If there was not a more perfect food, it would be one that combines chocolate and peanut butter. Most of us know this.
But long before I came across this chocolate peanut butter spread (now more affectionately know in my house as peanutella), I was first introduced to Nutella. I was a 10 year old kid staying with near-strangers in a far-off land.
It was my foreign exchange program trip to France and I felt so, so out of place. And more homesick than I could ever have imagined I would be. But the Nutella showed up on the breakfast table with some type of delicious bread every single morning and somehow, this eased the angst just a little.
I don’t know how popular Nutella was in the States in the late-80s but we sure never had it in our house so this was certainly a special treat for me.
Shortly after I arrived home, my pen pal, Fabien, came to stay with us. And as foreign and revolutionary as Nutella was to me, peanut butter was to him.
A food that my American house was never, ever without, and this was truly his first time ever eating it! Needless to say, he had more than a couple jars of peanut butter packed in his suitcase when he headed back home 3 weeks later.
Nut Free Nutella
This peanutella (chocolate peanut butter spread) is the perfect way Kyle and I can enjoy Nutella without, you know, affecting him from his tree nut allergy.
That’s because there is a tree nut free recipe! There’s only peanuts in this recipe so it totally works for people with tree nut allergies who can eat peanuts.
And truthfully, it’s kind of like eating spreadable peanut butter cups! YES!!
Ingredients
Here’s the very basic shopping list for this chocolate peanut butter spread recipe. Be sure to check the recipe card below for the full list.
- Peanuts – I prefer dry roasted peanuts but other varieties will work too.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – The darker the better! I like Hershey’s Special Dark or King Arthur Flour
- Powdered sugar
- Salt – You’ll only need a tiny bit of this to help balance the sweetness of the sugar.
- Oil – A little peanut or canola oil will help to thin out the mixture into a spreadable form. You could also use a little virgin coconut oil as well.
This genius recipe marries deep, dark chocolate with peanut butter and some sugar. And it’s a heavenly combination!
The peanutella spreads just like Nutella and it gets all melty and smooth when you spread it on a freshly toasted piece of good bread. And it oozes out from the middle of a stuffed brown butter chocolate chip cookie.
A few sliced strawberries or my gawd, banana slices!? Or folded up in crèpes? Or slathered across some pancakes? Breakfast in a heartbeat.
And great memories of some very dear friends as a bonus.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread (Peanutella)
Peanutella is a tree nut free version of Nutella made with only a few simple ingredients, including peanuts. It's a chocolate peanut butter spread that you can slather on toast, ice cream, or just a spoon.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry roasted peanuts
- ½ cup of dark unsweetened cocoa powder (like King Arthur Flour or Hershey's)
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt plus additional to taste
- 3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
Instructions
- Pour the peanuts into the bowl of a food processor and grind them for about 5 minutes. Then they’ll become more of a paste and finally, they’ll liquefy. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- With the processor off, carefully add the cocoa, sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt and two tablespoons of the oil to the bowl. Process until well blended, for an additional 1 minute. Add more up to another ¼ teaspoon salt if needed. If the spread is too thick (you'll know), add the last tablespoon of oil.
- Stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, the chocolate peanut butter spread will keep for a week or two. When it is full chilled it will become thick and spreadable.
Notes
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread (Peanutella)
Ingredients
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
½ cup of dark unsweetened cocoa powder (like King Arthur Flour or Hershey’s)
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
¼ – ½ tsp salt plus additional to taste
3 tbsp peanut or canola oil
Instructions
-
01
Pour the peanuts into the bowl of a food processor and grind them for about 5 minutes. Then they’ll become more of a paste and finally, they’ll liquefy. Scrape down the sides as needed.
-
02
With the processor off, carefully add the cocoa, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and two tablespoons of the oil to the bowl. Process until well blended, for an additional 1 minute. Add more up to another 1/4 teaspoon salt if needed. If the spread is too thick (you’ll know), add the last tablespoon of oil.
-
03
Stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, the chocolate peanut butter spread will keep for a week or two. When it is full chilled it will become thick and spreadable.
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Wow, how cool that you were part of a foreign exchange program at 10 – what an experience! I love this idea, need to add dry roasted peanuts to my grocery list this week 🙂
I’m so glad that I hid the peanuts you gave me to make your homemade PB. Now, instead, I will try this.
I guarantee you will love this, Mom!
It has never occurred to me to make nutella using peanuts! Love it
Yum! I love making dark chocolate peanut butter-I usually just process peanuts and then add melted chocolate. Either way-delicious 🙂
oh goodness, this sounds fabulous. chocolate pb nutella? yum!
What a cool experience! And I’d much rather have Peanutella than Nutella 🙂
What a great idea! Oh, and I can’t imagine going abroad that young…crazy! 😀
Oh it was totally crazy…but so much fun at the same time! Our families are still good friends and we’ve visited each other quite a few times since.
I’m so excited to try this!! I’ve just started making my own peanut butter and I’ve been looking for variations to spice things up. Yay!
I love making my own PB, Cookie Butter, and various spreads. And I love Nutella! Yours looks so good!
Sigh…all my favorite stuff. And I don’t have a shred of willpower around any of them. 🙂
I love making my own nut butters! Chocolate PB was one of the first I made, and while now I like doing some weirder flavors, chocolate remains a favorite! 🙂 Definitely need to make a batch soon.
Ooo, I’d love to hear what kind of flavors you make!!
This is such a great idea! And so simple to make! YUM! I can’t wait to try this! 🙂 It also happens to be Gluten-Free so it’s safe for me to eat! Woohoo!
Penutella sounds like an amazing breakfast idea. Looks delicious and healthy with the bread and the strawberries. Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe.