VEGAN NUTELLA CHOCOLATE PIE BARS
Yup, you read that right. Vegan Nutella Chocolate Pie Bars. These will remind you of a smooth, luscious chocolate cream pie, but full of wholesome ingredients. There is a hidden veggie in these, my favorite in fact, zucchini. Yet, you will have no clue. We’ve all seen zucchini muffins, zucchini bread, cake, etc. but zucchini cream pie bars is a new one, and you will love it. These are one of my favorite creations, ever. Vegan, gluten-free, raw, dairy-free Nutella bars and all with just 8 easy ingredients, total, including the crust.
Are you wondering why I came up with vegan nutella chocolate pie bars? Well, my blog is being featured in the online magazine, Vegetarians In Paradise. The only requirement was that it had to involve zucchini. I didn’t want to do the obvious, savory, and I didn’t want to do what would be expected in a dessert, such as muffins or bread. My first thought was a chocolate pie, but then I thought, pie bars sound a lot better, easier and they turned out more beautiful than I imagined. Seriously, one of my best creations so far. SO creamy and velvety.
If you don’t like zucchini, don’t worry, you cannot see, taste or will even have a clue there is zucchini in these. The key is using a fine grater to get the zucchini in tiny pieces, not shredded pieces.
These have the best of both worlds:
Crunch from all the chopped hazelnuts and a luxuriously, smooth, creamy pie filling from melted chocolate, almond butter, coconut cream and ZUCCHINI!
Tastes like pie, but more rustic and easier to just grab a bar when the craving strikes. You can eat them by hand, or grab a plate and fork and slowly savor each bite. Enjoy!
Other Chocolatey Hazelnut Desserts:
- Cinnamon Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan & Gluten-free)
- Raw Vegan Nutella Brownies
- Chocolate Hazelnut Raspberry Brownies
Vegan Nutella Chocolate Pie Bars
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1 cup (150g) whole almonds
- 1/2 cup (64g) chopped hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons (40g) pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
FILLING
- 1 cup (190g) mini dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)
- 1/4 cup (60g) canned lowfat coconut milk, room temperature OR your favorite creamy milk
- 2 tablespoons (32g) creamy almond butter
- 1 teaspoon (5g) vanilla
- 1/4 cup finely grated (loosely packed zucchini (about 1/2 of a medium zucchini)
- 1/4 cup (32g) chopped hazelnuts
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Line a 9X5 loaf pan with plastic wrap (not parchment) with it hanging over the sides for easy removal later. Add the almonds to a food processor and process until a fine flour forms. Add the hazelnuts and pulse again until the mixture resembles almond meal. Add the syrup and vanilla and pulse a few times, just until clumps form. Press the dough into the prepared pan, flat and hard, evenly out to the edges. Really pat down hard and flat. Set aside.
- Add the chocolate chips to a glass bowl and melt either over a double boiler or in 30 second intervals in the microwave until melted, stirring after each 15-30 seconds. Stir the chocolate until completely smooth and pour into the food processor.
- Add the coconut milk, almond butter, vanilla and salt and process until completely smooth.
- Finely grate 1/2 of a medium zucchini and measure a loosely packed 1/4 cup with the grated zucchini. Grating is different than shredding. Grating is using the smaller holes of a grater to get them into really small pieces, not shreds. Now, place the zucchini between 2 pieces of paper towel and squeeze all the excess water out really, really well. Add it to the food processor and process until it is blended and smooth.
- Add the 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts and pulse a few times just until blended; you do not want them broken up. Pour the chocolate filling over the crust and smooth out evenly with a small spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle extra chopped hazelnuts over the top. Place in the fridge for about 4 hours to firm up. While still in the pan, slice into 8-10 bars, about 1 1/2 inches thick each. Keep stored in the fridge. These will totally hold their shape though for a party at room temperature, they are perfect!
Hazelnut is one of my favorite snacks but with these? I’m thinking why settle for plain raw nuts when you can have Nutella pie? Duh!
I love contrasting textures in food, especially dessert and this one has it all Girlfriend ♡
Congrats on being featured too. You’re sure to make a bunch of people happy reading this one!
Haha! Right?! It does taste like Nutella pie, creamy and silky and with a little veggie in them, haha! 🙂 Thanks Angela!!
Brandi, there aren’t enough words to describe how blown away I am by this dessert. There is no way anyone would be able to tell that it’s healthy (zucchini for the win!) and only made with 8 ingredients. Congratulations on the magazine feature – you deserve to be amongst all the chefs and cookbook authors because you are amazing. I am going to buy some zucchini just so that I can make this and feel totally guilt-free devouring it myself. I love this, Brandi, and all of your gorgeous photos.
I just love you Nancy, you are the best! Thank you so much for all of your kind words! You really do need to make these, I swear you would never know they were dairy/butter free! They are luscious!
