Let me be straightforward here. This recipe is absolutely killer! I am not exaggerating. It is inspired by my grandma’s chocolate hazelnut bars recipe. If that doesn’t speak for itself, then let me tell you: my grandma has officially approved this veganized recipe. So, if you want to learn how to make these delicious vegan chocolate hazelnut bars, stick around.
You could say my grandma is the queen of chocolate hazelnut bars. Once it’s Christmas time, the kitchen turns into a chocolate hazelnut bar factory. The weekly production rate reaches roughly five baking trays a week with significant peaks during the weekend. Whichever cupboard door you open, I guarantee you, you will find a plate of chocolate hazelnut bars.
When I decided to change my diet to a plant-based one, I instantly knew I had to veganize this recipe. The method in my vegan chocolate hazelnut bars recipe is exactly how my grandma makes them. I just made some adjustments to the ingredients.
The Base
These bars consist of four sections: the base, an apricot jam layer, a hazelnut filling, and a chocolate topping. The base was the most difficult to adapt because in my grandma’s recipe ,she uses butter, eggs, flour, and sugar. Trying to substitute two key ingredients can be a bit tricky.
As a substitute for butter you can use margarine in a 1:1 ratio. Not all margarine is vegan because some can contain traces of dairy such as whey or lactose. But I found a vegan brand that I am really happy with called Alsan. They sell it in my local grocery store (Rewe).
The eggs were a bit trickier. I experimented with soy flour (which you can use to make seitan) and got some really good results. But I wasn’t satisfied because soy flour can be hard to get your hands on and I wanted something easier.
The final recipe only uses margarine and water as binding ingredients. I’ve found that the dough can be a bit tricky to work with. The trick here is to wet your hands (use water or oil) and once baked, the dough holds together really well and you don’t notice a difference.
The Apricot Jam Layer
The Hazelnut Filling
How Do I Know If I Got the Right Consistency?
The Chocolate Topping
Taking Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Bars to the Next Level
Now comes the fun part – toppings! There is so many possibilities that you can use to customize these bars. My favourite is adding walnuts before I bake the bars. I roughly chop them and press them into the hazelnut filling. When you add the chocolate afterwards, you can’t even tell there’s walnuts. But they add a nice crunch and texture. My grandma was also really excited about this variation and now always add walnuts when she makes chocolate hazelnut bars.
This recipe was republished with permission from Sarah’s Vegan Guide.
