Ah, Nutella! The sweet, delectable hazelnut chocolate spread that enhances every bread, waffle, crepe, or cake it’s spread across. Heck, I’ll even take a plain spoonful of it when nobody’s looking. Nutella, in all its rich creamy glory, is an elegant marriage of breakfast and dessert and the world is a far better place for its existence (can you tell I’m a fan?). But what do we actually know about this spectacular spread? What makes Nutella so gosh darn great? We’ll get to the bottom of it just like I get to the bottom of the Nutella jar: quickly.
Where is Nutella from?
Nutella was first created in Italy, where it’s still manufactured today. It’s so popular there that it was commemorated with an Italian stamp on its 50th anniversary, which makes sense since most of the letters I send end up having Nutella fingerprints on them anyway.
When was Nutella invented?
Nutella was first made in 1964. It was an instant success, and it isn’t hard to see why. In fact, if Beatlemania hadn’t stolen the spotlight, Nutella probably would have held the top five spots on the Billboard Top 40 that year. Curse those mop-topped lads from Liverpool!
What is Nutella made of?
Though it tastes like a mixture of sunshine and a firm handshake from your hero, Nutella is actually made with sugar and palm oil, it also contains hazelnut (obviously), cocoa (continued obviously), skimmed milk powder, soy lecithin, and vanillin (an artificial flavoring that sweetens the chocolate).
Is Nutella chocolate?
Though it contains cocoa, and is made by noted fancy chocolate manufacturer Ferrero, Nutella is not necessarily designated as “chocolate” proper. It’s definitely more of a hazelnut-chocolate spread. It’s really its own thing, marching valiantly to the beat of its own drum. You gotta admire it, maybe even salute it the next time you see a jar.
Is Nutella vegan?
I regret to inform our vegan readers that nutella is unfortunately not vegan. It contains skimmed milk powder, which is an animal-derived ingredient. With that bad news out of the way, we can focus on the good: There are a myriad of vegan-friendly Nutella knockoff brands, such as Nocciolata Dairy-Free Hazelnut spread with Cocoa, Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut and Almond Butter, and Nucolato Keto and Diabetic Friendly Hazelnut Spread, just to name a few. Thank goodness, because nobody should have to go without the delicious taste of this stuff regardless of their dietary restrictions. Hazelnut spreads for all!
Is Nutella gluten free?
No bad news here: Nutella is 100% gluten free. Nothing derived from wheat, rye, barley, oats or triticale as far as the eye can see!
Nutella is something I have a feeling we’ll be enjoying for years to come. They’ll always be making better computers, phones, and mousetraps, but improving upon the perfection of this chocolate/hazelnut concoction would only prove fruitless. It’s finished. A perfect object. And so ends my exposè on Nutella…or rather, so ends my “nut-tell-all.” Folks!!!!!!
