As creator of World Nutella Day, it’s a given that I find chocolate hazelnut spreads hard to resist. But mix in organic ingredients and a ton of yummy flavor varieties, and what do you have? Nutella Killer, Deanocciola organic chocolate hazelnut creams!
I was lucky enough to meet Manuela DeAngelis of Deanocciola at Fa La Cosa Giusta, a “critical consumer” fair I mentioned a few weeks ago. She didn’t know at the time I would be bothering her later for an interview, or that I was a blogger, but she readily recognized my enthusiasm and let me taste all of her company’s yummy flavors at their booth.
Read what Manuela had to tell me about Deanocciola and below, enter in a giveaway to win a flavor of your choice!!!
While I enjoyed tasting the flavors, when I got them home and started sharing them with friends, I noticed a strange thing. I started smearing them on everything. Toast, cookies, everything. Even this here homemade cake was made better by a little smear of it. Smeared on everything.
Then I knew I had to share them with you!
Kind of the antithesis to Nutella, Deanocciola has a wide selection of nut creams for every flavor obsession or dietary need. Though I am not a big fan of Deanocciola’s Flash-only website design, each product has an easy-to-read information page for those with special dietary needs.
Here are some of the flavors they offer:
- Cannellina: Chocolate hazelnut cream with cinnamon. 100% organic, vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and saccharine-free
- Morellina: (Dark) chocolate hazelnut cream. 100% organic, vegan and gluten-free.
- Regina: Chocolate hazelnut cream with chopped hazelnut pieces. 100% organic and gluten-free.
- Castellana: Chocolate hazelnut cream with coffee. 100% organic and gluten-free.
- Peperina: Chocolate hazelnut cream with hot/chili pepper. 100% organic, vegan and gluten-free.
- Menestrello: Chocolate hazelnut cream. 100% organic and gluten-free.
- Olivella: “Gianduja” chocolate hazelnut cream made with olive oil. 100% organic and gluten-free.
- Other flavors: Mandorla Bianca (white almond cream), Arachide (peanut butter), Castagna (chestnuts), Nocciola (hazelnuts) and Carruba (hazelnut carob).
As to which ones I prefer, I realize now I inadvertently ordered them in my preferred flavor ranking!
Here is the interview with Manuela Deangelis conducted via email. I took some (small) liberties in the translation to make it flow better.
Ms.A: How was Deanocciola born?
Manuela: Our previous company was transformed into a “hand-crafted” family-feel company, completely organic. The name was born instead from joining “nocciola” (hazelnut), our principal ingredient of our creams to the beginning of our last name “deangelis.”
Ms.A: How do you choose organic ingredients? Why is it so important to eat organic food?
Manuela: The gently-rounded Roman hazelnut, typical of our area, is the most important ingredient for our products and therefore we have constant and continual checks of the production that come from all of our local agriculture companies…All the other ingredients come from select suppliers that make only organic products.
Industrial agriculture uses damaging chemical composts and doesn’t respect the environment around us which, for those who eat organically, is “like having an ‘insurance’ on our lives and our ecosystem.”
Ms. A: Your company has a variety of very interesting flavors. Which are the most popular / bought flavors?
Manuela: We are specialized in dietary intolerances, so the creams we sell the most of are the ones made without milk. Beyond being lactose-free, our creams are gluten-free. Some are sweetened with fructose, and some are made with carob instead of cacao, so there’s something for every intolerance type.
Ms. A: Where do you find inspiration for new flavors (like the Under 18 Flavor)? Do you have a favorite flavor?
Manuela: My father is the creator of the formulas, and every day he goes into the laboratory to invent new flavors, always respecting the environment and bringing us closer to “healthy” products like our new product (still in testing) based on nut oils rich in Omega 3 and Omega 6. My favorite flavor is the hazelnut cream made without milk with dark cocoa (Morellina).
Ms. A: Is it possible to buy Deanocciola outside of Italy (above all for those that live in the US and UK)? And where can you find it in Italy?