A HUGE congratulations on the feature in the magazine. Thats a great accomplishment and I hope you are very proud of yourself. You work hard and it shows. These bars are to die for, delicious and decadent and shhhh…. healthful too!! So creative incorporating the zucchini in these, I bet I could even get the picky no vegetable eater to have one or more of these.
You are so sweet Suzanne! Thank you so much! They are so incredibly rich, you just have to taste them to believe it! You cannot taste any zucchini whatsoever!
Congratulations on being selected for the magazine, you outdid yourself with this one!! I LOVE that there is zucchini in these!! They look AMAZING and so rich/decadent.
Thanks so much Brittany!! 🙂
I have to try and incorporate zucchini into my baking! So many people do it, I just never have zucchini on my hands! Well, this must change!!
Gigi, I know, that’s why I wanted to do something different. Most people bake with zucchini but these are totally RAW!! 🙂
Brandi!!! You are a genius! I have never added zucchini into my sweets, but I should definitely start! These bars look delicious! So creamy and crunchy…yummy!!! I can’t believe there is no butter in them and it is great! You are great! Thank you for inspiring me so much Brandi!
Un bacino!!!
Ema
How is it possible that these look so delicious AND contain zucchini? What a great idea. How did you think of it. I just had lentil brownies last night that a guest brought to my BBQ party and they are delicious too. Great to be able to add healthy ingredients and still have great taste.
Cindy-somehow I missed your comment! SO sorry, I’m a little behind lately being so busy. Anyways, the idea came to me because I was asked by the magazine to submit a zucchini recipe and I didn’t want to do the obvious choice, savory. I also didn’t want to do what had been done many times before…in bread or muffins…so I don’t know, this just popped in my head, haha! Thankfully it worked out on the first try and are truly decadent 🙂
You deserve this feature my friend, I am SO proud of you 😀
Congratulations! And this cream pie… finger licking, lip smackingly awesome!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you so much Uru, you are so sweet!
wow what an interesting flavour combination. love the raw idea. definitely a recipe i will have to test out, thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Thalia! Thank you for stopping by! Yes, I am big on combining unusual ingredients, but rest assured, these taste just like a silky chocolate cream pie. I had taste testers eat it before I told them what was in it and they were blown away BEFORE they knew what was in it, and then just shocked, haha! 🙂
Girlfriend, you are amazing!!!! Congrats on being featured. That is so so awesome. These bars look absolutely incredible, but I would expect nothing less. You are genius!
Thank you so much Melanie-you are way too sweet!
Congratulations on being featured! I couldn’t believe it at first when I saw Zucchini in the title but these look divine and I’m always excited to find a healthy dessert recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you much Mary! I don’t know if I would call these “healthy” haha, they still have chocolate and sugar in them, but they do have a “healthy” ingredient and are no bake, so more nutrients in that way, that is how I feel better about eating many of them. They definitely do NOT taste healthy and everybody I’ve served them too has been blown away!
Oh my gosh, these were DELICIOUS….of course, since i have learned my lesson from making your previous desserts, i went ahead and just double everything….the chocolate part was so thick and rich….it was awesome…even my coworkers loved the bars… 🙂
Woohoo!! Love hearing that Elilta…especially the coworkers, Score! Thanks for the awesome photo you shared on Facebook too, that makes my day hearing from you guys 🙂
Our garden is about to EXPLODE with zucchini and I’m very happy to have something to make with them other than “noodles,” bread, and in salads. Looks so lush, girl!
Thank you so much Annie, they are so rich and totally undetectable of zucchini! Jealous of your garden!
I made these bars yesterday and they are divine! They are pure chocolate decadence! I love the texture as well as the flavour. You would never know they have a vegetable in them AND my non-vegan family members agree they are delicious. 🙂
Yay! That is so awesome to hear Nicole!!! I love that even your NON vegan family loved them, that is always the TRUE test! Thanks so much for the awesome feedback! 🙂 All of the many people have had NO clue either, that I’ve served them to, just chocolatey goodness!
This looks so delish, and I can’t wait to try it.
Huge congrats on the magazine feature Brandi! Amazing news!
These bars look flippng delicious too. I saw zucchini in a vegan cheesecake before and thought it sounded interesting. I guess it lightens up these bars just a tad? They still look super rich and chocolatey!
Thank you so much Emma! Wow! Zucchini totally works in raw desserts, as long as you can’t taste it and you definitely can’t taste it in this!
I just kicked this out this morning – had the taste test and it is a BIG WINNER! Easy to make, and it looks exactly as it appears here. Creamy, delicious and easy – love that with baking. My question – what can I do with the left over coconut milk? Should I freeze it or will it last for a while in the fridge?
