Raw Nutella Bites
Updated: Aug 6, 2020
Who does not like chocolate?! And especially in combination with roasted hazelnuts?! It is an explosion of chocolate goodness in your mouth. This classical chocolate-hazelnut flavor gets re-born in the form of energy bites. These sweet treats are raw and made with only three ingredients.
Everybody has tried the famous Nutella spread at least once in their life. One of the main advantages of Nutella lies in the combination of chocolate and hazelnuts in a smooth and silky spread. This combination is so irresistible that many people eat the Nutella spread straight out of the jar.
Though very delicious, that Nutella spread is far from guilt-free. Its main ingredients are sugar and vegetable oils (usually palm oil). The Nutella spread actually contains very few hazelnuts compromising its nutty flavor. In the process of healthifying the Nutella spread, I came up with this recipe for energy bites that I call Nutella bites. As the name suggests, the bites recreate the chocolate-hazelnut flavor of the Nutella spread while being completely raw and natural.
This recipe calls for a homemade hazelnut butter and the Nutella bites taste best when prepared from scratch. That is because nothing can beat the taste of freshly prepared hazelnut butter. However, the recipe will also be successful with an unsweetened store-bought hazelnut butter.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup hazelnut butter (homemade preferred)
10-12 Medjool dates (pitted)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
Preparation:
To prepare the Nutella bites, you simply need to mix all the ingredients in a food processor and process them until you obtain a homogeneous consistency. The mixture should be sticky enough to facilitate the forming of the balls. If that is not the case, add more dates (one date at a time).
Form balls out of the mixture. You can coat the balls in cacao powder, crushed hazelnuts or other nuts of your preference. Put the Nutella bites in the fridge for 30 minutes to set. Enjoy them with a cup of hot tea or coffee or simply as a decadent (yet healthy) afternoon snack!
The recipe makes approximately 20 small to medium bites.
Tips:
You can use other types of dates, just keep in mind that you need to adjust the amount of dates you put in the mixture as the Medjool dates are usually larger than most of the other types of dates.
Start with 10 Medjool dates and if you need to adjust the consistency (and/or the sweetness), add more dates.
Please note that the bites may become slightly oily if the hazelnut butter is super smooth, e.g. if the hazelnuts have released their oils entirely. That is completely normal as the hazelnuts are one of the oiliest nuts.