Chocolate-Banana-Nut Butter Bites Rolled In Toasted Hazelnuts

In need of more plant based snacks in your life?

Healthy and guilt free snacks such as these chocolate-banana-nut butter frozen bites rolled in toasted hazelnuts are essential to stay on track with your plant based lifestyle.

Spend time on a weekly basis prepping your healthy treats so that you don’t feel tempted by junk foods and other non healthful foods that may throw you off track.

Health Benefits Of Chocolate-Banana-Nut Butter Bites

Not only are these bites absolutely delicious, they’re also pretty healthy too! They contain banana, cacao and peanuts – all of which have unique health benefits in themselves and therefore make a great snack when you put them together.

Bananas

Bananas have many health benefits, such as:-

• High fibre content to keep you full, promote weight loss and help keep you regular.
• Keeping blood sugar stable, making the less ripe types good for diabetics and weight loss.
• They’re rich in nutrients such as vitamin C, Riboflavin, Folate, Niacin, Copper, Magnesium and Potassium.
• Helping with digestion. Less ripe bananas contain a prebiotic which helps the beneficial bacteria in the gut.
• Can help with weight loss due to high fibre and resistant starch content, both of which help you feel fuller for longer.
• Can help support heart health and lower blood pressure, due to a high potassium and magnesium content.
• High level of antioxidants. Bananas contain several potent antioxidants that are associated with reduced risk of heart disease and macular degeneration.
• Promoting kidney health and stable blood pressure, due to their high potassium levels.

Cacao

Cacao (or high cacao content chocolate) has many health benefits, such as:-

• High flavenoid content. Flavenoids help to lower blood pressure and improve blood flow to the brain and heart.
• Lowering chances of heart disease. Studies show that cacao flavenols are linked to higher levels of nitric acid in the blood. This helps relax arteries and blood vessels to help blood flow easier to the heart.
• Improving brain function, due to a specific flavenoid called epicatechin. This flavenoid helps cognition and blood flow, which could lower your risk of dementia.
• Being good for physical performance. Cacao contains caffeine which can help stimulate you to work and play harder. Just be careful not to over-do it, much like coffee or other caffeinated beverages.
• A high nutrition content of Iron, Phosphorus, Manganese, Potassium and Fibre.

Peanuts

Peanuts are an inexpensive way to get nutrition into your diet and have many health benefits such as:-

• Being heart healthy. Peanuts are low in saturated fats and may help lower cholesterol levels.
• They are a weight loss food due to be low carb and very high protein. They sustain you and fill you up for long periods.
• Peanuts have a low GI rating, therefore making them great for stabilising blood sugar.
• Nutrients such as Iron, B6, Magnesium, Calcium and L. Arginine.

Chocolate-Banana-Nut Butter Bites Rolled In Toasted Hazelnuts

Small bitesize treats, perfect for a filling snack.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Healthy Snack

Cuisine American, British

Servings 12

Calories 100 kcal

Equipment

• Saucepan
• Heatproof glass bowl to fit saucepan
• Chopping board
• Blunt knife
• Large tray
• Tin foil or parchment paper
• Smaller bowls

Ingredients

  

• 2 large very ripe bananas (chilled so they're easier to handle) or 3 smaller
• 100 g dark chocolate Use 70% cacao solids or above if you want these bites to be low in refined sugar.
• Couple tbsp smooth peanut butter or smooth nut butter of choice.
• ½ cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts peanuts to roll You can use other chopped nuts of your choice too.
• Cocktail sticks optional

Instructions

 

• Break your chocolate up into smaller pieces and place in a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering hot water on a low heat. Do not let the bowl dip into the water as this can create too much heat and burn your chocolate.

  The idea is to have a saucepan and glass bowl of the correct sizes so that your bowl and the saucepan fit together in a way that the bottom of the bowl does not touch your simmering water.

  Alternatively, you can microwave your chocolate to melt it, but you would need to look for at the attached YouTube video below for instructions.
• Meanwhile, carefully chop your ripe, chilled bananas into around 8 even slices.
• Have your chopped nuts (you can use any nuts, but we used hazelnuts) in a bowl ready to dip. If your nuts need chopping, then be sure to do them quite finely in order for them to stick well.

  Also have your smooth peanut butter in a separate bowl ready to dip. Use smaller, deeper bowls for this. If your peanut butter is too firm, then you may wish to heat it slightly in the same fashion as your chocolate.
• Cover a large baking tray (as long as it fits in your fridge or freezer) with tin foil or parchment paper and leave aside ready for your chocolate bites.
• Once you have your chocolate melted and your other ingredients prepped, you need to work fast as your chocolate can start to set depending on the atmosphere in your kitchen.

  Be aware, this is going to get messy so have paper towels ready to wipe your hands.
• Firstly, smother you banana with the peanut butter. If you're using a runnier nut butter, then you may get away with just dipping. But if it's more firm, then you may have to spread it on with a knife.

  Be sure that all surfaces of the banana piece are covered in nut butter.
• Now dip your nut butter, covered banana pieces into your melted chocolate.

  Again, you may need the help of a blunt knife in this process and, again, this is going to get messy!
• Lastly, roll your chocolate covered banana piece in the chopped nuts and try to get a good coating. Pop carefully onto your lined tray and keep going until you run out of ingredients.

  You may wish to add a cocktail stick or similar to your banana bites at this point to make them easier to eat, but it's not essential.
• Now you're ready to freeze or refrigerate, depending on preference. They will take about an hour or so to freeze solid, but you can eat way before then 😉

  Eat straight from freezer (best way) or fridge and enjoy.

Video

Keyword chocolate bites, chocolate treats, healthy dessert, healthy snack, No bake, plant based snacks, vegan snacks

Thanks for visiting ZestForever today!

We hope you love our chocolatey treats as much as we do. Why not try these similar Snickers style stuffed dates next time?

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Let’s spread the plant based love. They will thank you for it!