Healthy Nutella Recipe

Date sweetened healthy homemade Nutella in a jar with hazelnuts and a gold spoon next to it.

5 from 9 votes

4-Ingredient Naturally Sweet Healthy Nutella Recipe without oil or added sugars. Vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, oil-free, gluten-free, creamy and delicious.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: Vegan

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings (yields about 2.5 cups)

Calories: 96kcal

Author: Nisha Melvani

Ingredients

2 cups raw hazelnuts
18 pitted Deglet Noor dates or Medjool dates
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Salt to taste
1 cup nondairy milk or as needed (optional)

Instructions

Soak the dates: Place the dates into a heatproof bowl. Add boiled water and set aside to soak.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF if your hazelnuts are not blanched.
Remove the skins: Transfer the raw hazelnuts to a large rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and roast them for about 10 minutes or until the skins start to brown. Transfer them to a clean dishtowel and rub them until the skins fall off. Do not worry if a few stubborn skins remain.
Blend hazelnuts: Transfer the blanched hazelnuts to the canister of a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
Blend ingredients: Drain the soaked dates. Add them to the canister with the cocoa powder, vanilla, and ¼ cup water. Blend on high until creamy and smooth like Nutella. This may take some time. Scrape the sides as needed, adding more water or nondairy milk as desired.

Notes

Purchase blanched hazelnuts to save time. This way, you can skip roasting them and removing the skins.

Both a food processor and blender work well, but a high-speed blender, like a Vitamix, will yield smoother results. However, transferring the Nutella from a food processor bowl is easier.

The hazelnuts take time to go from whole nuts to nut butter. The nuts will go through stages of chunkier pieces, to lumps, and eventually to smooth nut butter.

For a sweeter Nutella: I find this Healthy Nutella Recipe to be the perfect amount of sweetness. However, feel free to add a liquid sweetener, such as maple syrup, date syrup, or agave to taste at the end and pulse a few times to mix through.

Storage: Without nondairy milk, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one month. With nondairy milk, refrigerate for as long as your milk is unexpired.

Nutrition