
I’ve been meaning to post this recipe since before Christmas, as this was one of my Christmas treat ideas – homemade Ferrero Rochers that are gluten free and dairy free! But in the holiday rush, they never actually got made. Well… I got a few made, but I ate them as quick as I made them, so there never were enough to put in the kid’s Christmas stockings, or to take to the parties I intended to take them to! *grins sheepishly*

I think I should warn you that these are very dangerous, and should only be made when you are really full and don’t feel like eating any chocolate. Unless you have super-human self control – then just go ahead and make them anytime.
At least they’re pretty healthy. That’s my excuse anyway.
My recipe is simply a homemade nutella type chocolate mixture (based on my hazelnut chocolate spread recipe), molded around a roasted hazelnut and coated in crushed, roasted hazelnuts. I didn’t bother with the biscuit layer – too tricky, and besides, I wanted them to be gluten free. And I never got around to coating them with chocolate – maybe next time. I thought they were chocolatey enough without the extra chocolate coating, and besides, I wanted to hurry up and eat them so I didn’t want to take the time for an extra step! But if you’re feeling industrious, and you have the self-control to not eat them all before you actually get the chocolate ready to dip them in, here’s my recipe for homemade chocolate, which I think would work best because it’s quite thin before it’s set, so it would be easy to coat the balls with.

You will need about 3 cups roasted hazelnuts for this recipe. If you have raw hazelnuts, spread them on a baking tray (in a single layer) and roast at 180 degrees C for about 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until slightly browned. (I buy my nuts bulk from Trumps through a co-op, so it’s not so expensive.)

Once they’re cool, rub the skins off as best you can, either with your hands, or in a tea towel. Discard skins.
Note: You can find Dutch cocoa powder for this recipe in my online store!
And here’s how to make the ‘Ferrero Rocher’s’!



- 3 cups roasted hazelnuts
- 90g Rapadura or coconut sugar
- 60g roasted hazelnuts
- 50g good quality, dairy free dark chocolate, broken into pieces (70-85% cocoa dairy free)
- 20g cacao powder (or good quality cocoa)
- 50g almond or coconut milk
- 70g coconut oil
- Take a third of the nuts and set them aside.
- Mill sugar in Thermomix on speed 9 for 10 seconds.
- Add 60g roasted hazelnuts and mill 10 sec/speed 9.
- Add dark chocolate and mill again 10 sec/speed 9.
- Add cacao powder, milk, and coconut oil and cook 6 mins/60C/speed 3.
- Scrape the chocolate mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for a few hours until very firm.
- Place remaining hazelnuts into Thermomix bowl and chop with the turbo function, pulsing a few times until nuts are roughly chopped. Set aside in a bowl.
- Once chocolate has set, take a thin scoop of the chocolate mixture with a teaspoon, and put a roasted hazelnut on top. Mold the chocolate around the hazelnut to form a rough ball.You need to work quickly, as the chocolate gets too soft to work with after a while.
- Roll the balls in the crushed hazelnuts, shaping them into balls as you go.
- Place the balls on a plate or in a container, and keep them in the fridge as you make them to keep firm.
- Wrap each ball in a square of foil if desired.
- If you like, you can freeze the finished balls, then dip them in melted, raw dark chocolate and re-chill.
- Store in fridge or freezer.

Warning: They do melt pretty quickly as I found out when trying to take photos of them… I got distracted with a phone call and came back to soggy chocolate balls. So I had to eat them.