Manuela: It’s possible to find our products in many European countries, above all with PL. In England, our products are distributed by Peregrine-Seggiano ltd. In America, you can buy our products from www.tastetheearth.com On this site you can also find more information about my family and our company.
In Italy, you can find specialized stores that offer our “Deanocciola” brand products or through the brand of our distributor “probios,” in larger stores with our “piccolo principe” and “biotentazioni” brands.
Ms. A: You work in a family-owned business. What do you hope to accomplish personally? (Editor’s note: I am very interested in entrepreneurship in Italy, and family-owned businesses fascinate me).
Manuela: Yes, our business is family-owned. My father is the creative one and my siblings and I occupy ourselves with the rest, each with their own role. I personally occupy myself with sales and I would love to work more internationally.
Grazie mille, Manuela!
Now for the Giveaway!!
Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this post (check my About page for more info on my review policy).
I am happy to say that before Manuela knew I was a blogger, I got a free jar with my (large) purchase. I’m going to now pass that on to you!
Comment below and tell which of these flavors you’d love to try and why! Do you have a favorite flavor to mix with chocolate?
I’ll pick someone to receive a jar shipped from me to you! I’ll accept comments through this weekend (May 25th!)
I’m overwhelmed by the choices. :)
I just read a stat. that over 80 % of businesses in Italy are family owned. Isn’t that interesting?
I love milk chocolate on bananas, with peanut butter, strawberries things like that. I have never tried chocolate and cinnamon. hmmm I bet it’s very good.
Yum, organic and chocolaty! It doesn’t get better than that! The Regina sounds just right for me!!
I am not a nutella fanatic, but these sound great! Especially the peperina and cannellina! I love chocolate and spicy flavors mixed together. My sister has celiacs so I will have to tell her these are gluten free!
Yum! Castellana is the one for me… I hope it is Colombian coffee they use! This is great, thanks.
oh that looks amazing…and all the flavors make my mouth water. I guess I’d have to try the Castellana first though…although Chris would probably pick the hot pepper one :)
I admit to eating any chocolate/hazelnut spread by the spoonful. Less calories than smearing it on a piece of cake and then eating both, right?
I think I’d like to try the Regina first, though I’d be game for ANY of them.
Thanks for bring them to my attention. Next time I go to Rome I’ll scout around and see if I can find them.
Coffee. Definitely the coffee one.
They all sound great though. Wonderful idea to take Nutella to a whole new level!
“…But mix in biologic ingredients…”
Oh no! You know you’ve been in Italy too long when you write “biologic”, instead of “organic” =)
Thanks for introducing us to Deanocciola – all of the flavours look wonderful! I would try the Peperina – we are big chocolate and chili enthusiasts, so it seems like a great combination.
I am totally addicted to Nutella. I can’t go near a bottle or I would eat it all in one scoop and then be very ill. I can’t do sugar! Had bypass surgery and lost 220 pounds. Sugar makes me ill (as a result of the surgery). Can you imagine your life without nutella in it because you can’t have sugar (or only very tiny amounts of it at any given time)? I cope but being half Italian and half Sicilian, I have the Nutella gene!
I have created all sorts of wonderful desserts without sugar (I love to cook and bake) and love fresh fruit. So it is mostly fruit desserts for me!
So, have I whined enough? I would love to get a Nutella fix again. The website in the US doesn’t sell the one without sugar!
@sveva – not long enough! :)
@Gypsy – you can definitely find Nutella in the States – check Costco!
As a chocoholic I’ve always loved Nutella, and even more than Nutella, the Novi spread. The Morellina sounds like my first choice, but I’d certainly like to sample them all!!!
Seeing that I have Nutella on my toast every morning, I would have to say it’s a tie between Castellana and Cannellina.
Castellana just sounds so Italian! “nutella” and coffee?!?! Two of the several things I love about Italy.
But of course, Cannellina would be great on my toast as well. It would be like a marriage of “nutella” and cinammon toast. yum!
I have saved off their website for further “research” tonight. Thank you again for a wonderful tip.
