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This Chocolate Hazelnut Smoothie tastes like you’re drinking a Nutella smoothie! Inspired by my homemade Nutella recipe, it’s naturally sweetened with fruit, and takes just minutes to prepare. 
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make this hazelnut smoothie, you’ll need just 4 simple ingredients:
- Hazelnuts (or hazelnut butter)
- Medjool dates
- Cacao powder
- Vanilla extract
Add water and ice, and the smoothie will be ready in no time!
How to Make It
To make this Nutella-inspired smoothie, blend together the hazelnuts, dates, cacao powder, vanilla, and water. There’s no need to remove the papery skins from the hazelnuts, unless you want to.
The blender should take care of them!
Blend until you can longer see any large pieces of dates or hazelnuts. Stop and scrape down the blender, as needed.
Once it’s smooth, you can add in some ice and blend again, until it has a slushy texture.
It reminds me of a milkshake, only without the milk. Start with less ice, and add more to taste. The more ice you add, the more diluted the flavor will be.
Adding more ice also adds bulk to this smoothie, so it will determine how full your glass will be.
Feel free to double or triple this recipe to make more, as needed. This is filling enough to act as a meal replacement (add a handful of spinach if you want some extra nutrients!) or you can split it into two smaller glasses for a sweet treat.
It reminds me of a healthy milkshake!
Substitutions
Need to make a swap? Here are some ideas.
- Dates. You can replace the dates with a frozen banana plus 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, for a similar sweetness level. In this case, it will taste more like a banana-hazelnut smoothie, rather than a rich chocolate one.
- Hazelnuts. This is key for the hazelnut smoothie, but you can use 2 tablespoons of hazelnut butter to replace the 1/4 cup of hazelnuts. Or try using 2 to 3 tablespoons of homemade Nutella, if you have some on hand already.
- Water. You are welcome to use milk instead of water here, but it’s not necessary. Almond milk is simply made from almonds + water, so you’re basically making hazelnut milk in this smoothie recipe already.
More Healthy Smoothie Recipes
- Strawberry Smoothie
- Coffee Smoothie
- Oatmeal Smoothie
- Apple Smoothie
- Zucchini Smoothie
- Pumpkin Smoothie
- Beet Smoothie
- Pineapple Smoothie
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water (6 ounces)
- 1/4 cup whole hazelnuts (35 grams; with or without skin)
- 1 heaping tablespoon raw cacao powder (7 grams)
- 4 Medjool dates , pitted (73 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla exract (1 gram)
- 6 large ice cubes
Instructions
- Combine the water, hazelnuts, cacao powder, dates, and vanilla in a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth. If you taste it now, keep in mind that the flavor will be diluted when you add the ice.
- Add in the ice cubes and blend again, until a slushy texture is achieved. If you use less ice, the flavor will be more concentrated, adn if you add more, the flavor will be diluted, so keep that in mind.
- Serve right away for the best taste and texture.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Chocolate Hazelnut Smoothie, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too.
I would like to know the best place to buy dates that aren’t dry or overpriced.
If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, they usually have the best price. Look for dates that are sold in a refrigerated section, as those are usually soft and squishy. I’ve also had good luck buying the larger boxes from Whole Foods or Costco. (The larger boxes are much better priced!)
One of my favorite smoothies. Easy to make although I find that I need to double the ice cubes that are made by my refrigerator. I also reduce the dates to 3 so it is not overly sweet. I purchase hazelnuts at Sprouts in their bulk section.
It was grainy so I added more milk and maple syrup
One of my favorite smoothies- seriously so good. It tastes like a delicious dessert treat but it’s healthy!! Don’t wait to make this one! Go get some hazelnuts today!
Really yummy and healthy as well! My only criticism is that the hazelnuts weren’t blended enough. Does anyone have an idea on how to fix that?
You can use hazelnut butter instead of the hazelnuts, for a creamier result!
Seriously delicious. I left out the ice cubes and I think it could be used as a topping for ice cream.