Smooth or crunchy, nutty chocolate is a firm favourite — but which nuts pair with chocolate the best?

Nuts and chocolate — it truly is a match made in heaven. As far as flavour combinations go, this pairing is up there with the all-time greats. Nutty chocolate offers the taste-bud tantalising mix of salty and sweet at its absolute finest.

The combination first became popular in the 19th century before becoming a household staple in 1920s America. But the boundaries are still being pushed today as new forms of nut chocolate are dreamt up and loved by many.

With so many choices available, it’s only natural to wonder which will come out on top, and exactly what makes it so delicious. We’ve delved deep into the possibilities to introduce you to your next favourite nutty chocolate treats.

Which nut is best for chocolate? Classic pairings

First of all, let’s look at how different types of nuts complement cacao’s irresistible flavour.

Hazelnut

The sweet, mellow flavour of hazelnuts makes them an inviting addition to all kinds of chocolate products. These nuts pair especially well with milk chocolate, with which they share their creamy texture. Chocolate hazelnut spreads: need we say more?

Peanut

Did you know that peanuts were the first nuts to be used in chocolate? Anyone that’s tried this winning nutty chocolate combination will see why. An American classic.

Almond

In the world of nuts, almonds have a comparatively neutral taste, making them fantastic for adding that touch of crunch without creating an overly nutty flavour.

Cashew

Slightly salty and oh-so-smooth, cashews are often overlooked when it comes to nutty chocolate. But dare to stray from the norm, and you’ll be rewarded with one of the most buttery, velvety nut-chocolate combinations you could imagine.

Walnut

Walnuts have a tangy earthiness which brings out the richness of chocolate. They also have a wonderfully satisfying crunch. Add coffee into the mix, and the flavours go even further.

Pecan

Similar to walnuts but a little sweeter, pecans have a unique butteriness that makes them a go-to ingredient for many treats and desserts — chocolate included.

Pistachio

The delightful green hue of pistachios make them a treat for all the senses. Pistachios give all kinds of chocolate a decadent, luxurious edge, and also pair wonderfully with dried fruits.

Brazil

Ultra-creamy brazil nuts are relatively mild in flavour but deliver hugely on texture. Try dark chocolate-covered brazil nuts to discover them at their best. 

Smooth hazelnut praline: the ultimate chocolate filling

A sweet confection made from nuts and sugar, praline has been the not-so-secret weapon of European chocolatiers for centuries. When encased within chocolate, it enhances cacao’s natural sweetness beautifully, while adding that much-celebrated salty edge and the distinct flavours of the chosen nuts. In praline done right, the nuts and chocolate balance one another in exquisite harmony.

We’d like to think our Hotel Chocolat praline exemplifies just how delightful this nutty chocolate combination can be. Creating the perfect combination of caramelised sugar and ground, roasted hazelnuts was a labour of love for our master chocolatiers, and the outcome is nothing short of magnificent. With no artificial flavours or sweeteners, our hazelnut praline is a celebration of the hazelnut’s bold flavour — and the mixture is ground so finely that it is irresistibly smooth.

Coated in cacao-rich chocolate, our hazelnut praline is a little taste of complete luxury. Both connoisseurs and those who haven’t yet discovered the magic of praline will love our Hazelnut Praline Chocolate Selector.

To learn more about praline and its close relative, gianduja, read What’s the difference between gianduja and praline?

Nutmilk: our revolutionary vegan* chocolate variety

While many of the finest types of nut chocolate have been loved for generations, there’s always room for innovation. Our chocolatiers set out on a mission to use the powerful natural properties of nuts to create the creamiest vegan chocolate imaginable. The result: Hotel Chocolat’s Nutmilk.

Our chocolatiers spent five years conceiving and refining a bespoke process where finely milled hazelnuts are used as an alternative to milk. Any compromise on creaminess, and they returned to the drawing board. It was no easy feat, but we can proudly say that the outcome is a technical breakthrough in food science.

Made according to our More Cacao, Less Sugar mantra, Nutmilk is more a celebration of chocolate than it is of nuts. While the smooth, mellow properties of hazelnut make the velvety texture possible, you can only very subtly detect the flavour of hazelnut as it’s typically known. As always with Hotel Chocolat, cacao is king. 

You’ll notice that Nutmilk has a slightly darker colour than normal milk chocolate. But don’t mistake it for dark chocolate. The different colour is only down to an absence of dairy, which is what usually lightens the chocolate. The cacao concentration stands at 45%, making for an intensely chocolatey yet wonderfully mellow ‘milk’ chocolate.

Nutmilk is available in a growing array of forms, including 45% Nutmilk Chocolate Batons, Raspberry Nutmilk Ganache Selector and Nutmilk Hot Chocolate. You’ll find it hard to believe it’s vegan*!

*Please note that, although we believe our Nutmilk products are vegan, they are manufactured in the same environment as our milk chocolate, so we cannot guarantee that they are free from milk.

Glorious nutty chocolate from Hotel Chocolat

Hotel Chocolat’s range of nutty chocolate is a showcase of just how wide the scope of possibilities is.

For the purists out there,  we have our ever-popular chocolate-coated nuts. Our Dark Chocolate Salted Caramelised Almonds are a truly decadent nibble, perfect for a movie night. Made from gently toasted Californian almonds enrobed in a crisp caramelised shell, and finally smothered in a layer of 65% dark chocolate, they’re a textural sensation. Alternatively, there are our Dark Chocolate Brazil Nuts. These make a fantastic gift for the nut chocolate lover who thinks they’ve tried it all. Allow them to be humbled. 

Elevating the classics is our range of nut Slab Selectors, including Pistachio and Honey, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Fruit and Nut to name just a few. To share or not to share? Think of these as your new favourite chocolate bars. And of course, they’re made, as always, with sustainably sourced, high-grade ingredients that really do make the difference.

And then there are our Selectors, which give you just that little bit of what you fancy when the cacao craving hits. If you’re unsure of which to try next, let us point you in the direction of our Trillionaire Shortbread Selector, winner of an Academy of Chocolate award. It’s in the name: this is a billionaire shortbread taken to whole new dizzying heights. Smooth hazelnut praline, sumptuous caramel, crunchy biscuit and our signature cacao-rich chocolate — need we say more?

To indulge your curiosities further, get comfortable and dive into our other blog: Which nuts go with chocolate? — and perhaps grab a little treat for the read.