All kids love Nutella. The rich creamy texture and taste is very appetizing. However typical store bought Nutella has a lot of added sugar not to mention other chemicals. In our pursuit to avoid added sugars, we went about creating our own Nutella. This has allowed us guilt-free indulgence, spreading loads on everything we fancy !
We started off by replacing processed sugar with a natural ingredient – Dates. Dates are rich in Iron besides providing good health benefits. If your kids are used to sweeter Nutella, just increase the number of dates. Soak the dates in warm water for 30 minutes. The dates must be completely immersed in the water. After 30 minutes check if the dates are soft and remove leftover pits (if any). Blend the dates to a smooth paste, if needed add a little warm water. The consistency is almost same as a spread.
Rest of the ingredients and method is fairly straightforward.
Remember to buy skinned blanced Hazelnuts or Filberts. Once we ended up buying Hazelnuts with skin and it took a lot of labor to roast and peel them off ! Roast the blanced hazelnuts in the oven until you get the nutty ‘nutella’ aroma.
This Nutella has a very rich Hazelnut flavor and taste.
Hope you are able to try this recipe and share with us how it turned out.
Homemade Nutella sweetened with Dates (no added sugar)
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb raw Blanced Hazelnuts
- 20 Dates softened in hot water
- 10 tbsps raw Cacao powder
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Roast Hazelnuts in oven at 250 F for 20 minutes. The nuts should turn a light brown color. Cool for 15 – 30 mins
- Process in a food processor until it becomes creamy like peanut butter. The creaminess or graininess is up to individual preference
- Add cacao powder, vanilla extract and salt and blend until combined
- Add date paste and mix well
- With processor running, add 1 cup of warm water in a thin stream until well combined with all the ingredients and you get a smooth creamy Nutella !
I have tried it its really good.
Lavanya’s signature recipe! 😊 Thanks for sharing. Honestly, I didn’t realize how easy this was to make.
First time trying a recipe with the dates as substitute for sugar and it came so well.My 5 year old enjoys the Nutella with her bread and chappathi . Thanks for sharing these wonderful recipes .