The hazelnut taste is something many of us adore – think of things like hazelnut butter, Nutella, and delicious warm bakes with the nutty smoothness that hazelnuts provide…
Now, hazelnut extract is perfect for adding that taste into nearly everything you want – just a couple drops of it make a massive impact! That means your bakes and beverages can get that delicious hazelnut flavor in just a few seconds!
Plus, hazelnut extract is much more convenient and bold than other hazelnut products in baking (which we’ll discuss in this article). However, we don’t just want a random hazelnut extract – we want the best!
And that’s why we’ve gone ahead and made this list, ranking our favorite high-quality hazelnut extracts that we personally recommend you to buy!
Let’s check them out!
What is hazelnut extract?
Hazelnut extract is quite simply a concentrated flavor made by infusing roasted hazelnuts in alcohol (often unflavored vodka) over a period of time, and then straining the resulting liquid to get rid of the solid particles in it.
The final product is hazelnut extract, which can be used for adding a hazelnut taste to your bakes and beverages!
It’s quite powerful and concentrated, so a little goes a long way. It can quite easily overpower other ingredients if you use too much of it, so start with just a bit until you get used to the measurements of it!
That way, you’ll be able to add the rich and nutty taste of hazelnut to whatever you want in a balanced way.
Keep an eye out for artificial versions of hazelnut extract – I always recommend the natural ones!
How to use hazelnut extract in baking and cooking
My brain immediately goes to baking muffins and cookies with the hazelnut extract, and that’s a great way to use it! But you can actually use it in many more ways, including adding it to your coffee, smoothies, milk, oatmeal, cakes, ice cream, and more! You can really get creative with it.
Hazelnut extract is also a good substitute for things like hazelnuts and hazelnut butter. The taste in hazelnut extract is slightly less hazelnut-y and more nutty than in an actual full hazelnut, so just keep that in mind…
Otherwise, use 1 teaspoon of hazelnut extract when the recipe calls for ½ cup of hazelnuts, and 1 teaspoon of hazelnut extract for every 2 tablespoons of hazelnut butter.
You can also simply add hazelnut extract to a recipe that calls for hazelnuts or hazelnut butter to add more of that flavor, but that requires a little experimentation (which I always recommend)!
Just remember: “a little goes a long way!”
2 great recipes to use your hazelnut extract
These recipes call for hazelnuts or slightly different hazelnut-related ingredients, but you can either substitute them the way we discussed or play around with the ratios until you get the flavor you desire:
- Hazelnut milk: Hazelnut milk is great for a variety of reasons – it’s a tasty alternative to regular milk, it goes great with coffee to make homemade hazelnut lattes, and it’s dairy-free, making it ideal for anyone with sensitivities in that regard! Plus, substituting hazelnuts with hazelnut extract can make this recipe a whole lot quicker.
- Chocolate hazelnut cups: These delicious cups are guaranteed to be a hit at your next potluck or event! They’re dairy-free, vegan, and taste like cheesecake! Except these are a little healthier – which we always love! You can try adding in a couple drops of hazelnut extract to supplement the other ingredients, giving it a tasty nutty twist.
How to choose the best hazelnut extract
Deciding on the best hazelnut extract requires a bit of research. We’ve created this list of criteria that determines where the hazelnut extracts place in our rankings:
- Ingredients: Nobody wants to eat something that has unnecessary or unhealthy ingredients. That’s why we look for clean, pure, natural, and relevant ingredients that make the best hazelnut extracts!
- Consumer feedback: We love when people recommend things, and we also appreciate when people suggest to steer away from a product. Consumer feedback is vital in seeing how good a product is – and whether or not the company listens to their customers.
- Track record: You can tell much about a brand from their reputation. What kind of customer service they have, what ingredients they use, if they’ve been caught in a scandal – all these things trickle down and affect the product!
- Price: Things are expensive these days, which is why I’ve included everything from low to high-costing hazelnut extracts.
I’ve also included hazelnut extract options for baker’s favorites, best organic, best for keto, etc. just in case you’re looking for something a little more specific.
Without further ado, let’s jump into the rankings:
#1 Best Overall: OliveNation
OliveNation has been on our “bests” lists many times, and today it’s right at the top of the pack!
Their hazelnut extract is absolutely wonderful, providing a balanced concentrated flavor that is awesome for coffees, ice cream, baking, and anything else you throw at it! It’s also the most affordable option on this list, coming in at $1.35 per fluid ounce – great quality at a great price? Count me in!
OliveNation’s hazelnut extract is also PG (propylene glycol) free, non-GMO, vegan, kosher certified, and naturally gluten-free. It fits the bill for many different people, and you definitely won’t be disappointed with this one!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Natural Hazelnut Extractives, and Caramel Color (Prop 65 compliant)
#2 Best Organic: Flavorganics
If you’re into organic flavoring, you’ve likely used – or at least heard of – Flavorganics.
