Annabel Langbein's Hazelnut Butter

I am currently in my Annabel Langbein mode which means making everything myself and make it look so effortless. In fact most of Annabel's recipes are idiot-proof. So far I have not made anything from her books that didn't work. If you need to host a dinner party and impress all your guests, Annabel's recipes are the way to go. As much as I love Jamie Oliver, his recipes are more for cooking for yourself or if you need to bring a plate to a potluck. Annabel's recipes will make your friends think that your salads are only made by the vege from your own garden, you can whip up 30 cupcakes and ice them at 2am and cook a Christmas lunch for 12 on short notice. I am not joking here. Please take note that I am in no way related to Ms Langbein other than I watch her cooking programme every Saturday night and I do not benefit in anyway from blogging about her.

Hey Annabel, if you read this please know that I would love to be friends with you and go to your cabin for dinners.

 A couple of weeks ago, I saw this incredible simple recipe for Hazelnut Butter on her new TV show 'Simple Pleasures'. I can't resist. This is super easy to make and almost no skill is needed. The most difficult task is only removing the skins from the hazelnuts but that only took 5 minutes and a resistance from eating the hot roasted hazelnuts whilst at it.

Roast 3 cups of hazelnuts for 15 mins at 180c. Let the roasted hazelnuts cool for a few minutes and spread them onto a tea towel and rub them with the tea towel to remove skin. It's easier to do once the nuts have cooled down a little. You may not be able to remove all the skin from each hazelnut but that's ok.

Put all the skinned hazelnuts into a food processor and pulse. Add 1/3 cup neutral oil i.e canola, grapeseed or sunflower. Add a pinch of salt.

Once you are happy with the consistency, stop pulsing and pour into a glass jar.

                                      

I store my hazelnut butter in an reusable peanut butter jar. The hazelnut butter smells heavenly  like a potent Nutella and very creamy. These are good for a few months because the oil will preserve it. I doubt anyone can resist eating all of it in 2 weeks. The cost of making your own hazelnut butter may not be very much cheaper than buying it from the store but I get a satisfaction from knowing that I can make something so yummy so effortlessly in my own kitchen and with so little fuss. On top of that, I enjoy knowing what's in my food. Next time I will add some cocoa powder to make my own Nutella :)

I am planning to make a batch of these as Christmas presents for my friends. This will make better gifts than the usual Christmas cookies.

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