If you haven’t tried hazelnut coffee before, you don’t know what you’re missing! Back in the days when flavored coffee was starting to get better traction, coffee shops were starting to experiment with different coffee blends. Specifically, they were using flavored syrups and even grinding hazelnuts within the coffee grounds. But if you’re looking to learn some sweet and nutty flavor tricks to your coffee, learn how you can do it yourself with our tasty tips.
The history of hazelnut coffee
Now if you think that drinking hazelnut coffee is something new, you would be wrong in that assumption. Would you believe that this popular coffee drink dates back to the 1700s and is actually the predecessor of Nutella? Sometimes history is very subjective and we can’t give Nutella all the credit. Here is how the combination of hazelnut and chocolate became one of the biggest thrills all throughout Turin.
If you didn’t know this already, Turin is a small region of Italy that is famous for making chocolate. For the last 500 years, Turin has been renowned for making chocolate which eventually put them on the map for creating the very first chocolate flavored espresso recipes called the Bicerin. It was actually the city’s official drink and was even presented as a gift to its citizens when the Ducal Capital of Chambéry was moved to Turin.
This was presented of course by Emanuele Filberto of Savoy to the people of Turin who quickly learned to love their new coffee drink. However, it didn’t take too long in 1806 before a little tyrant named Napoleon decided that Chocolate was prohibited from all trade with the British and anything governed by the French authorities. Faced with a lack of cocoa beans, this made it difficult to create chocolate throughout Turin.
Because of the trade limitations, chocolate producers in Turin quickly found they could add fruits and nuts to their chocolate to act as filler. It was a bold move that brought success to their business once again. This was also the point when Italian chocolatiers would start to use a paste made from hazelnuts. This would prove to be their crowning achievement that would help replace limited chocolate needed chocolaty sweets.
One of the best-known products that still produce this mix is called Gianduitto and is traditionally packaged in golden foil. Now way before you say, Nutella, it’s fair to say that most Italians in Turin were calling this new hybrid mix of cocoa and hazelnut powder Gianduia and would vary in which percentage the hazelnut powder was added to cocoa powder. By 1865, Guianduitto became the official name of this chocolate treat.
Some chocolate makers would stick to more hazelnut and less cocoa to stretch their limited supply of cocoa. This is where the source of hazelnuts would end up being a saving grace even after the French ended their trade prohibition with the British. Yet it would take nearly a full century when the onset of World War 2 saw another major trade blockade. This once again set many chocolate makers into damage mode once again.
Yet for those living in Piedmont, the endless supply of hazelnuts that were considered a menace would be turned into quick cash by Pietro Ferraro. He was a chocolatier who was old enough to remember the history and recipes used nearly a century earlier and put them to good use.
At that time, he came up with an idea to create a creamy paste that would help feed those living and working in Piedmont. Instead of local workers eating just bread and tomatoes, he came up with a creamy mixture of Gianduia using palm oil to help make it spread. After the war ended, Pietro would turn this recipe into what eventually became Nutella. But wait, now some of you are asking- so what about adding this to coffee!
Well, if you remember the creation of a coffee drink called Bicerin, then you’ll understand how adding Gianuia was essential to save on chocolate-flavored sweets. During the Napoleon era, Turin citizens began adding hazelnut chocolate to their espresso which was usually from adding a piece of Gianduitto into their espresso. This tradition has been enjoyed since the early 1800s.
These days, you can simply add a spoonful of Nutella and stir this into your espresso and get the same results. But that doesn’t mean that some fun and creative recipes aren’t worth trying when making hazelnut coffee.
Making Incredible Hazelnut Coffee from Home
There are so many different flavors out there in the world to make coffee taste out of this world. Anyone can pretty much make any coffee they have a taste for. What about flavored coffees? Can we make them from home, without buying an endless ingredients? We will explain how to make Hazelnut coffee at home. You may not want to do this every time you want the taste of Hazelnut in your coffee, but it’s worth a try just to see how you like it! All of the ingredients do not have to be major brands that are the most expensive on the shelf, store brands are just fine! You can even find some of these items at the dollar store.
Delightfully Rich Tasting Hazelnut Coffee
1. Homemade Hazelnut Coffee
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of brewed coffee (regular or decaffeinated)
- 1/4 cup of hazelnut flavored syrup
- 1 tablespoon of sugar (or you can use 1 pack of sugar substitute)
- 1/8 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 heavy whipping cream (this will make the coffee very creamy)
- 1 TBSP of Nutella spread (This will add a mocha hazelnut flavor to the coffee, but you don’t have to use it)
Directions:
In a large saucepan, you will combine the coffee, syrup, sugar and cinnamon. Heat this all the way through and stir as you go so it doesn’t get burned. Once this is done, divide the coffee mixture in to 4 mugs.
