Holy cow.
You’re going to have to trust me on this one: drop everything you’re doing right this instant and go make yourself some of this Healthy Nutella.
Actually, maybe you can stick around for just a minute more–at least until you get to the recipe–but then you better hurry! 
I have to be perfectly honest with you: giving up dairy, gluten, and processed sugar was not easy and is still sometimes pretty difficult, even almost two years later. I know what you’re thinking: “Duh! Of course it’s not easy!” I knew it would be hard, but some days are significantly harder than others. *(On a side note, I don’t say this to discourage anyone; it’s a lifestyle that becomes much easier with time and is certainly worth the effort). I realized pretty quickly in the beginning that there were many foods that I would have to give up or try to make on my own with the necessary adjustments. What I didn’t realize, though, was just how many of the foods that I loved contained one or more of these ingredients.
The day I realized that store-bought Nutella contained processed sugar and dairy was a very sad day indeed. I didn’t eat Nutella much as a kid, but it basically became a staple in my diet during college. I mean, who doesn’t want delicious chocolatey goodness spread on toast for breakfast every morning?! I know I do!
The problem was that I would wake up with tons of energy and prepare my breakfast by smearing Nutella on to a couple of slices of toast (and often spoon some straight from the jar and into my mouth), scarf everything down, rush off to class, and then, while sitting in class, I would get sleepy and start to doze off. I can recall plenty of times when my head began to bob and I would open my eyes to peer around and make sure no one else saw. Looking back, it makes so much sense; sugar is the number one ingredient in Nutella and I couldn’t stay awake because I was experiencing severe sugar crashes!
Flash forward to a few years later (when I gave up processed sugar and dairy), and I basically conceded that I wouldn’t be able to eat Nutella ever again.
Recently, though, I’ve been experimenting a lot with making different flavors of nut butters (I have a couple of recipes to share with you soon). It’s easy to just make up recipes on your own by throwing in whatever ingredients you love and have on hand, but remaking a recipe that’s extremely well-known can be a daunting task. I always wanted to make my own healthier version of Nutella, but I was afraid it wouldn’t be remotely as tasty as the real thing.
Well, I finally mustered up the courage to make my own Nutella and I’m so glad I did. Honestly, I’m pretty upset with myself for not trying this sooner! This Healthy Nutella is extremely easy to make, tastes AMAZING, and doesn’t contain ANY sugar or dairy. It turned out so much better than I could have ever imagined!
I must say, I’ve been really enjoying having toast with Healthy Nutella spread again for breakfast (….and for lunch, dinner, and dessert)
- 2½ cups hazelnuts
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup cacao powder
- 1½ tsp. powdered stevia
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- ⅔ cup almond milk
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and allow them to cool. When they’re cool enough to handle, rub the hazelnuts together in a towel to remove the skins. This is not very easy and some of the skins will remain on the hazelnuts, but it’s OK.
- Add the hazelnuts to a food processor or high-speed blender. Blend until the nuts have turned into a smooth butter.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor/blender and blend until fully combined. You may have to add more almond milk to get the spread completely smooth. Test and add more ingredients as needed.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Enjoy!
*I’ve submitted this recipe to Allergy Free Wednesday, Healthy Vegan Friday, and Gluten Free Fridays
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Uh-may-zzzing!! Regular nutella is just awful stuff! Gotta try this recipe out for myself! Thanks so much for sharing
Thank you! Yeah, I never realized how bad the original stuff is. But I really hope you like this version!
Oh my! This looks awesome. I’m glad you found a healthy alternative. No one should have to live without some version of Nutella
-Dana
I couldn’t agree with you more! Nor should anyone live without chocolate for breakfast
Yum! I first discovered Nutella in France almost 10 years ago! Now I definitely need to go pick up some hazelnuts to make your amazing version! Thank you!
Oh good, I hope you like this! I’ve already gone back to the store to buy more hazelnuts so I can make another batch
YUM!! I need to make this ASAP, I love Nutella so much!
I do too and I had missed it so much! I’ve become slightly obsessed again over the past few days
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I’m so excited to try this recipe! It’s such a great gift idea, too. I was wondering how long the nutella is usually good for?
I just made some last night! It comes together so fast and is addictively delicious
Mine typically doesn’t last long because I have no self-control whatsoever, but it will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
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Personally, I think it’s better than Nutella (I always thought Nutella was too sugary sweet/saccharine)! It’s not meant to taste exactly the same, but the concept is the same and the end result is much better for you!
Made this today and it rocks! So much better than I imagined.
I used xylitol instead of stevia (it needed a bit extra but I like it a little bitter) and added 4 tsp of coconut oil. I didn’t quite use all the cocao powder, just added to taste.
Thanks for the recipe!! Will definately make again.
I’m so glad you like it! I’m glad to hear that it’s yummy with xylitol, too–and I love coconut oil, so that sounds like a great addition!
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Thanks for the recipe! Could you mention the brand ingredients you made this with?
All I can say is: good recipe, wrong sweetener. I was really looking forward to trying this one, especially since I have never made anything with stevia before and was really excited about the prospect of enjoying sugar-free nutella. At first when I popped all the ingredients in the blender, I just started out with 1tsp of stevia, and when I tasted it, WOW. It was as bitter as a 35 year old single woman at her 24 year old sister’s wedding. I could barely even stand it! It was so bad that I had to proceed to add about a third of a cup of regular sugar to try to add some more sweetness and overpower the bitterness so I could salvage the $10 I spent on hazelnuts and cocoa powder. The bitterness is still there but more manageable now at least, and on the bright side it only has about 3-4 grams of sugar per serving versus the asinine amount that store-bought nutella contains. Maybe one day when I’m brave enough I’ll give it a go with a different sweetener, like splenda or something. But in the meantime, I’m not going to lie, I’m a little pissed (more so at myself for not understanding what I was getting myself into with stevia).
I’m really sorry it was so disappointing! I will say this though: you definitely need to test out different brands of stevia beforehand to find one that you like. All brands of stevia are NOT created equal. My favorite brand that I’ve tried so far is NuNaturals–it’s by far the least bitter stevia I’ve tried.
Thanks for the advice! I’ll see if I can get a hold of some of that instead!
Sure! I hope you like the results better next time (and please let me know what you think if you do try it again with another brand–maybe test with a little bit first to see what you think). I know what you mean though–I would have done the same thing b/c I can’t bear wasting anything!
I like Sweet Leaf Stevia. I wonder if you can use the liquid kind (Sweet Leaf’s Sweet Drops-Chocolate or Hazelnut is outstanding).
I’m sure you could–I haven’t tried it though so I’m not sure if the amounts of the other ingredients would be the same. You may have to adjust as you go
I was just wondering if you used cacao or cocoa? also was wondering if you think i could replace the stevia with maple syrup or something simillar? thanks
I use raw cacao powder (more nutrients and no added ingredients). I haven’t tried it with maple syrup, but it should work (although it may require quite a bit of maple syrup and you’ll probably want to use less almond milk)
Have you ever tried liquid stevia? I’ve heard it’s less bitter, but I’m not sure if it will change the consistency…
I love NuNaturals liquid stevia and use it all the time (I get it from iHerb)! I agree, it is a bit less bitter
Um, isn’t that chocolate covered katie’s recipe, uncredited?
It is similar, though that wasn’t intentional. There are actually quite a few recipes out there now for vegan, healthy Nutella that are similar…and if I do get inspiration from a particular recipe, I always make sure to cite it. In this case it was purely coincidence.