My choice would most definitely be Cannelina! One of my favorite flavor combo’s is cinnamon and chocolate (aka: Mexican chocolate). Adding hazelnut to the mix would just send it over the top for me! Cinnamon is not only flavorful, but just being touted for its potential health benefits. It’s been discovered to have a regulatory effect on blood sugar (good news for diabetics) and can help lower LDL cholesterol with only 1/2 tsp per day. Not only that, it has antibacterial and antifungal qualtities. Who would have known that something that tastes so good could be so good for you! Thanks for the heads-up on what sounds like a great product line.
I love Nutella and hazelnuts and chocolate. I’d like to try the Peperina – I’ve tried the Lindt dark chocolate bar with chili, but it didn’t captivate me like I’d hoped; I’d love to try a different chili/chocolate combo. I would even mix Peperina and Cannellina – chocolate/chili/cinnamon. I wonder why I’ve never had hot chocolate in Mexico with chili in it?
I love both coffee and dark chocolate so I’d choose the Castellana or Morellina. Thanks for sharing.
I would definitely choose Morellina. Although, honestly, I would probably like anything that wasn’t white.
As far as what I love to mix with chocolate, it’s orange, hands down. But I wouldn’t want an orange/chocolate/hazelnut combination.
The cinnamon one sounds most delish to me, I think, but I think my favorite flavor to pair with chocolate in general (dark chocolate, of course) is orange. I can’t imagine orange-hazelnut-chocolate, though.
Regina! Because what goes better w/ a creamy hazelnut/chocolate spread than the crunch of nuts!
It would have to be the one with dark chocolate!
Milk chocolate is not that much my cup of tea, but I sometimes use a half milk chocolate – half dark chocolate mix for cooking. As to my favourite addition, it’s definitely cinnamon. Great with everything, not just with chocolate!:)
Oh wow! That looks rich and creamy…I’m SURE it’s better than Nutella! Thank you for sharing…I’m in awe and would absolutely LOVE a jar!
I think the most intriguing flavor to me would be the olivella….chocolate hazelnut cream made with olive oil? Sounds like it would make some superb cookies :) Yum!
OMG – chocolate, hazelnut, and coffee. Everything is better with chocolate or coffee. Doubly better when the two are combined.
Definitely Cannellina it sounds like amped up Mexican chocolate which I love. Chocolate and Cinnamon are fabulous together so hazelnuts will just sweeten the deal. It looks fantastic in your picture.
Would actually love to try the orange/chocolate/hazelnut combination. Am working through a collection of citrus chocolates right now, and loveeeeeeeee orange + chocolate. I think that adding hazelnut would just add an earthiness/richness to the combination, not spoil it!!!
@Karina – there isn’t actually a orange/chocolate/hazelnut combo, someone was just wishing for it in the comments…but I’ll let Manuela know!
The Morellina sounds heavenly!
Oh my goodness, what a find!! Though I adore Nutella, every time I eat it I wish it didn’t have the artificial component to it — this solves the problem!! I am deeply devoted to dark chocolate, so that would be my first choice — coffee second!
*gasp* The regina sounds divine. I’ve never actually had the chance to try regular nutella, they just don’t sell it around me and I’ve never sought it out because I don’t know what it tastes like.
But I do loooove chocolate. And hazelnuts. Yummm. So I would probably be in ecstasy if I had a jar.
Mmmm, the Regina gives me great ideas for my next macaron filling!
Thanks for the interview.
They all sound so wonderful! I would love to try the Cannellina or the Castellana…or any of the others listed they sound so yummy!
O! The Cannellina sounds amazing. I’d also have to try the Regina and Menestrello, just because! Yum!
My pick would definitely be the MORELLINA: (Dark) chocolate hazelnut cream!
My friends (and their families) refer to me as “Chocolate Woman.” I can eat several bars of good quality dark chocolate at a time, and I’m done so and even have suffered what I call “chocolate arm” which means my arm cramps up because I’ve eaten too much chocolate. My friends think I’m crazy, but I’m convinced it’s due to the sugar in my bloodstream–it’s probably going crazy in there!