In a medium bowl, add the cream and the Nutella. Mix this together until it’s thickened. You can either add this mixture to the top of your coffee or you can add it in the coffee and stir it together. Either way is great, but if you are looking for something creamier, that is the absolute best way to go. The Nutella has chocolate in it, so if you prefer just the Hazelnut flavor, then just add the heavy cream after it’s whipped. The creamy smooth taste of that coffee will send your senses in to over-drive. I love to have this coffee when it starts to cool down and the Autumn season is starting. It kicks your body in to the holiday season.
The recipe above is only one way to make this coffee. If you have a grinder, you can also use that method.
2. Simple Hazelnut Coffee
To be honest, I will keep things simple and won’t confuse the taste adding too many fancy flavors.
Ingredients
- 4 cups of brewed coffee. You can brew less or more and adjust the ingredients below accordingly. This recipe is for 4 cups of coffee.
- ¼ cup hazelnut flavoring syrup
- 1 tbsp. Nutella
- 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream (must add)
- Sugar as per taste. I’d recommend 2 or 3 tsp.
Preparation
- Once you have prepared freshly brewed hot coffee, take a large saucepan and pour the coffee in it.
- Now, take the hazelnut flavoring syrup and add it to the saucepan. Also, add sugar and cinnamon.
- Heat the saucepan and stir the ingredients thoroughly. Once mixed, pour the mixture equally into four mugs.
- Take a small bowl and add cream and Nutella to it. Beat it until thickened.
- Finally, add the cream + Nutella on top of the drink and serve immediately.
Variation Option
Another way is by picking the coffee roast and then making hazelnut coffee.
- Roast: Choose a light roast as it goes well with Hazelnut coffee. However, it is not compulsory; you can also make a strong roast.
- Hazelnuts: Instead of hazelnut creamer or flavoring syrup, buy a bag of shelled, unsalted hazelnuts. These are easily available at the nearest grocery store or simply order them on the Internet.
- Grinding: Now take the coffee beans and nuts in the ratio of two parts beans to one part nuts. You can adjust this ratio as per your taste, but this is the perfect one. Grind it on a very coarse setting to get the perfect blend.
- Brewing: Finally, brew the blend in a FRENCH PRESS coffee maker.
- Pour: Finally, pour the coffee into your mug and enjoy. You can add sugar and cream as per taste.
3. Homemade Hazelnut Fresh Bean Brewed Coffee
Ingredients
- Fresh coffee beans, ungrounded
- Whole hazelnuts, unsalted and shelled
Directions:
To measure this, you can add 2 parts coffee beans and 1 part hazelnuts. If you prefer a stronger hazelnut taste, then add a little more. This is your coffee, make it the way you want it! Once you have grounded your one of a kind hazelnut coffee, brew it as usual. You can save the extra in the fridge for another day. I like to keep mine there; it seems to taste fresher that way.
You can also use the heavy cream idea from the above recipe if you want. The creamier it is the better. If you prefer to add a little vanilla to the mix, add about a 1/8 teaspoon before brewing and mix it in well. You can also get vanilla beans (cut and sectioned) to put in the coffee mixture and brew it that way. You can even try some pumpkin spice in there, if you so choose. Live it up, be bold, and try all kinds of different ways to make your hazelnut coffee.
You have all the options – Be Bold
As you can see, there are different options to making this coffee from your own home. You also have the choice to just buy the creamer, but what’s the fun in that? Every once in a while, you have to be bold and try something new. This would be a perfect choice to start. You also don’t have to drink this hot if you don’t want to. You can add ice to this fabulous new coffee you made and enjoy it on a hot day. I know any coffee can be made in to ice coffee; it just depends on your taste. There is also hazelnut coffees’ already blended but where is the fun in that? Try making it yourself, see how you do. Let us know how it turned out and what you used to make it.
Amazingly Incredible
Hazelnuts are an amazing food we were blessed enough to find and use. There are so many great nutritional benefits that come from these little nuts; it’s hard not to want to have them daily.
- Hazelnuts are full of nutrients
- They are loaded with Antioxidants
- Good for your Heart
- Lower Rates of Cancer– they have a high concentration of antioxidant compounds, vitamins and minerals, which in turn,
- gives them some anti-cancer properties
- Have been known to decrease inflammation
- May Help Lower Blood Sugar Levels and increase insulin sensitivity
- Easy to Add to Your Diet – you can eat them whole, chopped, brewed in coffee – pretty much any way you want them
- Enhance muscle growth; they actually feed your muscles and help you lose weight
- Great for your skin health
- Help the nervous system be providing Vitamin B6 to help the natural chemical connections to your brain
- Digestive health is greatly improved
- Very rich in Vitamin B, which helps to lose and maintain a healthy weight
As you can see, hazelnuts are not just for coffee, but they sure add a great flavor to it. Hazelnuts are such a great snack to have around the house, not only for adults but for children too. You can make all kinds of snacks with hazelnuts in it that they will actually eat.
The Wonderful World of Your Coffee
Next time you are in the kitchen and you are going to make your very first cup of homemade hazelnut coffee, let us know how it turned out. Tell us if you tried something different than what we have listed, tell us what worked, what didn’t work and above all, how it tasted! We would love to hear from you! Happy brewing!!