nutella ela vegan

Ela Vegan

Nutella is one of the world’s top-selling spreads, a blend of hazelnuts and chocolate with milk, refined sugar and palm oil. Why the Vegetarian Society is licensing its new plant-based version is anyone’s guess (please will someone tell the Vegan And Vegetarian societies, that there is no such thing as ‘sustainable palm oil‘. According to Greenpeace, this term has no legal meaning and is as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Not so long ago, Hope the orangutan was shot 74 times (she was blinded and her baby died on the way to the sanctuary). Orangutan babies have been found clinging to mothers burned to the ground, by ‘sustainable palm oil’ companies. Licensing such products, just makes the term accepted. The whole of point of being vegan is to save all animals, not just some and forget about the others.

Obviously keep any Nutella away from young children and pets, due to nuts and chocolate. Read more on food safety for people and pets.

How to Make Your Own Vegan Nutella 

homemade nutella

Homemade Nutella (Happy Vegannie) only needs a few ingredients, is super-simple to make and tastes delicious. More hazelnuts, and no animal ingredients, refined sugar, palm oil or packaging. And it’s cheaper too. All you need are hazelnuts, brown sugar and cocoa powder.

Where To Buy Good Vegan Nutella

Meridian chocca spread

Meridian Chocca Spread is not just vegan and free from palm, but this charity jar donates a portion of proceeds from each sale to orange welfare charities. It contains hazelnuts with peanuts and hazelnuts, along with cocoa.

Mr Organic Dairy-Free Chocolate Hazelnut Spread has a deep flavour blended rich cocoa and toasted hazelnuts from Italy for a sweet nutty spread. No palm oil – so you know what you have to do – stir the jar! That’s the reason main brands import palm oil. Grab your spoon and save orangutans!

bio hazelnut cocoa spread

Bettr Hazelnut Cocoa Spread is not just vegan, but also free from palm oil. Made with organic ingredients, it’s sweetened with coconut sugar and sold in a zero waste jar with metal lid, so easy to recycle. We also like their strawberry cashew spread and raspberry rumble cashew nuts.

raspberry rumble bio cashewnuts

Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Recipes

vegan choc hazelnut mousse

Nutella is basically a flavour combination of chocolate and hazelnut. So if you’re a fan of Nutella, you will love the taste of these simple recipes.

This Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse (Full of Plants) only has 5 ingredients, and is naturally sweetened with coconut sugar.

vegan chocolate hazelnut fudge

Nutella Fudge (Rainbow Plant Life) only has 5 ingredients. It uses toasted hazelnuts, to taste a bit like Ferrero Rocher.

almost raw nutella cake

Try this almost-raw nutella cake (Sophie Bourdon) is made with just a few wholesome ingredients, and sweetened with dates.

no-bake nutella cake

No-Bake Nutella Cake (Rainbow Plant Life) only needs a few ingredients, and nearly all the work is done by your food processor.

vegan choc hazelnut tart

Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Tart (Crowded Kitchen) features a hazelnut crust, dense choc ganache centre and crunchy crushed hazelnuts. US-style Graham crackers can be replaced by plain digestive biscuits (most contain palm oil, so sub with any vegan biscuits by Mr Organic or Rhythm 108 that are palm-oil-free).

Do You Really Spoil Us, Ambassador?

vegan ferrero rocher

Fererro Rocher is touted as a ‘luxury chocolate treat’. When it has no better ingredients than cheaply-made chocolate bars (factory-farmed milk, refined sugar, palm oil). Using the flavour combination of chocolate and hazelnuts, again it’s easy to make your own:

These homemade ferrero rocher (Ela Vegan) only need a few ingredients, and are super-simple to make. Sweetened with maple syrup, firm in the fridge for 30 minutes, or freeze, where they will keep for a few months.

Is Nutella Really Good for Breakfast?

calcium gang

Image

That would be a resounding no. The brand markets that it is good as part of a healthy breakfast, due to the milk containing calcium?

You may remember there was controversy in the media recently, when Nutella was taken to court by a mother, who claimed the spread was not as healthy as advertised. The case was lost, with many quite rightly suggesting that parents should read the labels and understand them, rather than buy a product and take the maker to court.

Gianduia (a chocolate hazelnut) spread has been around for almost 200 years, as a way to add protein to chocolate, back when hazelnuts were grown everywhere. Italian chocolatier Pietro Ferrero then created the official brand which continues his name today.

However, moden Nutella spread has very little hazelnuts and lots of not-very-healthy ingredients. The milk for sure is not from grass-fed, free-range cows. Eating refined sugar for breakfast is not good, and the palm oil isn’t either. It also contains vanillin, which is basically a cheap way of adding vanilla, without adding real vanilla.

The truth is that there is no ‘bad food’ nutritionally. As long as it’s ethical, a little bit of anything won’t do harm. But feeding refined sugar palm-oil-laden spread each morning for breakfast, is obviously not good.

If a child has chocolate hazelnut spread on white toast for breakfast, this is not good. But a wholesome bowl of porridge with fruit (and perhaps a little organic choc hazelnut spread drizzled on top) is likely fine.

I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say you’re probably not spreading Nutella on celery sticks. It’s going on toast (probably the gluten-packed white kind). When the sugar from the refined carbs meets the sugar  from chocolate spread, boom! There goes your energy and blood sugar balance for the day. Meghan Telper (nutritionist)

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