I love Nutella but have refrained from it–I try to stay away from big corporate manufacturers, whose products have a 10-mile long list of ingredients. Frankly, that scares me, and I prefer ingredients that I’m familiar. So, that’s why I’m so excited about this post, and about all the different flavors this brand offers!
I’d love to receive a sample! No doubt it will not last long…
Thanks for your consideration!
Oh wow! This totally blew my mind! Since I grew up with Nutella, this definitely caught my attention. As a future pastry chef I’d love to try it, actually Menestrello would be something like Nutella. I wouldn’t add any other flavors, these are absolutely stunning!
I guess I’d like to try the Olivella as well, since I love to put olive oil in everything! :))
Just stumbled on your blog. I used to live in Italy and its bringing back fond memories!!!! Oh the Regina sounds fantastic.
They all sound good, I would probably reach first for the coffee one.
Chocolate and coffee is my favorite combination. Chocolate and orange comes second!
I would love to try Regina! I love chocolate covered nuts!
Nutella just doesn’t last long in this house because my daughter loves it. We thought about trying to make a nutella cake togeather.
I think the Cannellina and the Peperina sound devine but my daughter would pick the Nocciola.
They all sound fantastic!!!
I would love to try the dark chocolate morellina combination in a crepe with some sliced bananas and strawberries! They sound amazing!! I could eat Nutella all day..if only it were so healthy for you…
Oh – My – God. Thank you. I thank you. My guests thank you. My children thank you. … and yes, my next period will do for making life that much sweeter. Graziebenmóltobella!
Could it be better that you slathered a cake with it??
Either way, I hope they ship internationally!
I would love to try the Castellana…chocolate and coffee; what could be better? Other combinations I love are chocolate/orange or chocolate/peanut butter.
Definitely Morellina!!! But they all look amazing!
that sounds delicious! i’ll definitely have to try some, albeit the fear constantly remains i’ll end up eating the whole jar with spoon in hand. i’d love to try the menestrello, or even possibly the mandorla bianca (i’m a sucker for anything almond).
i personally love chocolate combined with unexpected flavors such as mild yellow curry (great for simple cupcakes with a dark chocolate ganache), cayenne or even with a hint of saffron. chocolate is also a great “secret” ingredient to use in some savoury sauces, too!
I would like to take that bottle of *Regina and have a staring contest with it. How long before it seduces me? It knows in the mornings i shuffle along around in my pajamas and that anything is possible. *Regina sets herself up with her best accessory, her tool for further seduction…a deepened teaspoon with a long enough body to reach every crevice. It is slightly peeking out from her jar. She is desperate for me and seeking to win in pride. She wins, and i clasp her under my arm heading towards my bedroom and ready to watch Bold & the Beautiful together. Teaspoon by teaspoon. FINI
Mmmm the Regina. That sounds heavenly!!!! And if it’s better than Nutella…woah baby.
I’d love to try the Morellina! I love the idea of Nutella, but every time I eat it I find myself longing for darker chocolate.
Regina!!!
This sounds amazing! I love the variety of flavors offered.
The Morellina sounds incredible and just my sort of thing. Besides the standard crepe – cream with fruit, any of these Deanocciola creams would be amazing drizzled over the almond cake I just made. Thanks for sharing a jar with your readers, we appreciate it!
I love Nutella!!! This sounds great, especially the Regina.
My ultimate guilty food pleasure is dark chocolate and hazelnut. Okay… so not go guilty. My choice would definitely be the Morellina, maybe twisted into some challah and freshly baked. Mmmmm!
Oh the Mandorla Bianca (white almond cream), sounds heavenly. I would incorporate it in a cake.
Peperina would be interesting to try on some vanilla ice cream…melt it down a bit…can taste is now…
Cannellina, the cinnamon one for sure! I’d love to try it out….mmmmm….
