FODMAP-Friendly, Vegan Nutella

It seems like all the friends & family I’ve talked to (on the phone, Zoom, from 6 feet away across the street, etc.) recently have all been craving comfort food, & I’m in the same boat!

Dark chocolate is one of my faaavorite comfort foods (& foods in general, to be honest). & like so many others, I absolutely love the combination of chocolate & hazelnuts, especially in the form of Nutella.

But when I look at a Nutella nutrition label, I’m not a big fan of the fact that the 1st 2 ingredients are sugar & palm oil, which means there’s more sugar & oil in the product than either chocolate or hazelnuts! 😔

I still enjoy Nutella once in a while, but I don’t keep it in the house (I know the limits of my willpower. 😂) & now I’ve made this homemade version that I love even more than the original!

Things I love about this recipe (besides the taste):

• You control the sweetener content. If you are OK with it being less sweet, make it even healthier by decreasing the maple syrup amount.

• For anyone with IBS or gut issues: maple syrup is FODMAP-diet friendly! Hooray!

• Dark chocolate unsweetened cocoa powder can be a great source of antioxidants

• Use your non-dairy milk of choice to make it vegan

Doctor-Approved, FODMAP-Friendly, Vegan Homemade Nutella

(Recipe from the amazing Chocolate Covered Katie, with a few slight changes)

• 2 cups organic raw hazelnuts

• 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• ¼ cup pure maple syrup

• ½ milk of choice

Roast hazelnuts for 8-10 minutes at 400 F. Rub them together in a paper towel or against the cookie sheet to get the skins off as much as possible (even if half the skins still stay on it will be OK). In a food processor, blend the nuts until they’ve turned to butter, then add all other ingredients and blend a long time until it’s smooth like Nutella!

P.S. If you let it sit in the refrigerator the consistency will thicken.

Healthy serving ideas I’ve tried & loved:

• As a dip for strawberries (or your fruit or berry of choice)

• A topping for guilt-free banana “nice cream” (freeze peeled bananas & blend till you get a creamy texture)

• As a topping on Ezekiel bread to add fiber into your diet – the increased fiber intake helps slow down the absorption of glucose into your system.

• A spoonful by itself 😋

Because we all have enough to worry about, you deserve a guilt-free way to eat a favorite treat! Enjoy!