This Creamy Chocolate Spread Is Rich, Sweet… and Surprisingly Healthy

This Homemade Nutella couldn't be easier to make! Just a few ingredients, and lower in sugar than the regular kind and oil and refined sugar free. A smooth, nutty, rich and creamy chocolate hazelnut spread that you will want to put on everything. Just grab a spoon! There is also a dairy free option too, so you can have delicious vegan Nutella.

A bowl of chocolate nutella next to a towel and some strawberries.

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Nutella is a popular brand of a chocolate-hazlenut spread and it is super moreish. It is seen as a breakfast choice in many countries across the world, but store-bought Nutella isn't the healthiest breakfast choice and might leave you with a sugar crash a couple of hours later.

We have lightened it up a bit - there's no palm oil, it's refined sugar-free (but it's still nice and sweet), which means you can still enjoy healthy Nutella for breakfast (or any time of the day), but it's a little bit more nutritious. It's sweetened with a few dates and a little maple syrup and just 53 calories per portion.

Looking for some other sweet breakfasts? Why not try our quick Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, easy Banana Porridge and our delicious Healthy French Toast?

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Healthy Nutella Ingredients
How To Make Homemade Nutella
Ways To Use Healthy Nutella
Dannii's Top Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Spread Recipes
Recipe
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Healthy Nutella Ingredients

All the ingredients needed for this recipe with text overlay labels.

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Hazelnuts - This is the star of the healthy Nutella and what gives it the incredible nutty flavour. Roasting the raw hazelnuts really does give the best flavour. If you don't want to roast them, then buy skinless hazelnuts.
Vanilla - This adds a real warmth to the chocolate spread. Make sure to use extract, rather than essence, as you will get a more natural flavour.
Cocoa powder - We used unsweetened cocoa powder and it gives it a lovely intense chocolate flavour and richness. Use the best quality cocoa powder you can, as you will be able to taste the difference. Use raw cacao powder for a more intense flavour.
Milk - This helps to loosen the Nutella up. If you wanted to make this dairy free, then use a dairy free alternative. You could leave the milk out and use coconut oil instead, which would make it lovely silky smooth.
Dates - This adds some natural sweetness to the recipe, and a lovely flavour too. Medjool dates have the best flavour.
Maple syrup - Along with the dates, this is what we have used to sweeten the recipe. Just a little goes a long way. Try to use pure maple syrup.
Sea salt - We add a pinch of salt, because it balances out the sweetness and really enhances the chocolate flavor. You could leave this out though.

More ingredient substitutions and variations can be found in the recipe card.

How To Make Homemade Nutella

Prep: Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C(fan)/350°F/Gas 4. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Boil your kettle.

Hazelnuts spread over a lined baking tray.

Step 1: Spread the hazelnuts over the lined baking tray in a single layer and put into the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Put the dates into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak.

Roasted hazelnuts with their skins removed.

Step 3: Once roasted, work quickly to remove the skins from the roasted hazelnuts as they are easier to remove whilst still warm. Don't worry if some stubborn ones still have skin on.

Step 4: Process the nuts in a high powered blender until a smooth nut butter forms.
When blending, trust the process. The hazelnuts will go from whole, to a floury mixture which will seem like nothing is happening. But keep scraping the sides down and blending and it will all start to smooth out. Scraping it down gives the blender breaks too, so it doesn't overheat.

Cocoa powder and dates added to the blended hazelnuts.

Step 5: Drain the dates and add to the hazelnut butter along with the cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla and milk.

Chocolate spread processed in a blender.

Step 6: Process again to combine everything into a smooth chocolate spread.

Ways To Use Healthy Nutella

To be honest, we are happy to just eat it out of a jar with a spoon. But that isn't the healthiest choice. Luckily, there are so many different ways to serve this and here are some of our favourites:

Dip apple slices in it
Put it on microwave porridge
Make our Nutella Waffles
Use it to make hot chocolate
Spread on our Healthy Banana Bread
On toast
As a pancake topping
On waffles
To make our Nutella Smoothie
In a croissant
Melted and drizzled over ice cream
Dip strawberries in it
As a cake frosting

A slice of toast with chocolate spread on it.

