CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT SPREAD

Back in the day my children loved Nutella on a banana or piece of toast but I stopped buying the product once I became aware of how unhealthy it is. There are 5 teaspoons of sugar in a serving and it's made with palm oil which is high in saturated fat. This recipe takes a bit of effort but is well worth it for those who enjoy the chocolate-hazelnut combination and are seeking a healthier alternative to Nutella.

You can find the recipe at “Creative Nourish” blog: HEALTHY HOMEMADE VEGAN NUTELLA WITH DATES

Healthline has a nice article about Nutella: Is Nutella Healthy? Ingredients, Nutrition and More

What I did differently and clarifications:

-I only had 6 ounces of raw hazelnuts so also used 1 ounce pecans to total 7 ounces. Use unsalted nuts.

-After pitting my Medjool dates, they weighed 198 grams

-Used boiled water to soak the dates. Let them soak while I roasted and peeled the nuts. Strained the dates and kept the water to use later to sweeten beverages.

-Instead of oat milk used my homemade hemp milk

-Roasted nuts 350 degrees for 12 minutes

-Let nuts cool after roasting about a minute or two then transferred them to a towel and rolled them to try to remove the skins. I worked for several minutes to get those darn skins off but many did not cooperate.

-You must use a high speed blender intended for food or a food processor or you will not be able to convert the nuts to nut butter. Scrape the bowl often. I used a Vitamix "dry container."

-After the nuts became butter, I added everything except the cacao so I could see that the dates were well processed. I then added the cacao once the mixture was smooth.

-This is plenty sweet but if your family is used to the high sugar of Nutella you may want to add a bit of sweetener.