A mouthwatering healthy hazelnut chocolate spread that hits the spot. Contains no refined sugar, sweetened only with dates and made with raw cacao powder. Its the healthy version of Nutella.
I love Nutella. It's got to be the best chocolate spread ever for pure indulgent deliciousness. Unfortunately, when you breakdown the ingredients it is more than 50% pure sugar! So we made our own version of a delicious recipe for chocolate spread that you will keep making for years to come.
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Why we love this recipe:
- Dairy-free and vegan Nutella (homemade chocolate spread)
- Sweetened only with dates
- A healthy breakfast chocolate hazelnut spread
- No palm oil and no refined sugar
Ingredients
- Roasted hazelnuts - packed with good fats and also a source of copper, manganese, and the antioxidant vitamin E. To get the best flavor out of them, the trick is to roast them, remove the skins and then blend until they form a thick hazelnut butter
- Raw cocoa powder - contains powerful antioxidants (catechins) and is also a great source of magnesium and copper
- Dates - one of the best natural sweeteners you can use not only for their sweetness but also for some fiber
- Oat milk - helps make the nutella creamier and smoother
How To Make Chocolate Spread With Cocoa Powder?
Roasting hazelnuts
1. Place hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 15 mins at 180°C / 360°F
2. Once roasted, allow to cool and peel off the skin by rubbing hazelnuts between your palms. It is ok if some skin is left on but it can taste bitter, so remove as much as you can.
Make Chocolate Spread Recipe
1. Soften the dates by placing them in a bowl of hot water for 5-15 min (the softer they are the better they blend).
2. Blend the hazelnuts in a Vitamix blender or food processor at highest speed for 5-10 mins until they form a thick hazelnut butter.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients in the blender and blend until you have smooth and creamy nutella.
4. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Finally, enjoy your healthy dark chocolate spread on healthy french toast, banana chia pancakes, spinach pancakes or on any number of desserts. You can even add a little to a smoothie as well.
Tips
- Softening the dates is a must because even the best blenders and food processors sometimes have a hard time breaking down dates
- Add more milk if you feel the mixture is too thick, but ⅓ cup of oatmilk should be fine
Variations
- Use animal milk - you can use cow's milk here in the same quantities as oat milk
- Other sweetener - can use honey (for over 1 year olds) or agave syrup. Replace the number of dates with 2 tablespoon of a liquid sweetener
FAQ
Nutella, the store-bought kind, is not healthy. Although you might have seen commercials saying it is filled with roasted hazelnuts and whole milk the truth is that it is mainly palm oil and refined sugar. The homemade chocolate spread though, made out of pure hazelnuts and cocoa powder sweetened with dates and some extra milk for texture, is the real deal!
We usually avoid using refined sugar in any recipe – it's a highly processed food that spikes and crashes your energy levels without providing any nutritional benefits. Not to mention, overconsumption of sugar can lead to a whole lot of non-communicable diseases.
You can actually give them this hazelnut chocolate spread from the moment they start eating solids. I would however check first how they tolerate raw cocoa powder and give them their first "dose" in the morning just to see whether it causes restlessness due to the slight caffeine content.
If you've tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then please rate it and leave us a comment below!
More recipes
If you've tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then please rate it and leave us a comment below!
Healthy Homemade Hazelnut Chocolate Spread
Ingredients
- 7 oz hazelnuts (roasted)
- 2 teaspoon raw cacao powder
- 12 pitted dates
- ½ cup oat milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- pinch salt
Instructions
Roasting Hazelnuts
- Place hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 10 mins at 180°C / 360°F
- Once roasted, allow to cool and peel off the skin by rubbing hazelnuts between your palms. It is ok if some skin is left on.
Homemade Nutella with Dates
- Soften the dates by placing them in a bowl of hot water for 5-15 min (the softer they are the better they blend).
- Make hazelnut butter. Blend the hazelnuts in a Vitamix blender or food processor at highest speed for 5-10 mins until they form a thick hazelnut butter.
- Add the rest of the ingredients in the blender and blend until you have smooth and creamy nutella.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Finally, enjoy your healthy Nutella on toast, or used on any number of desserts. You can even add a little to a smoothie as well.
Notes
- Add more milk if you feel the mixture is too thick, but ⅓ cup of oatmilk should be fine
- Use animal milk - you can use cow's milk here in the same quantities as oat milk
- Other sweeteners - can use honey (for over 1-year-olds) or agave syrup. Replace the quantity of dates with 2 tablespoon of a liquid sweetener
Nutrition
If you've tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then please rate it and leave us a comment below!
Audree
There is no palm oil, but there's in sunflower oil in oat milk. I never saw oat milk without it, sadly.
I would substitute the oat milk for another kind of milk without palm oil, sunflower oil, or any kind of "sneed" oil.
Nic
I’m not sure where you are based but in Australia you can get macro organic oat milk from Woolworths that had no added oils and clean ingredients.