Vegan chocolate and cashew nut butter

This year I’m very organised for Christmas. No last minute rush to the shops. No trawling through online sites just days before Christmas delivery deadlines. Phase one of ‘Project Plan Ahead’ was to buy all non-foodie gifts throughout the course of the year. It’s helped me to spread the cost and not have a massive credit card bill in January. It’s also made me be more thoughtful than be led by the retail hype and over packaged gifts that people really don’t want.

Phase two is making the personal homemade foodie gifts. This one is for my youngest who absolutely adores that ubiquitous hazelnut and chocolate spread. Reading through the list of ingredients of it always makes me feel uncomfortable. Too many emulsifiers and ingredients I don’t really understand. So I’ve decided to make my own and my version uses just two ingredients and takes less than half an hour to make.

This recipe makes two 130ml jars and is easy to scale up.

It’s really that simple. Instead of pouring this lusciousness into a big pot, I’ve bought some mini jars from Lakeland so I can put a couple in her stocking and then use the rest for a little hamper with some other of her favourite foods. This will keep in the fridge for a few weeks if you can resist not licking it up in one sitting!