Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie
It only seems appropriate after arriving home from the land of Chocolate and Hazelnut (aka Italiaaa) that I share with you guys a delicious, rich and decadent Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie. The Nutella-Italy stereotype is a well deserved one in my books (and one I greatly appreciate, lol!). The entire trip I was ogling over every chocolate-hazelnut creation I saw.
And guys, the chocolate and hazelnut gelato I discovered while I was in Siena, Tuscany was OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD amazing. In fact, you could say, the hazelnut and chocolate vegan gelato I discovered while traveling in Siena was the primary inspiration behind this Healthy “Nutella” Tart or Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie!
And I did go ALL OUT with this pie in celebration of our wonderful trip. The crust of this Healthy Nutella Pie is made out of a hazelnut-chocolate “cookie” layer, the middle layer is a rich, decadent and light chocolate-hazelnut layer and the top consists of a chocolate-and-vanilla-infused mousse top.
That’s right. I managed to give into my #ChocolateAndHazelnutAddiction and fit chocolate into all three layers of this pie (four, if you count the chocolate shavings on top!) and hazelnuts into two. 😉
The trick in making this no-bake Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie is to whip the bottom two layers up the night before so they can settle and firm up before serving. Make sure to use a high-speed blender to get the middle chocolate-hazelnut layer smooth and creamy before layering it on the thick cookie crust! The top mousse layer can be made right away in a jiffy before serving this Healthy Nutella Pie to all your friends!
I’m going to let the rest of the pictures do the talking for this DECADENT Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie. And guys, remember to leave a comment below, tag #CearasKitchen on Instagram if you end up making this Nutella Pie or share a photo with me on my Facebook page! <3 I LOVE seeing your beautiful creations!
Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie (Nutella Pie!)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
Description
Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie aka Healthy No Bake Nutella Pie! A chocolate cookie crust topped off with a light, rich, smooth and airy chocolate-hazelnut center and a chocolate mousse top! Make the bottom two layers the night before to settle and firm up in the fridge before serving. Do not let the seemingly amount of ingredients turn you off this recipe. The majority of the ingredients are the same and are used more than once in the crust, center and top layer.
Ingredients
Chocolate Hazelnut Crust
- 1 cup soaked hazelnuts
- 3/4 cup oat flour
- 3 tbsp cacao powder/high quality cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp brown rice syrup
- 4 tbsp coconut butter
Chocolate Hazelnut Center (2nd Layer)
- 2 cups soaked hazelnuts
- 1/3 cup cacao powder/high quality cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup softened coconut butter
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp instant coffee powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Chocolate Mousse Top (Third Layer)
- cream from 1 can coconut milk
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cacao powder/high quality cocoa powder
- 2 tsp corn starch (optional)
Garnish
- Dark Chocolate Shavings
Instructions
- Important: Soak 3 cups of raw hazelnuts overnight. These are the hazelnuts that you will use in the crust and middle layer of your pie. When you measure the hazelnuts for the crust and center – follow the directions and measure the hazelnuts after they are soaked. You will have some soaked hazelnuts left over. Also, stick 1 can of coconut milk in the fridge to prepare for the chocolate mousse top.
- Prepare the crust: Line a pie pan with parchment paper. Dry the soaked hazelnuts off with a towel slightly before placing them in the food processor. In a food processor, process the soaked hazelnuts and oat flour until a flour like consistency is reached. Pulse the cacao powder and sea salt into the hazelnut and oat mixture. Pulse in the coconut butter and brown rice syrup until a sticky dough ball forms. You might have to add a drop or two of water to get the dough you want. I added in an additional tbsp of water.
- Press the crust into the pie pan. Use your fingers to form a crust up the sides and evenly press the crust down with you palm or a spoon. Place in the freezer and leave to firm up while preparing the center layer.
- Prepare the Chocolate Hazelnut Center: In a high speed blender, add all the ingredients (soaked hazelnuts through to sea salt) and process for a couple of minutes until creamy and smooth. I highly recommend using a high speed blender for this part to get the desired creamy consistency.
- Take the crust out of the freezer and pour the center chocolate-hazelnut layer over the crust. Shake it a bit and smooth it out with the back of a spoon so it is even. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight to firm up.
- Prepare the Chocolate Mousse Top: Scrape the cream from the top of one can of cold coconut milk (left in the fridge overnight). Place in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients (maple syrup, vanilla extract, cacao powder and optional corn starch). Whisk with an electric whisk until a whipped cream consistency is reached. The corn starch is recommended and helps the mousse stay in place for a longer period of time.
- Scoop the chocolate mousse onto the chilled pie and even it out with the back of a spoon. Garnish with dark chocolate shavings. See notes for tips about cutting. Serve slightly cold. Enjoy!
