Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the raw hazelnuts in a single layer and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place a clean, dry dish towel over top the hazelnuts and rub your hands over the nuts to remove the skins. The rubbing back and forth will force most of the skins loose. Do this for about 30 seconds and remove the towel and continue with your bare hands when cool enough to do so. Don't worry if there are few stubborn skins that wont come off, as long as you get most of them.
Place your skinned hazelnuts in a high-speed blender, like a Vitamix, or in a food processor and process until you get a smooth nut butter. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.
Now remove the nut butter and set aside in a bowl. To the same food processor, add the dates and begin processing. Then pour in ¼ cup of the plant milk while the machine is running and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Return hazelnut butter back to the processor, along with the remaining plant milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Pulse several times until blended. You may add an additional 2-3 tablespoons of milk if a thinner consistency is desired.
Store your healthy Nutella in a clean glass jar at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
After roasting the hazelnuts, work quickly to remove the skins as they come off easiest when warm. Most of the skins will come off easily, but don't worry if there are a few stubborn ones.
The hazelnuts will take some time to go from whole nuts to nut butter. You will see the nuts go through stages of chunkier pieces, to flour, to lumps, and eventually smooth nut butter. Have patience. :)
If you're using a food processor, be sure to give it small breaks to prevent overheating. Processing time takes me about 1 minute, but individual appliances will vary.
Adding the milk as the food processor runs will produce smoother results. But, if using a blender, add both at the same time and process. If your blender or processor is not a powerful one, pre-soak your dates for 15-30 minutes and then drain for a smoother date paste.
While both a food processor and blender work well, a high-speed blender, like a Vitamix will yield smoother results. But in exchange, it's easier to transfer the Nutella from a food processor bowl.
I like the sweetness level of this Nutella as is. However, if you want a sweeter Nutella, you may add a liquid sweetener, to taste, such as maple syrup, date syrup, or agave at the end and pulse a few times to mix through.
Recipe yields approx. 2 cups of healthy Nutella. Store in a clean glass jar at room temperature for up to 1 week. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.The serving size is two tablespoons.