I adore anything cinnamon! Even my toothpaste is cinnamon and clove. I would eat that on everything that went into my mouth (most likely right off my fingers!) Though I bet it would be amazing on banana bread
I love to mix chocolate with oranges, it is THE BEST. I’m really wishing for that chocolate hazelnut orange flavor as well…
As for which would be best to try, I’d love to have the Canellina or the Regina…I love crunchy bits of anything in peanut butter, etc. and I’m also a huge cinnamon fan.
i would love to try the mandorla bianca sandwiched between layers of a citrus olive oil cake.
or a gateau de crepes with the morellina version…
Oooooo yum. I love Nutella so I would looove to try some of these. I would love to try the dark chocolate one or the one with cinnamon. Hope I win!!!! MMMMMmmmmmmmmm.
How generous of you to share. For me, it’s definitely Peperina. I have recently fallen in love with sweet chocolate with a hint of heat. So it will be interesting to try this. I am keeping my fingers crossed for now!
Definitely the Regina with the hazelnut pieces!
The Morellina sounds amazing too.
What a great giveaway Sara!
I would really love to try Cannellian! I try to be very careful with mine ( I’ve lost over 40 pounds) and my daughters suger intake and my neighbors and I are always cooking for each other and this would be fantastic for all of us.
My neighbors are Diabetics. So I wouldn’t have to worry about them telling me that they can’t eat it all the time or they can only have a tiny bite.
My first choice would be the Cannellina – I really enjoy the flavors of chocolate and cinnamon together, and the flavors of chocolate and hazelnut together – I’m sure all three flavors in one would be great! They all sound good though, except for the white choccy, I don’t like white choccy, too sweet for me! Thanks for the chance to win.
Commenting from Calabria, you know I’m all over the Peperina!
I would like to try the Morellina. I adore dark chocolate and love the fact that it is organic. I would like to use it as a surprise filling in Raspberry Cupcakes. Doesn’t that sound great! Then ice with a almond buttercream and place another dollop of the Morellina on top. Uhhh, now I will obsess on this. I hope you pick me, Thanks for the contest!
Hey girl how are you. Sorry not been able to write back sooner. Am going to bombay next week, the parcel is waiting for me there. Will surly put up a post as soon as i can abt it. Thanks so much.
And any spread with hazelnuts and chocolate has me drooling all over it.
Wow!!! These look great!!! I Looooooove Chocolate!!! All types, but especially dark chocolate. With nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or fruit, especially sour cherries or raspberries, with rum or cointreau, toffee, caramel, or spiced with cinnamon, chili or cardamon. The bitter sweet of dark chocolate compliments them all! If I were to win the morellina I would spread it on everything too. And it’s 100% organic! What could be better? I can’t think of anything….
[i]I would love to taste the [b]Peperina[/b] one. Here in Germany they are selling some special chocolat bars with that kind of flavour. They taste delicious.
Chocolate and Chili are an awesome mix!
Awesome stuff![/i]
they all sound heavenly, i wish the US website had all the variants. i am most intrigued by the Olivella, as i love olive oil and chocolate and hazelnuts. i also prefer dark chocolate to milk (Morellina), and have always found Nutella to be too sweet. someday i’ll try to make my own, but in the meantime i’d be happy to try these. what is the Cannellina sweetened with, or is it simply unsweetened? i also love crunch, so the Regina is appealing as well.
oh my! thanks for the information!
alekz
Castellana – How good would this be as a filling in a chocolate coffee cupcake. I’m drooling!
I would like to try the Menestrello. For me, I love milk chocolate, and I love chocolate with hazelnut.
I think I would enjoy Castellana the most, since chocolate and coffee are two things that I love. The combination of chocolate and chili in Peperina sounds great too, but coffee just seems like a more versatile flavor … good for plain eating (licking? :P) as well as in baking.
Thanks for your generous offer! :)
The Menestrello sounds best best for eating straight out of the jar, (which happens to be my preferred method) and it’s just a classic combination you can’t go wrong with. I am also a big fan of chestnut spread so Castagna would be a close contender. The Nocciola would be interesting as well, since I have never tasted a pure hazelnut spread.