Terri
Yay!! Thank you so much Terri for the feedback, made my day!! 🙂
For the leftover coconut milk, I usually use it for adding to smoothies or for baking other recipes. You could use the leftover for a wonderful reason to bake my World’s Best Blueberry Muffins. They are one of my most popular recipes! 🙂 https://thevegan8.com/vegan-blueberry-muffins/
Oh my, Brandi, these nutella zucchini cream pie bars are absolute heavens! Did you know that nutella is originated here and in northern Italy? They went crazy for hazelnuts because they didn’t have cocoa at that time. It’s also known as ‘hazelnut cream’, I found some vegan-friendly nutella and they are made with just few ingredients (hazelnuts and sweetener). Some contain dairy and eggs which I didn’t think was necessary. Btw congratulations on the feature in their online magazine, braaavvvooo! ❤
Thank you Rika! They have been a big hit with my readers, which makes me ecstatic! Yes, I knew about the Italy thing since Giada always talks about it on her show, haha! 🙂
Ooh Brandi! I made thes etasty beauties with green courgettes & once with yellow courgettes! They were equally very fantastic!
MMMMMM,…thanks again,…I also like your Facebook page! 😉 x
Hi, I am super excited to try these out this weekend. I’m not vegan, but I’m slowly integrating vegan dishes into my day to day meals. As well as slowly switching animal protein to plant based protein. I will most definitely tag you on my instagram page when I make these!!
Your website is amazing, I’m ppppprobably gonna attempt every recipe of yours. Congrats on your feature and keep up the good work!!
Hi Fatzlife!! Thank you so much for your sweet comment!! I am so thrilled you found me and I can’t wait to hear what you think of the Nutella bars..they’ve been such a huge hit, so I hope you love them and please come back and leave me feedback after you do on here! I love getting the feedback and enjoy my recipes!! xo
Made these today and cant stop eating them 🙂 Super delicious and easy to make. Thank you so much for the recipe. It is wonderful!
Made these bars yesterday. Absolutely love them! Even someone non-vegan ate and loved loved loved them! Kudos to you! Keep up the great work!
That is SO awesome to here Kay! I’m so happy they even won over the non-vegan, haha! Thank you so much for making them and letting me know!
Hi Brandi,
I can’t have refined sugar, so I will be using unsweetened cacao baking chips in place of Enjoy Life chocolate chips. How much maple syrup should I add to the filling to sweeten it due to the lack of sweetness from the chips? I am concerned that if I add too much maple syrup the filling will not set up properly. Thank you!
Hi Cinde! Yes, you are correct, adding syrup is going to increase the liquid content, therefore not letting it set up properly. I would not add maple syrup, I would add a dry sweetener like coconut sugar instead. Also, I’m not sure if cacao baking chips will set up the same way as the chocolate chips set up, so I hope it works. Let me know how it turns out!
I am definitely going to make these!
However, I am slightly confused about the coconut milk. Are we talking light version coconut milk from a can or instead the coconut version of soy milk, oat milk etc etc.? Thanks.
Hi Christian, it is just canned coconut milk that says “lite” on it, rather than the regular full-fat version. It is found in the Asian section in grocery stores. I love the Thai Kitchen brand, it’s the best! Just make sure to shake the can really well before measuring, so you don’t get mostly water.
Not a surprise—these were amazingly good, as is every recipe from your site (at least all those I tried!). Made it with almond milk. Am going to buy lots more hazelnuts because this is going to be a repeat recipe for sure. Easy to make. At first I wasn’t sure that it would solidify without coconut oil, but it did, just like you said! Love!
Although I can be a little slaphappy/sloppy in the kitchen, I followed your instructions and really blotted out the moisture from the zucchini. Worth the extra effort!
And speaking of zucchini, we now have a kitchen scale, solely for your zucchini brownies since you so strongly recommend using one to weight the zucchini!
Oh, that is wonderful Ellen! I always appreciate you taking the time to come back and leave feedback. It means so much! So happy you loved these so much and a scale is your best friend in the kitchen, haha. I use it daily and it makes for much faster cooking/baking!
Hi Brandi,
Sorry but I’m not able to find the recipe anywhere … Could you please let me know if I can find the recipe elsewhere?
Thank you,
Cli
So sorry about that, I switched recipe card plugins and it got lost in the transition, it’s back up now!
We love homemade vegan Nutella, so this recipe was a must when I came across it and had tons of zucchini in the fridge as well. We LOVE them! Reminded me of little fudge squares. Yum! I didn’t have almonds, so used a combo of pecans and walnuts in the crust.
That’s awesome Nina, really glad to hear y’all enjoyed it!
i know it would be a totally different flavor (which I’m ok with!!), but what nut if any do you think would be the best sub for hazelnuts? i have all of the ingredients except those! they look delicious!
These are amazing! I didn’t rate the recipe bc I changed up the bottom layer a bit (did half rolled oats and half nuts, subbed dates for the maple syrup). It all turned out fantastic, and has kept very well in the fridge. 😀
SO wonderful to hear Laura, thank you!