Before I turned vegan, I used to love a Ferrero Rocher. There’s something about the combination of hazelnuts and chocolate that’s always been a favourite of mine. They were always something that we always use to have at Christmas too.
This is my homemade, healthier version of the classic. It hasn’t got the crispy wafter inside but they still taste amazing. A whole hazelnut encased in a date and nut mixture that’s covered in dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts. What’s not to love?
They are super easy to make too. Simply blend medjool dates with some hazelnut butter, cacoa powder and raw, unsalted hazelnuts and you have yourself an addictive treat.
You can eat them just like this or for added indulgence you can mix some melted dark chocolate with some chopped hazelnuts and dip each one to fully coat. Amazing either way!
The simple list of ingredients is:
- Hazelnuts
- Medjool dates
- Chocolate hazelnut butter
- Cacao powder
- Dark chocolate chips
- Sea salt, optional
Give them a try yourself and let me know what you think in the comments.
Recipe Tips
- I use a homemade chocolate hazelnut butter for this recipe. If you don’t have time to make this, a shop-bought one is fine. Try to find one with minimal additional ingredients and low sugar if you can.
- If you prefer another nut or seed butter then please substitute with that. Just keep the quantities the same. I’ve tried them with almond butter as well as peanut butter and they both taste amazing (just a little less chocolatey!).
- I have used dark chocolate chips in this recipe, but any dark chocolate will do. Just try and make sure it is at least 70% cocoa solids and that way it’s more chocolatey and less sugary!
- The same goes for the cacao powder– try and use a high quality, organic one if you can. Cocoa powder will work too, if you can’t find cacao.
- I don’t add maple syrup or any additional sweetener to these energy balls as I think the dates are sweet enough with the dates. If you have a particularly sweet tooth, feel free to add a tbsp or two of maple syrup.
If you liked this recipe, why not try:
Ferrero Rocher Energy Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnuts (140g)
- 12 large medjool dates pitted
- ¼ cup chocolate hazelnut butter (60g)
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- Pinch of sea salt optional
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (75g)
- ¼ cup chopped hazelnuts (35g)
- 15 hazelnuts for the middle
Instructions
- Add the pitted dates, 1 cup hazelnuts, cacao powder, salt and hazelnut butter to a food processor. Blend until sticky. If your dates are harder, add 1 tbsp of water and blend again.
- Separate the mixture into 15 equal pieces and push a hazelnut into the centre of each one. Roll into a ball and refrigerate whilst you melt the chocolate.
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Mix in the chopped nuts and coat each ball in the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate again until the chocolate is hard.
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