I’m so with Sylvie on eating the Menestrello straight out of the jar, which is also how I prefer my Nutella these days! Dark chocolate and hazelnuts? Does it get more sensuous than that? Yum!
Ooooh, it would be hard to choose, but the one with the chillies has my name on it!!
Regina, because with such flavour you’ll feel like a queen. And hazelnuts are the queen of all these products. How you could obtain a perfect Deannociale without the right hazelnuts?
A hazelnut reminds me of the different taste of the nuts I found closed to my house and the ones that grew 100 away closed to my granmother home. It wasn’t a magician, it was a different soil, sun, and original seed effect.
The Regina sounds lovely!
Oh, wow! Castellana! That sounds fantastic! I’m a huge fan of coffee. It’s how my husband and I met, really. Ooh…what I would do to a jar of Castellana!
OK, I’m going to have to go find some of this stuff. I have to make a trip to the grocery store today, let’s hope it’s easily available here in Oklahoma. If not, I’ll be mail ordering it from somewhere.
I’ll be looking for the dark chocolate variety, but I’ll take what I can get.
Jan
Count me in for the Morellina and Peperina. Maybe I didn’t read closely enough but it seems to me that none of these are with saturated fat and that is a definite plus. Nutella in te states and even some brands here have saturated fat making it more of treat on occasion and not in the steady diet category. I love that so many of these are vegan also. We get a lot of guests with dietary intolerances and this is a plus for Deanocciola. Hope to run across some day here in our Natural foods store. I’ll have to ask for it.
Wow, I picked a lucky time to check out this website! They all sound absolutely delicious, but the Morellina sounds like it’s right up my alley. I can just imagine it spread on a slice of pound cake or a soft cinnamon cookie. I spent time abroad this past fall and fell in love with Nutella, so the idea of something even better is making my mouth water!
The ‘Menestrello’ flavor is a pretty straightforward combination – that sounds the best to me. I love any kind of nut-chocolate combination, but my top two favorites are mint/chocolate (as in mint chip ice cream) and orange/chocolate (as in orange cake with chocolate frosting). Mmmmm…I need an afternoon snack now!
I love chocolate so I’d try Morellina, Regina, Castellana, Peperina, Menestrello & Olivella
Arachide because my heaven would be one with rivers of chocolate and beaches made of peanutbutter.
However, Jean Georges does a wicked chocolate and chopped olive spread for dessert. You can’t beat it.
although i’d like to eat copious amounts of each and every variety, i’d have to try the cannellina first. cinnamon rocks my world.
right now my favorite flavor to pair with chocolate is peppermint, but that could all change once i taste a cinnamon-chocolate combination! :)
the dark chocolate one probably rocks. I would also love to try the spreads made with other nuts. also i think a plain ol’ dark chocolate orange spread would be the shit.
Wow every flavor sounds wonderful, I just love Nutella so It would be amazing to find something even better. I would love to try any flavor but I think in order it would be Morellina, Regina, Castellana, Peperina, Menestrello and Olivella
I’m so sad that I’m just catching up on blogs now – YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE NUTELLA GOOD LORD.
Thank you for including a US source for this stuff. I will be ordering at least the dark chocolate version to try (read:eat in one sitting) at home.
You’re such a good Nutella/Deanocciola representative.
better than Nutella? hhmm.. hard to believe ;)
I LOVE Nutella, but rarely buy it any more because not all the ingredients sound very wholesome. I have health issues that necessitated a tightening up on the quality components of what I eat. Strange I would find your site when there is that rare bottle of Nutella sitting here in front of me. We have a guest for whom I have to cook for his special dietary needs. His little boy with him does not have a healthy diet with the other parent, so I knew he would not eat the things prepared for his father. I thought the Nutella would be a good compromise product – and of course he loved it! To find a similar product that is organic AND gluten free sounds too good to be true! I would buy that and hide it for ME!! Thanks for the info.