Dannii's Top Tips

If you are trying to convince your kids that this is the real thing, then after you have finished a jar of Nutella you can wash it out and fill it with this. They will never know!
You need a high powdered food processor to make this. You can use a blender, but you won't get a really creamy and smooth Nutella.
Blending time will depend on the blender that you are using. Some will take longer than others.
To make this healthy Nutella really smooth, you could add a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil to it. This would change the flavour a little though and change the nutritional information.
The more full your food processor is, the easier it will be to blend the ingredients. So, if you doubled the batch of this, it would blend faster. But then you would have a lot of Nutella - not that that is a bad thing.
If you want to make it softer when it comes out of the fridge, spoon out your serving and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

A bowl full of chocolate spread with a jar of the spread in the background.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a different nut?

Yes, if you don't like the taste of hazelnuts, or you don't have any, then you can swap them for almonds or peanuts in this recipe. Have you tried our Honey and Vanilla Almond Butter?

How to store healthy Nutella

Because our recipe contains milk, it doesn't store as long as it would if you just used oil and it does need to be refrigerated. You will need to keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it will keep fresh for a week to 10 days. If you want to keep it for longer, you will need to swap the milk for oil. If you use oil instead of milk, it will store in a jar in a cupboard for up to 2 weeks.

Can you freeze homemade Nutella?

No, you cannot freeze this. Once it is defrosted, it will not be smooth and creamy. Instead, it will be thick and crumbly and nobody wants that!

Why is my Nutella so thick?

If you find that your homemade Nutella is too thick (this really is a preference thing), then you can add a teaspoon of melted coconut oil, until it is your preference consistency.

More Spread Recipes

If you've tried this homemade Nutella recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

Recipe

Homemade Healthier Nutella

By: Dannii Martin

This Homemade Nutella couldn't be easier to make! Just 6 ingredients, and lower in sugar than the regular kind, it's delicious for breakfast or a snack.

Gluten Free

Vegetarian

5 from 15 votes

Pin Print Save recipe

Course: Sauce/Spread

Cuisine: British, Italian

Prep: 15

Cook: 10

Total: 25

Servings: 33 servings

Calories: 53kcal

Allergens:

Dairy

Nuts

Ingredients

▢ 200 g (1.66 cups) Hazelnuts
▢ 8 Medjool dates - stoned removed
▢ Boiled water
▢ 60 g (0.5 cups) Cocoa powder
▢ 2 tablespoon Maple syrup
▢ 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
▢ 125 ml (0.5 cups) Whole milk

For ingredient swaps, see our Ingredients and Substitutions section

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C(fan)/350°F/Gas 4. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Boil your kettle.
Put 8 Medjool dates into a bowl and cover with Boiled water. Leave to soak.
Spread 200 g Hazelnuts over the lined baking tray and put into the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Once roasted, work quickly to remove the skins from the hazelnuts as they are easier to remove whilst still warm. Don't worry if some stubborn ones still have skin on.
Process the nuts in a high powered blender until a smooth nut butter forms.When blending, trust the process. The hazelnuts will go from whole, to a floury mixture which will seem like nothing is happening. But keep scraping the sides down and blending and it will all start to smooth out. Scraping it down gives the blender breaks too, so it doesn't overheat.
Drain the dates and add to the hazelnut butter along with 60 g Cocoa powder, 2 tablespoon Maple syrup, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract and 125 ml Whole milk.
Process the mixture on high until it is smooth. Transfer to a jar and store for up to 1 week in the fridge.

Recipe Tips

If you are trying to convince your kids that this is the real thing, then after you have finished a jar of Nutella you can wash it out and fill it with this. They will never know!
You need a high powdered food processor to make this. You can use a blender, but you won't get a really creamy and smooth Nutella.
Blending time will depend on the blender that you are using. Some will take longer than others.
To make this healthy Nutella really smooth, you could add a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil to it. This would change the flavour a little though.
The more full your food processor is, the easier it will be to blend the ingredients. So, if you doubled the batch of this, it would blend faster. But then you would have a lot of Nutella - not that that is a bad thing.
If you really wanted to, you could even make this recipe sugar free. It would taste very bitter though.
Make sure to sift your cocoa powder if it is clumpy.
You can add a pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness of the sugar and the nuttiness of the hazelnuts.
If you want to make it softer when it comes out of the fridge, spoon out your serving and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.