Nutella is one of those foods that is so delicious that I rarely buy it, because when I do I end up eating it by the spoonful. Although it’s billed as a chocolate hazelnut spread, neither of the first two ingredients of Nutella are hazelnuts–they’re sugar, and palm oil, in that order. So I was excited to make these chocolate hazelnut bites, which taste like a Nutella truffle. While you still probably shouldn’t eat the whole batch in one sitting (who I am to tell you what to do, though?), hazelnuts are actually filled with fats that are considered healthy, so these are both delicious and guilt-free.
Chocolate Hazelnut Bites
(Adapted from here.)
Makes approximately 20 balls.
2/3 cup roasted hazelnuts
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp shredded coconut
2 Tbsp agave
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp cocoa powder, divided
Blend the hazelnuts, coconut, and oats in a food processor, Vita-Mix, or high speed blender until they’re a fine powder.
Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder on a plate. Form the dough into small balls, then roll in the cocoa powder to coat. If dough is too sticky, chilling it in the refrigerator or flash-chilling it in the freezer helps make it easier to form into balls. Place balls in a container lined with wax paper, and store in the freezer.
According to an online calorie-calculator, each ball is about 32 calories.