This brand makes all their products in the USA, with a USDA Organic badge plastered on basically all their flavoring stuff. Flavorganics’ hazelnut extract is a wonderful blend of flavors and natural ingredients, showing how great organic extracts can taste!
Plus, they keep their price right in the middle of the pack here, which is rare for an organic product – usually they’re way more expensive!
Try this hazelnut extract out and see why Flavorganics is one of our favorites!
Ingredients: Water, Organic Alcohol, Organic Agave Syrup, Organic Hazelnut Paste
#3 Baker’s Favorite: Native Vanilla
Native Vanilla’s hazelnut extract comes in hot with over 1600 reviews – and they’re shining reviews, might I add!
They’ve managed to make a kosher certified extract that uses natural and sustainable ingredients and practices, and haven’t given up anything in terms of experience and taste – there’s a reason that so many bakers love Native Vanilla’s hazelnut extract!
On top of all that, it’s sulfite-free, gluten-free, and non-GMO, giving us a hazelnut extract that not only tastes good, but feels good!
Native Vanilla’s hazelnut extract also won’t burn a hole in your wallet, coming in at $3.75 per fluid ounce, which is right around the middle on this list.
Definitely give this one a go!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Natural Hazelnut Extractives and Caramel Color
#4 Best in Bulk: Cook’s
I really like Cook’s – they’re a family-owned brand that’s been around for over 100 years, and they obviously take pride in creating their flavoring products.
And that holds true for their hazelnut extract, which is a delicious and naturally-flavored product that really represents Cook’s best work – they provide a wonderfully tasting extract here! Plus, it’s perfect for bulk buying since it’s offered in a 16 fluid ounce bottle – that’s a lot of hazelnut extract!
It’s very convenient if you bake a lot or use hazelnut extract a lot in general, and comes in at $2.19 per fluid ounce – that’s the second cheapest on this list!
If bulk is what you’re looking for, this hazelnut extract is for you.
Ingredients: Propylene glycol, natural flavors, caramel color, and water.
#5 Honorable Mention: Vanilla Bean King
I want to slip Vanilla Bean King’s hazelnut extract in here because of how great and caring this company is – and their extract is pretty darn good!
The company started off with someone just making flavoring products to give as gifts in their personal circle. Over time, Vanilla Bean King built itself up to provide a wide range of flavoring products, including a lot of extracts.
They noticeably care about their craft, and that’s evident in their hazelnut extract – plus, it’s all crafted in the USA!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Natural Hazelnut Extractives and Caramel Color
#6 Best for Keto: Stevia
Calling all you taking part in keto diets and looking for sugar-free hazelnut extracts – I present to you: Stevia!
Stevia’s hazelnut extract contains absolutely no sugar, and is meant to replace other sweeteners in a recipe while providing that delicious hazelnut/nutty taste. It’s keto-friendly, so you can be comfortable using this to your heart’s content – just remember, extracts are strong, so don’t get too excited about this product’s awesome qualities and go dumping it into your dishes!
Ingredients: Purified Water, Stevia, Hazelnut Extract, Potassium Sorbate (less than 2%)
#7 Honorable Mention: Savory Spice
Savory Spice is a bit of a smaller brand than a lot of these other big names. It was started back in 2004 by a husband and wife who got their start in Denver, Colorado.
Today, Savory Spice operates with 30 locations across the USA!
I love supporting smaller businesses, especially if they make delicious hazelnut extracts like these guys do! They suggest pairing their product with coffee, cinnamon, and chocolate flavored foods or beverages to bring out a delicious and mouth-watering final taste!
I definitely recommend these guys!
Ingredients: Water, propylene glycol, alcohol and natural flavors.
Others we reviewed
We reviewed a bunch of hazelnut extracts, and like we mentioned, not everyone makes the cut…
Watkins’ hazelnut extract, for example, is an imitation hazelnut extract, which isn’t something we want – we want the real deal! An imitation extract uses chemicals and artificial flavors to mimic the real thing…
This is a bit surprising, as Watkins has been around for forever and has consistently produced amazing extracts and flavorings! In fact, they’ve been making their products in the same factory for over 152 reviews, and boast awesome reviews across their lineup.
However, I do not recommend their imitation hazelnut extract.
Another shocking brand that didn’t make it on the list is McCormick, which is basically synonymous with “flavorings.”
McCormick has been around since 1889, and works across 170 countries and territories today. They make some awesome products with consistently high quality, but their hazelnut extract just doesn’t cut it – here at The Coconut Mama, we’re all about natural flavors, and McCormick’s extract uses artificial flavorings. Sometimes we all have to compromise, but this isn’t one of those times – there are plenty of fantastic extracts that don’t use any chemical nonsense, you can see them all above!
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