You may call this “homemade Nutella for grownups”.

This morning I found myself battling against the will of a stubborn 5 year-old, convincingly arguing his point as why he shouldn’t go to school today (or any day, really).

I tried to kindly, yet firmly persuade him that “school is fun”, but who am I kidding? I had no choice but use bribery.

” I make you a Nutella sandwich for breakfast, you stop pestering me”

Not surprisingly, the proposition was accepted.

As I was spreading the scrumptious paste on a slice of home-made sandwich bread (a little bragging here…) I suddenly had an epiphany! What if I made him a sort-of-nutella-thingy that didn’t include the dreaded palm oil?

Better still, what if I made it for me??

After I bit of brain churning, this is what I have come up with.

Ingredients (this will yield around 500 gr/16 oz of chocolate spread)

395 gr/14.10 oz  sweetened condensed milk

1/3 of a cup of ground almonds

1/2 cup of good quality cocoa powder

3 table spoons of grape seed oil

1 teaspoon on vanilla extract

1 scant table spoon of ground coffee beans (you can substitute with instant coffee)

In a food processor combine the ground almonds, the cocoa, the oil, the coffee and the vanilla.

Process for about 2 minutes, or until you have obtained a sticky paste.

I like my chocolate on the bitter side of bitter-sweet. Add  2 tablespoons of brown sugar if you prefer a mellower chocolate spread.

Put the paste in a small saucepan over very low heat. Add 5 tablespoons of condensed milk and allow for the paste to melt, while you stir with a whisk.

Add the remaining  milk, stirring gently for 1 or two minutes to remove any lumps. Turn the heat off.

Pour the  luscious concoction in sterilized glass jars. Allow to cool to room temperature, then keep in the fridge.

As it cools down, the spread will thicken slightly.

Naturally, you can leave the coffee out and make this a more family-friendly treat.

I didn’t…Bad Mamma I am!

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