Healthy Nutella Brownie No-Bake Bites

These no bake bliss balls combine Nutella flavors and fudge brownies, but healthier, more balanced and lower glycemic. These healthy Nutella brownie bites are also so easy to put together and a great Mediterranean Diet dessert option. Perfect as an afternoon energy boosting snack, or to serve a crowd.

 
Chocolate brownie balls on crinkled parchment on rustic wood bread board on white wood table with a white linen napkin and scattered hazelnuts and cocoa powder..
 

What’s better than Nutella Brownie Balls? Healthy Nutella Brownie Balls. I’m always a little surprised at how these healthy bliss balls taste so satisfying, and similar to the ‘real thing.’ In this Nutella brownie bite recipe, the sweetness is adjustable to your preference. You can adjust the sweetness by adding more or less honey in this recipe.

Everyone knows the delicious flavor of Nutella, the magic paring of roasted hazelnuts and chocolate. In homemade Nutella, or chocolate hazelnut spread, the ingredients are actually healthy. Nutella is less healthy when made with processed ingredients. You can easily make homemade Nutella desserts healthier by simply mixing roasted hazelnuts with chocolate and little natural sweetener.


Why Nutella is Bad For You

Don’t shoot the messenger, but Nutella is not healthy. It’s made with pro-inflammatory ingredients like sugar, being the first ingredient. The second ingredient is palm oil, meaning there’s a good amount added. Palm oil has potential negative health effects, and is best avoided for people with leaky gut and digestive inflammation/symptoms. Palm oil is also harvested through deforestation and is rarely eco friendly or sustainable. Soy lecithin is another ingredient, which is commonly GMO with heavy pesticide (Round Up/Glyphosate) use and residue.

The good news is that you can find healthier versions of Nutella from other brands, or make your own in recipes like this one.

About TBH Nutella

This 'clean’ brand has become more popular for those looking for a healthier alternative to Nutella. TBH chocolate hazelnut spread seems to be better than traditional Nutella but is not as good as simply making your own with real ingredients. It’s still processed and contains sugar, non-organic corn fiber (often GMO, and also why?), cocao powder (processed, minimizing health benefits of chocolate), sunflower lecithin to emulsify, ‘natural flavors’ (could be thousands of unregulated additives) and monk fruit for sweetness (not inherently bad, but can have a weird aftertaste like other no sugar sweeteners).

About the ingredients in this recipe

Hazelnuts

Nuts are an important part of the Mediterranean Diet. Hazelnuts in particular offer fiber and nutrients like vitamin E, some B vitamins, magnesium, copper, manganese, potassium and zinc, as well as antioxidants. Eating them in their whole, unprocessed form allows you to get the most nutritional value out of them. I roast them at a low temperature to help preserve their nutrients, and keep some of the skins on for add antioxidant power.

Oat Flour

Oat flour is the easy to find (and make at home) and I love the flavor and texture. It’s high in fiber with slow digesting and resistant starches. They boost gut health and help keep your blood sugar stable. Oats are a lower glycemic grain. They also offer nutrients like zinc, B vitamins, manganese, copper, phosphorus and selenium, as well as antioxidants and phytonutrients.

Raw Honey

I use raw honey as the main sweetener because it can have potent healing properties and adds such a great sweetness that pairs easily with any dessert.

Cacao Powder & Dark Chocolate

I don’t use processed cocoa powder, but instead cacao powder. This retains the health properties of chocolate, and you can use it exactly the same way as cocoa powder. I usually grab the Navitas brand. Both cacao powder and dark chocolate have the same nutritional properties, offering some protein, vitamins and minerals. If dark chocolate is too stimulating for you (sadly, it is for me sometimes), you can substitute the dark chocolate for milk chocolate in this recipe. The cacao powder can’t really be substituted though.

Ingredients to make nutella brownie bliss ball energy bites including honey, vanilla extract, hazelnuts, oats, salt, dates, dark chocolate and cacao powder on a white wood table.

Recipe

Makes 12 Nutella Brownie Bites

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts

  • 2 tsp filtered water

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1-2 deglet dates

  • 1-2 tbsp raw honey

  • 1 square (1/8 dark chocolate bar), broken into pieces

  • 1/8 tsp sea salt

  • 2 tsp cacao powder

  • 1/2 cup oat flour


Directions

  1. First roast the hazelnuts in an oven heated to 300F. They only take a few minutes, so start checking on them as soon as they’re fragrant (set a timer, they’re easy to forget about!). You want them golden brown. Allow to cool.

  2. Grind roasted hazelnuts in a food processor with the water until creamy, this takes a few minutes. You can stop and scrape the sides and bottom corner every 30 seconds or so.

  3. Add in the rest of the ingredients except for the oat flour. Blend until it becomes a thick batter.

  4. Add in oat flour 1/4 cup at a time, blend until incorporated. At this point you can taste and adjust to your preferences.

  5. Roll into 12 balls, 2 tsp of batter each. You need to squeeze it together and then roll.

  6. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes before serving!


 
 
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