Smash The Place

I can't believe I never knew how to make this because it is so easy and so tasty that I don't know if I could live without it again. If you decide to make it, you will feel the same way. Especially since we all have access to cheap hazelnuts via Trader Joe's, there really is no excuse. We used this at our World Cup Brunch on crepes with whipped cream which was so good it was almost too good. I have also been eating it with toast and that is such a nice treat. A word of warning on equipment: You really do need a food processor to make this. Trying to work with what they have here in Tom's apartment resulted in me frying his 7 dollar Target blender. As such, not all the hazelnuts were well ground, but the spread tasted great anyway. Also, it can be a bit hard to get all the skins off the nuts - I go by this percentage: if you remove at least 80% of the total amount of shell distributed over all the total amount of hazelnuts used, your spread will not be bitter.


1 c hazelnuts
1/2 c honey

1. pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. pour hazelnuts onto a cookie sheet, place in oven and roast for 10 - 12 minutes, until skins turn dark.
3. place the nuts in a tea towel (wait until they are cool enough to handle) and rub vigorously to remove skins.
4. place nuts in processor. Pulse until the nuts form coarse crumbs and release their oils.
5. add honey and process until smooth.

makes about 1 1/2 cups of spread