Hazelnut butter substitutes

Roast raw hazelnuts until fragrant and the skins crack, rub the skins off, then grind the warm nuts in a food processor until they turn to a glossy running paste. This is the ingredient itself, and it costs a fraction of the jarred version.

Best for

baking, fillings, gianduja, spreads, sauces, smoothies

It takes longer than almond butter to come together, usually eight to twelve minutes, and passes through sand, then clumps, then a dense ball, then suddenly liquid. Do not add oil until you have given it at least ten minutes, or the finished butter will be greasy.

The most reliable swap. Same thickness, same fat content, same behaviour in a batter, a filling or a raw bar, and it firms up in the fridge the same way.

Best for

baking, fillings, smoothies, sauces, raw bars, spreads

Milder and slightly sweeter than hazelnut, without the musky, almost floral roasted note hazelnuts have. In a hazelnut torte or a hazelnut buttercream the nut identity quietly disappears, but the recipe works. Buy the smooth unsweetened kind, not a sweetened spread.

The creamiest and most neutral of the nut butters, and the best choice where you need smoothness and body rather than nut flavour.

Best for

fillings, sauces, frostings, raw desserts, smoothies

It is noticeably sweeter and rounder than hazelnut butter and contributes almost no roasted character, so use it when the hazelnut is structural rather than a headline flavour. It is also paler, which matters in something like a nut-butter swirl.

Keeps the exact flavour you wanted, which nothing else on this list does, by rebuilding the butter from its ground form.

Best for

baking, fillings, gianduja, frangipane

Grainier than a properly ground butter, because commercial hazelnut flour is partly defatted, so it never gets fully smooth. Invisible in a baked torte, obvious in a filling meant to be silky. Blend it in a processor rather than stirring by hand.

It has hazelnut in it and the right consistency, so mechanically it drops in easily. What it also brings is a great deal of sugar, palm oil and cocoa.

Best for

cake fillings, buttercream, swirls, smoothies, crepes

Without cutting sugar the result is cloying. Even with the adjustment the dish tastes of chocolate rather than hazelnut, and it will be softer, because palm oil stays looser than nut butter when chilled. Fine in a cake, wrong in a savoury sauce.

Mechanically the closest match of all, since natural peanut butter has almost exactly the same thickness, oil content and binding power.

Best for

baking, bars, sauces, smoothies, cookies

Peanut is an assertive flavour that takes over completely, so a hazelnut cake made with it becomes a peanut cake. Choose the unsweetened kind with no added sugar or palm oil. This is the swap for when the recipe cares about function, not identity.

The nut-free option, right thickness and right binding behaviour, useful for school baking and tree nut allergies.

Best for

nut-free baking, bars, spreads, cookies

It tastes green and faintly vegetal rather than roasted and sweet, which is a real change in a delicate recipe. It also reacts with baking soda and can turn the crumb of a cake or cookie green, which is a harmless colour reaction rather than spoilage, but startling if you were not expecting it.