


  45. Just thought I’d share a variation I think people might enjoy. I used hazelnut oil instead of coconut, in order to keep it in more of a liquid state, then I added heavy cream powder (hard to find in stores but Amazon has it) to give it a bit more of a milk chocolate taste. I experimented and found I liked a proportion of one half teaspoon powder to 1 tablespoon pseudtella, but of course everyone is different. I found more than this detracts too much from the hazelnut flavor but I may try adding extract to see how that turns out. I doubt this would work with coconut oil since the powder thickens the mixture more.

    Reply

  52. After looking at this recipe for a YEAR, we made it today for an after school snack. Kids ate it on apples and licked to bowls clean! Thanks!

    Reply

    • How much of it would you use in what? This is my own version but you wouldn’t add the jarred store-bought version to this. Did you mean to ask this on another recipe?

      Reply

  54. Hi, just made it yesterday and the hazelnuts really smelled nice. However, the cacao you recommended is kinda bitter and didn’t taste at all like the one in the Nutella product. Do you have any alternatives? I don’t have any problem if I need to use sweetened cocoa etc.

    Thanks!

    QB

    Reply

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