HEALTHY NUTELLA

Who doesn't like nutella. It's a childhood staple! Nutella with banana, smothered on a crepe, on strawberries, or just, on a spoon. It's delicious. And I wanted to make a healthier version. If you look at the ingredients of nutella, it's full of sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, milk, lecithin, and synthetic vanillin. Know what some of these ingredients are? Neither do I. 

When I was home last week in Los Angeles, my mom had a bag of hazelnuts, waiting to be roasted. I was going to put them in one of my favorite dishes, mushrooms with hazelnuts and dates, but I decided to try and make nutella instead. Nevertheless, it is so easy to make, you just need a few ingredients and a food processor. It's best to roast the hazelnuts rather than using them raw as it really brings out the flavor. 

Nutella is perfect for spreading on toast with banana and chia seeds, in smoothies, and is a great topping for chia seed pudding.

Ingredients:

2 cups raw hazelnuts

3 tbsp raw cacao

1/2 cup water (optional)

1/3 cup coconut sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes, just until they turn golden brown. Once cooled, place them in the food processor and add raw cacao and coconut sugar. Blend for about 10 - 15 minutes (yes it takes that long) and gradually add the water if the consistency is too thick.