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!
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
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C)
- 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.
- Melt the coconut oil (in a microwave) and pour it over the dry mixture. Mix everything together with a spoon.
- Next add 1/4 cup maple syrup and mix everything until well combined.
- 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.
- Allow to cool and store in a seal tight container.