Nutella
Thick hazelnut chocolate spread without any added sugar or palm oil, this sugar free Nutella is so quick and easy to make!
Have you seen the ingredients that are in real Nutella? Take a look at this image which shows them in layers. With 58% being sugar it’s really not a great choice to add into a diet complicated with diabetes.
This sugar free Nutella is so quick and easy to make and with just 3g carbs compared to real Nutella’s 8.6g per 15g serving with these carbs mainly coming from the hazelnuts this is a much better choice!
Please note: this nutella whilst much lower in carbs, may not be enough to pair bread or toast alone. It will depend on your tolerance to the bread you’re using and may need some additional pairing. It is however a great addition to low carb pancakes, yogurt, cream or a low carb ice cream!
You do not have to add any sweeteners to this sugar free Nutella if you do not wish to use them, however if you’re looking for that very sweet hazelnut chocolate spread then you will need some additional sweetness.
I recommend using powdered erythritol in this recipe as it is a natural sweetener and being powdered it easily mixes into the spread, bearing in mind there is no cooking or heating to dissolve the sweetener and so a crystalised or granulated sweetener such as xylitol will leave the spread far too grainy in texture.
The brand of powdered erythritol that I used is NKD Living which I purchase from Amazon in 1kg bags. This erythritol is just like the consistency of icing sugar which means it blends well. I use this erythritol in the majority of my GD recipes, so a large bag does not go to waste.
If you cannot find powdered erythritol (as it usually needs to be purchased online), or it is out of your price range, you can use Total Sweet xylitol instead BUT it will need to be ground down into a icing sugar consistency. It is also worth noting that if you suffer from gastric conditions such as IBS, you may find xylitol triggers your symptoms whereas erythritol has no impact.
Artificial powdered sweeteners such as sucralose (like Splenda) or aspartame (like Canderel) can be used but they may raise blood glucose levels slightly and can leave a bitter aftertaste.
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 200 grams hazelnuts whole blanched nuts
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 2 tbsp erythritol powdered sweetener (optional) or ground xylitol to taste
- 1 tbsp coconut cream (optional) to taste
Instructions
- Add the hazelnuts and coconut oil into a food processor and blitz until smooth (approx. 5-10 minutes) You can make the nutella as thick or as smooth as you like. The longer you blitz, the smoother and more runny the nutella will be. Keep stopping the food processor every few minutes to scrape down the sides with a spatula to ensure all the hazelnuts are being blitzed
- Add the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and pulse to combine well
- Taste the nutella and add powdered erythritol or finely ground xylitol to taste. You can also add some coconut cream (or double cream) into the Nutella to give a more milk chocolate type taste. Start with a tbsp, mix, then taste and add more as required
- Pour the nutella into a jar with a lid and place into the fridge to set. At room temperature the Nutella will be more soft and runny. If you want a thicker spread, it is best kept in the fridge which produces a thick spreadable chocolate spread
