Name: Vegan Nutella | Chocolate Spread
Prep time: 2 min
Total time: 2 min
Ingredients: 3 tbsp cocoa (For a dark color, use dutch cocoa); 2 tbsp hazelnut flour (Or omit for a plain chocolate spread); 1/4 cup nut butter (cashew or almond); 1/4 cup maple syrup ((Start with 1/8 cup and taste-test before adding the rest)); 1/2 tsp vanilla; pinch of salt; 1 tsp cold brewed coffee ((optional, deepens chocolate flavor)); 1/2 tbsp maca powder ((optional for positive hormone-balancing effects)); 1 2-cup pyrex measuring cup

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A delicious vegan nutella made in 5 minutes with 4 ingredients. A creamy, healthier vegan chocolate hazelnut spread that is dairy-free, gluten-free, and naturally sweetened.

Vegan Nutella

This vegan nutella chocolate spread is devoid of the commercial Nutella's preservatives and additives. There are many healthy nutella recipes out there, but this vegan nutella recipe includes a shortcut.

Instead of buying expensive hazelnuts fresh, roasting them and peeling them, use hazelnut flour instead. Or hazelnut nut butter if you can find. Both shortcuts will take you to a delicious chocolate spread in minutes.

What Is Nutella?

I'm sure you have heard of the commercial chocolate hazelnut butter sold as "nutella", right? So you know how people go wild over it.

One rumor I read is that a certain ivy league university had to ban it on campus at one point because students were stealing entire jars from the cafeteria. So it's popularity is legend, but so is its unhealthiness. Why? Well just look at the ingredients.

That is why, I, like so many before me, have stepped forward to create a healthy version of the chocolate spread.

Ingredients

Cocoa - Dutch processed cocoa has a better flavor but unsweetened cocoa is healthier. Dutch process cocoa has only half the healthy phytonutrients chocolate gives us because it is unsweetened cocoa that has been treated with an alkali to make it pH neutral. But that process makes it milder and tastier.

Hazelnut flour - For this to turn into butter, your hazelnut flour needs to be fresh. If you want to use the more time-consuming method of roasting and blending fresh hazelnuts, I provide the process below as well as my shortcut method.

Maple Syrup - Or your favorite liquid sweetener, such as date syrup.

Nut Butter - Cashew butter provides the mildest flavor. You don't want to use peanut butter or any other nut butter with a powerful flavor of its own or you'll wipe out the taste of hazelnuts.

Flavorings - Vanilla, Salt

How to Make

1.Process the fresh hazelnut flour in a food processor or a high speed blender at a high speed for about 3-4 minutes or until the nutty flour breaks down into a paste.

2. Add all the other ingredients, except half the maple syrup. You can microwave the nut butter for 30 seconds first to make it smoother if yours is on the dry side.

2. Stir until creamy. Taste-test the chocolate spread for sweetness, and add the remaining maple syrup if it needs it for flavor.

How to Store

Store this vegan nutella in a sealed container or jar in the refrigerator for 5 days. Microwave it for 15 or more seconds to make it easier to spread. The chocolate spread doesn't freeze well as it becomes grainy.

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

To make the spread taste like Nutella, use the hazelnut flour. If you just want a chocolate spread though, and it doesn't need to a hazelnut flavor, than leave off the flour.

To make the chocolate spread nut-free, use sunflower seed butter and leave off the hazelnut flour.

Swap maple syrup for another liquid sweetener if you choose. Agave syrup and date syrup also work.

For a creamier milk chocolate look and flavor, use dairy free milk instead of water.

Add 1 teaspoon of instant coffee granules for a mocha flavor chocolate spread

Is My Vegan Nutella Healthy?

It is made of dark cocoa, maple syrup, hazelnut flour and nut butter. So all of those ingredients have welcome nutrition, including fiber, protein, and essential minerals such as magnesium to help your digestion and mood, potassium to support your heart and iron to boost your energy. There is still sugar in this recipe though, so it is a dessert spread.

But it is certainly healthier than the commercial version which are loaded with ingredients bad for the body and the planet. And my chocolate spread is customizable. So you can add supplements that you trust or that work well for you. In my recipe as an option I suggest adding a bit of Maca powder, an adaptogen that has known positive hormone-balancing effects.

Why is This A Fast Vegan Nutella Recipe?

This recipe is a fast way to make nutella because my recipe does not involve - as most do - the initial step of roasting whole hazelnuts, and dry scrubbing them to remove skins, and grinding them down into hazelnut meal.

You'll Love This Chocolate Spread

It is a faster recipe than most homemade vegan nutella recipes
It is made with very few ingredients
It's deeply chocolatey
It resembles commercial Nutella yet will help you feel great
It is dairy-free, vegan and even paleo

Free Chocolate Course

Hey, a quick note to say I offer two free email courses - smoothie challenge or a chocolate treats course. Sign up below if you are interested in both or either.

What Can You Do With Vegan Nutella?

Use as a dip with cookies or fruit
Spread on pumpkin bread, pancakes, waffles
Top on ice cream
Mix into yogurt, overnight oats or chia pudding
Eat from the jar with a spoon
Use a filling or frosting for cupcakes, donuts, or more
Use in other chocolate recipes, such as making Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

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