Chocolate. Hazelnut. Spread.

The inventor of Nutella was a genius.

The nutty flavor combined with chocolate tastes like heaven in your mouth.

Since I’ve been cutting back on refined sugar I just HAD to try some of the “Nutella” alternative recipes you see popping up everywhere. So far I haven’t found a perfect dupe yet. The consistency combined with its flavor is just unique. But it did led me to buying a whole lot of hazelnuts.

So when I wanted to make a batch of granola I came across my stash of hazelnuts.

And that’s when a lightbulb went off.

What if I make Chocolate Hazelnut GRANOLA?

This recipe is a mix of “nutola” and granola. Half nuts and half oats. I used gluten free oats in my recipe so my GF-BF can enjoy it too.

I used hazelnuts with their ‘skins’ but this gives the granola a slightly bitter flavor. So feel free to use skinless hazelnuts!

Instead of refined sugar I used maple syrup to sweeten this granola. Make sure to use the dark, ‘real’ kind. Maple syrup contains minerals and anti-oxidants that make it a better choice over table sugar any day.

If you have a very sweeth tooth you can use 1/2 cup of maple syrup instead of 1/4 cup.

I decided to keep the other ingredients fairly simple to really make the toasted hazelnuts and chocolate flavor stand out!

Print

Healthy "Nutella" Granola

Course Breakfast, Snack

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups (gluten-free) oats
• 2 cups hazelnuts
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 1/4 cup Maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C)
2. Blitz the nuts in a food processor until they are roughly chopped. Add the nuts to the oats. At this point also add the cacao powder and cinnamon powder.
3. Melt the coconut oil (in a microwave) and pour it over the dry mixture. Mix everything together with a spoon.
4. Next add 1/4 cup maple syrup and mix everything until well combined.
5. Spread the mix on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes. Turn the mixture a few times to make sure it bakes evenly.
6. Allow to cool and store in a seal tight container.