Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

I love Nutella.  It pretty much runs through my veins.  How can I be a Dutch/German-blooded American and NOT love it?  I'd seriously consider something majorly wrong with you if you're in dislike of the best spread ever created on the face of the planet.  As much as I love it, I try my very hardest to not buy it.  I eat it in the heaping spoonfuls.  I'll devour an entire jar...my.self...in a day.  Okay, not really, its more like 2 or maybe 3 days.  Lets be real here.  It's certainly not a good influence on my thighs.  Or rear.  Or any other part of me for that matter.  When we discovered Marvel was allergic to lots and lots of stuff, there were certain things we couldn't buy anymore, even occasionally.  It just wasn't the nice thing to do.  Nutella had to go (but to be honest, it wasn't really around all that much anyway, so the change wasn't drastic, just sad).  Santa was naughty and put a jar in my stocking.  Marvel snuck some.  Cap snuck some.  Music Man and Monkey snuck lots of some.  I didn't sneak.  I devoured.  And.  We all had tummy aches.  So sad.  But, a blessed, blessed thing called Pinterest enlightened me with this recipe.  I HAD to try it.  I did.  It was good.  We ate it all.  I had to give some away so I wouldn't eat it all.  They ate it all.  They thought it was yummy.  Life is back in balance again.  AND its dairy-free AND refined sugar free AND non-hydrogenated oil free AND...need I go on, really? Yippy! :-)

I did alter the recipe a bit since I don't have coconut sugar (which I would really like to try, by the way).  I made 2 batches.  The first was nasty, but I fixed it.  I accidentally used unsweetened chocolate instead of dark or semi-sweet.  Gross.  I ended up adding extra milk/sugar mix to it.  It was a little runny, but good stuff.  The second batch was pure heaven.  I didn't use the entire milk/sugar mix, so it was a little thicker, but delish!  It freezes really well, so you can make a ton and freeze it!  I'm too impatient to defrost it, so freezing keeps me from eating it all!

• 1 1/2 cups hazelnuts
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk (canned, preferably full fat)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or coconut sugar or any other sweetener you'd like)
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 3 bars (3.2 oz each) dark (or semi-sweet) chocolate

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Toast hazelnuts on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes.

While they're toasting, in a small pan heat the coconut milk, maple syrup (or other sweetener), and salt. When the sugar is melted, remove it from the heat.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate over double boiler (or in the microwave at 30-second intervals).

Remove the toasted hazelnuts from the oven.  Transfer them to a clean, dry kitchen towel.  Rub the hazelnuts in the towel to remove as much of the skin as possible (don't worry if you can't get it all, it'll be blended anyway).  Add them to your food processor.  Puree until the hazelnuts are very fine.

Add the melted chocolate.  Puree till creamy and smooth (about 2 minutes).

While still pureeing, add the milk mixture.  Puree till smooth.

Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Try not to eat it all in 1 sitting! :-)