Homemade Nutella Covered Bananas

 Good morning friends! This week is crazy busy for us and the week is getting away from me already. I don't normally do a recipe on a Wednesday, but it was all I had time for this week-- so we're sticking with it! This is one of our favorite plant-based desserts lately.

Why make my own Nutella? Back in college I had never heard of Nutella before, when a friend introduced me to it as a "healthy snack". At 19 years old I didn't think to read the nutrition label, I just took her word for it... and my obsession with Nutella began. My favorite way to eat it was to put it on a banana for breakfast and then head to class. Delicious! Fast forward a few years and someone saw me eating Nutella and said "Oh I love that stuff but it's so bad for you". I proceeded to tell this person "oh no, ____ said it was healthy. This is a healthy snack". Thank God for the kind friend who was like "ummm.. no. The main ingredient in that is pure sugar". It turns out that one serving size (and I wasn't stopping at one serving size) has 21 grams of sugar.. yikes. So I had to give up my love for Nutella and only have it once in awhile. 

Fast forward several years later and I realized I could try to make my own, without the sugar. Why not just use nuts and chocolate? It probably doesn't need all that extra sugar anyway. So I made it, loved it, and now our family eats the homemade kind. We drizzle it on bananas like you'll see below, but we also drizzle it on popcorn, strawberries, pretzels, etc. It's good on just about anything!

Here's What You'll Need:

- 3 cups hazelnuts (or you could use peanuts or macadamia nuts-- your choice!)

- 1.5 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

- 1 banana per person

1. Peel bananas, wrap up in aluminum foil, and pop in the freezer. They don't need to be completely frozen, but definitely taste better if chilled.

2. Add nuts to a high powered blender and blend until they resemble a creamy paste. Basically it should look like a thick, dry peanut butter. Do not add water, even though it looks like it needs it!

3. Melt chocolate chips in a small saucepan over the stovetop, stirring constantly. Once chocolate has melted, pour it into the blender with the nuts. Blend again to combine the chocolate and the nuts. Now it should look like Nutella consistency. 

4. Take your bananas out of the freezer and put them on a plate. Using a spoon, drizzle homemade Nutella over your banana. You can also try dipping your banana in it-- whatever works for you! 

I put the leftovers in a jar in the fridge, then heat some up whenever we are ready to use it. 

Enjoy!