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!
Sounds amazing! Will try it right away.
Can i replace chocolate chips with a chopped chocolate bar?
With what percentage of cocoa? If they are too dark of a percentage like 60-70 % they will be more hard and very bitter.
These are great! So so so yummy 🙂
SO happy to hear you loved these Rose!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!