Hazelnut Bites
on Feb 04, 2020, Updated Dec 12, 2025
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These easy no-bake hazelnut bites are made with just 4 simple ingredients: dates, almond butter, cacao nibs and hazelnuts!
Why You’ll Love Hazelnut Bites
These delicious bites are just perfect for snacking or a sweet, little treat. Here’s why I think you’ll love them:
- They’re easy to make in 10 minutes with 4 ingredients.
- They have a rich, chocolate hazelnut flavour.
- You can make them with chocolate chips or cacao nibs for a sugar-free energy ball.
- They’re perfect for a pre-workout snack or healthier dessert.
- They have a soft, chewy texture with delicious crunchy bites of cacao.
Homemade energy balls are so fun and easy to make and a great way to include more nutritious ingredients in your diet!
For more variations, try these Cranberry Sunflower Seed Energy Balls, Peanut Chocolate Chip Energy Balls, No-Bake Cinnamon Energy Balls and No-Bake Carrot Cake Energy Balls.
If you’re looking for a Christmas version of hazelnut truffles, these Homemade Vegan Ferrero Rocher are a must!
Ingredient Notes
Below is a quick overview of what you’ll need to make the recipe and any substitutions you can make. Use the recipe card with the full list of ingredients and measurements at the bottom of the post when you’re ready to make the recipe.
- Cacao nibs. Cacao nibs are readily available online, in natural health food stores and in some well-stocked grocery stores. Sub chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate.
- Hazelnuts. Look for plain hazelnuts or filberts with no added oil or salt. Dry roasted is okay though! For a variation, this recipe can be made with any other nuts. If you have extra, use them in these Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles.
- Dates. I like sayer or medjool dates best for recipes like this but since we’ll be soaking them first, any variety will do. If your dates are already soft and moist, you should be able to skip soaking.
- Almond butter. You’ll need just a little almond butter to add some creaminess to the recipe. You can also use other nut butter or seed butter like tahini, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter or peanut butter.
I also add salt and vanilla to the recipe as well. Although not required, it really enhances the flavour of the cacao.
How to Make Hazelnut Bites
Step 1: If your dates are dry or hard, start by soaking them. Add them to a bowl, cover with hot water and soak for 10-15 minutes.
Drain them well before using them in the recipe. Totally fine to add them to the food processor wet though. No need to dry them, just drain off the excess water.
You can skip this step if your dates are soft and moist. If you skip the soaking and the dough isn’t coming together, no problem, just add a few teaspoons of warm water until it does.
Step 2: Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend into a sticky dough.
Step 3: Use your hands to roll the dough into balls. That’s it!
If you’d like to add a coating, they can be rolled in cinnamon, cocoa powder, coconut, crushed corn flakes or crushed nuts. To make them fancy, you could coat them in melted chocolate and chill until the chocolate hardens.
FAQs
I like to store them in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container, though you can also store at room temperature for 3-4 days.
You can store hazelnut bites in the fridge in an airtight container for 1 week or freeze them up to 3 months.
You can use chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate instead of cacao nibs.
Yes! You can use any nut like almonds, cashews, walnuts or pecans.
If you try these Hazelnut Bites or any other recipe on Running on Real Food, don’t forget to leave a comment and a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe, and I love to hear from you. And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @runningonrealfood so I can see your creation! Thanks for trying my recipes! – Deryn
More Recipes to Try!
Energy Balls
No-Bake Cashew Coconut Balls
Energy Balls
No-Bake Cinnamon Energy Balls
Energy Balls
No-Bake Pecan Pie Balls
Energy Balls
No-Bake Banana Bread Balls
Hazelnut Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed, pitted dates, 220 g
- 1 cup hazelnuts or filberts, 145 g
- 1/2 cup cacao nibs, 65 g
- 1 tbsp almond butter, 15 g
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional
Instructions
- If your dates are hard or dry, place dates in a bowl, cover with hot water and soak for 15 minutes. If using soft and moist medjool dates, you can skip soaking. Drain well. It's okay if they're a bit wet when you add them to the food processor. Just be sure to drain off all the excess water.1 cup packed, pitted dates
- While the dates are soaking, add the cacao nibs and hazelnuts to a food processor and process on high for about 30 seconds until it resembles a coarse, grainy meal.1 cup hazelnuts or filberts, 1/2 cup cacao nibs
- Add the almond butter and soaked, drained dates to the food processor with the hazelnut cacao mixture and mix into a thick, sticky dough. If the dough isn't sticking together, add 1-2 tsp warm water and process until it does, however, if you soaked the dates it should be perfect.1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Use your hands to roll the dough into 14 balls.
