Homemade Healthy Nutella

I am crazy for the taste of Nutella, but if you buy a jar and read the ingredients, you’ll see it is not exactly a healthy product. However, this homemade version tastes better than store-bought and there is not one single bad-for-you ingredient!

The benefit of making things like homemade Nutella from scratch is that you can control what goes in it. So if you want to make it vegan, use vegan chocolate. If you want organic Nutella, use organic ingredients. Want is less sweet? Use dark chocolate and reduce the powdered sugar. Experiment and make it just the way you want! Try this creamy, chocolatey, and full of toasted hazelnuts Nutella on fruits like apples and pears or enjoy my all-time favorite, a banana and Nutella sandwich on whole grain bread.

Let’s jump in.

Ingredients

1/2 cup hazelnuts, roasted and peeled

2 tablespoons organic extra-virgin coconut oil

6 pitted dates, soaked in water for 5 minutes and drained

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dark cocoa powder or raw cacao

3 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

Directions

Place the roasted, peeled hazelnuts and coconut oil in your food processor, and process for about 3 minutes, until you get a nice nut butter. Add the remaining ingredients and process again for 2 to 3 minutes, or until ingredients are well blended. (You may need to carefully start and stop the motor a few times to make sure all the ingredients are blending well)

Tip: in case you need to roast your hazelnuts, here’s the quick instruction.

How to Roast and Peel Hazelnuts

Spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in a 375°F oven until the skins are mostly split and the nuts are light golden brown (the skins will look darker) and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Wrap the hot nuts in a clean dishtowel and let them sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Then vigorously rub the nuts against themselves in the towel to remove most of the skins. Try to get at least half of the skins off. This may take a lot of rubbing, so be persistent.

Some ideas for the best ways to eat Nutella:

Spread it on bread, waffles, pancakes, crepes or French toast

Use it as a pastry or cookie filling

Drizzle it over ice cream or frozen yogurt

Make no bake Nutella cookies

Apples + Nutella = awesome

Bananas + Nutella = awesome again

Make a Nutella milkshake or a Nutella smoothie

Nutella brownies

Nutella tart

Once you try it, you’ll start spreading homemade Nutella on pretty much everything, I promise.

Do you like Nutella? Tell me your favorite way to eat it! Enjoy!