Nocilla on toast. With Salt. Just because.

For me, Nocilla on toast falls firmly into the second category. It is one of my favourite late-night snacks: quick, gloriously indulgent and requiring approximately zero culinary ability. Toast some bread, spread on a layer of Nocilla and, in my case, finish it with a little flaky sea salt. Done.

And before anyone points out that eating chocolate spread on toast late at night is not exactly a nutritional masterclass, I am well aware of that. I?m not here to keep you healthy – you’re more than capable of making your own decisions. I just feel that sometimes a snack’s job is simply to make you happy.

So, what exactly is Nocilla?

If you’ve spent any time in a Spanish supermarket, you’ll almost certainly have seen Nocilla. It is Spain’s much-loved chocolate and hazelnut spread and has been a fixture in Spanish cupboards for decades. It comes in several varieties, including the classic Original (my personal favourite), Noir and versions with different proportions of chocolate, hazelnut and other ingredients.

And there is one particularly useful fact for anyone who tries to avoid palm oil: Nocilla does not contain palm oil. The Original uses high-oleic sunflower oil and cocoa butter instead. Of coure that doesn’t magically turn it into a health food. Sugar is still the principal ingredient, and it is very much an indulgence. But if palm oil is something you specifically avoid, Nocilla is worth knowing about.

My favourite way to eat it

My standard preparation is almost embarrassingly simple. 

1. Take a slice of bread and toast it until it is browned to your liking.
2. Spread on some butter or spread of your choice while the toast is still warm (optional)
3. Spread on the Nocilla, allowing it to soften and become slightly glossy.
4. Then comes the important bit: a little flaky sea salt. Not a handful. You don’t want to turn your breakfast into a salt mine. Just enough to give you little salty bursts against the sweetness of the chocolate and hazelnut.

It sounds like a small addition, but salt does something quite beautiful to chocolate. It cuts through the sweetness and makes the darker, nuttier flavours seem more pronounced.

For me, it is the difference between “toast with chocolate spread” and “ooh, that’s a bit effin lovely!”

Take it up a notch with olive oil

Because this is Spain, it would almost be rude not to experiment with extra virgin olive oil. Spread your Nocilla onto warm toast and add just a few drops of good-quality EVOO. Finish with a little flaky sea salt.

The fruity, slightly peppery character of the olive oil works surprisingly well with the sweetness of the chocolate and the nuttiness of the hazelnuts.

Don’t pour it on as though you’re dressing a salad. A few drops are enough. This is an enhancement, not an opportunity to lubricate your breakfast.

Orange and chocolate: a classic for a reason

Another easy variation is orange zest. Grate a tiny amount of fresh orange zest over your Nocilla toast and add your usual pinch of sea salt. The citrus cuts through the richness and gives the whole thing a slightly more grown-up flavour. You could also add a very small amount of finely grated dark chocolate if you are feeling particularly committed to the cause.

If you like a bit of heat

Chocolate and chilli are another surprisingly good combination. Try a very small sprinkling of chilli flakes over your Nocilla toast, preferably alongside the sea salt.

You don’t want it painfully hot. The idea is to get a gentle warmth after the sweetness of the chocolate, rather than wondering whether your snack has just declared war on your mouth.

Aleppo pepper would be particularly good if you have some, as would a mild dried Spanish chilli.

Add some fruit

Nocilla also works brilliantly with fruit. Banana is the obvious choice and probably the easiest. Add thinly sliced banana to your toast and finish with a little salt. It is almost dessert territory. Or for something slightly less predictable, try thinly sliced pear with a few grinds of black pepper.

Strawberries are another excellent option when they’re properly ripe. Chocolate, strawberries and a tiny amount of black pepper is a combination that sounds odd until you try it.

And if you’re using fruit, you can pretend that this is now a balanced snack. I’m not sure anyone will believe you, but at least you’ve tried.

A little crunch never hurts

If you like texture, add some chopped toasted almonds or hazelnuts. Pistachios also work really well. Ah stuff – it ANY nuts work really well. Knock yourself out!

Keep the pieces fairly small so that you’re getting little bursts of crunch rather than attempting to eat toast covered in miniature rocks. A combination of Nocilla, toasted hazelnuts and flaky sea salt is particularly good because it intensifies the hazelnut flavour already lurking in the spread.

And then there is coffee…

You may have noticed that coffee and chocolate are frequently paired together. There is a reason for that: coffee’s bitterness can make chocolate taste deeper and less sweet.

Unfortunately, I am allergic to coffee, so this is one of those combinations that I shall have to admire from a safe distance. If you can happily consume coffee, a tiny dusting of very finely ground coffee or espresso powder over Nocilla can apparently produce rather wonderful results.

What about Nocilla with Marmite?

Now we’re getting experimental. I read about this earlier… and have yet to try it… but I don’t hate the idea in principle. While Marmite is a love/hate thingummy… the “internet” says to try spreading an extremely thin layer of Marmite on your toast first, followed by Nocilla.

The salty, intensely savoury yeastiness of Marmite against the sweet chocolate and hazelnut sounds frankly ridiculous. But apparently, it also works.

I would recommend trying it on a small piece of toast before committing an entire slice. There is a fairly fine line between “that’s surprisingly delicious” and “I have made a terrible mistake”.

I shall be trying this at some point and will update the article when the time comes.

Where can you buy Nocilla in Spain?

The good news is that you don’t need to hunt down a specialist shop. Nocilla is widely available in Spanish supermarkets. You’ll generally find it alongside the other chocolate spreads, jams and breakfast products.

It is also available online, so if you’ve developed an urgent need for a jar and your local supermarket has inexplicably run out, you’re not completely doomed.

• Here’s a link to it on Amazon Spain
• And another link if it’s out of stock (this one is for larger packs)

There are several varieties, so check the label if you have particular dietary requirements. Ingredients and formulations can vary between products.

My unofficial Nocilla tasting menu

If you want to experiment beyond the basic Nocilla-and-salt combination, here’s where I’d start:

• The classic: Nocilla + flaky sea salt.
• The Spanish version: Nocilla + extra virgin olive oil + flaky sea salt.
• The fancy one: Nocilla + orange zest + sea salt.
• The spicy one: Nocilla + mild chilli flakes + sea salt.
• The fruity one: Nocilla + pear + black pepper.
• The crunchy one: Nocilla + toasted hazelnuts + sea salt.
• The dessert one: Nocilla + banana + sea salt.
• The slightly unhinged one: Nocilla + a very thin layer of Marmite.
• And if you drink coffee, you can add espresso powder to the list. I shall leave that one to you.

The Nocilla on toast verdict

Nocilla isn’t pretending to be health food. Nor should it. It is sweet, rich, intensely chocolatey and hazelnutty, and it is exactly the sort of thing that can turn a slice of ordinary toast into something that feels rather more indulgent than the amount of effort involved would suggest.

For me, that’s precisely the appeal. Late at night, when I want something sweet but can’t be bothered to make anything resembling an actual dessert, Nocilla toast takes about two minutes.

Add some sea salt and you’ve got the combination that started all this. And if you happen to discover an even better topping, obviously I’ll need you to let us know about it. Because this is serious research.