Notes
1) If you are serving this for a party, you want to make sure to make it a day or two in advance. You need to soak the hazelnuts overnight so they are soft enough to process into the crust and center layer. The pie also needs to sit for at least 5 minutes in the fridge to firm up before serving.
2) I made this in a French style tart pan. Your pie will be slightly thicker if you make this in a standard American pie pan.
3) Make sure to allow the bottom two layers of the pie to firm up the night before in the fridge or for at least 5 hours before topping with the Chocolate Mousse Top Layer.
4) An easy way to slice this pie is to stick it in the freezer for 5 minutes, with the mousse layer on top, so it gets really firm. Slice it with a sharp knife and leave it to loosen up for 5 minutes before devouring.
5) Make sure all your ingredients and vegan/gluten free if necessary.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Italian
Make sure to check back in a couple days when I will be sharing all the delicious eats I enjoyed during my time in Tuscany and talking specifically about my experience Eating Vegan in Italy! Let me know in the comments below if you have any particular questions you’d like answered in the post about navigating eating vegetarian or vegan in Italy! 🙂
I Made this today, it was divine, the middle chocolate hazelnut layer is soo yummy and creamy, only downside was I had to sub the mousse topping for soya cream whip as the coconut cream was kind of lumpy/bitty and then when I kept beating it it looked like it separated? Not sure what I did wrong there, any thoughts?
Hi Charmain,
So happy you enjoyed the pie. I am not sure what went wrong with the soy cream (I’ve never cooked with it before!). I know with coconut cream it has to be cold for it to whip properly! Hope this helps.
This looks amazing I was wondering if you have the nutrition facts on this? I am doing Weight Watchers and everything has a point.
Thank you
Hi April,
I am not sure of the nutrition facts on this recipe. You can plug the ingredients into here to get them: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php.
Enjoy 🙂
Just found out my daughter is allergic to almost every nut,except hazel nut BUT she is also allergic to coconut and she loves coconut cream pie. So she asked me to find a hazelnut pie to make her for Thanksgiving and this pie looked wonderful, until I read the ingredients and the use of coconut products.
Any idea what I could substitute for the coconut butter, coconut milk etc? Oh, and also she is allergic to gluten and diary.
I big order to fill…thanks.
★★★★★
Wow, Ceara, that looks incredible! Seriously want some right now. Love the addition of the espresso in there too ♥
<3 Thanks, Audrey!! :)
oh my gosh! this looks insane! I would love to dig into this right NOW! 😉 I can’t believe it’s healthy too!
The looks sinfully delicious, Ceara! I wish I could just grab a piece through my computer screen right now! Pinning!
Thank you so much, Hadia!! <3
That looks absolutely incredible and I could easily eat the whole pie. I ate so much Nutella when we were in Italy haha
OMG I had to stop myself from eating the whole pie 🙂 😉 Thank you so much, Dannii!!
That looks incredible! The chocolate mousse topping sounds fabulous 🙂
Thank you so much, June!!! 🙂 The chocolate mousse really “makes” the pie!
Oh my heavens Ceara! This is so different than what you typically ever post, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you post a raw dessert and I’m IN LOVE! It’s stunning and I literally gasped!! You make the best stuff! I LOVE raw desserts, I have soooo many of them on my blog and I use coconut butter as well in so many to firm them up, it’s one of my favorite ingredients I use instead of oil. I’m with Jenn, I kind of want to just lick the screen! It’s just amazing and we are both on the same wavelength because I have a raw dessert coming Thursday too!! Oh and I love that you added coffee, you know how much I love coffee and I love to add it to my raw chocolate desserts, makes it so rich! You are on fire!
Thank you so much, Brandi!! I always swoon over your raw recipes so you compliments mean a lot!!! 😀 I need to make more no bake recipes in my kitchen 🙂 This pie was so much fun to make!!! I am trying to experiment with more no bake recipes this Summer!! I only have a handful of them on my blog so far but I love that they don’t require turning on the oven in the HEAT of Summer 🙂
OMG! This WINS the internet today, no questions asked! I need to stuff this in my face RIGHT NOW! I just can’t get over how insanely creamy dreamy delicious this looks! Excuse me while I lick my screen….
<3 Thank you so much, Jenn!! So happy you like the pie!!!!!!! Sending you some :D
You have posted so many decadent things, but this one might just top them all!!!! 😮 When I saw the sneak peek on FB yesterday I don’t think I realized that there were TWO creamy filling layers! That just took it to a whole new Nutella-inspired level! I’m so glad you went to Italy so you could get the inspiration and share this recipe with all of us 🙂
Thank you so much, Natalie <3 xox
This pie looks so rich and chocolatey and I love that it comes with so little guilt! I’m so jealous of your trip to Italy. It’s at the top of my list of places I want to visit someday!
Thank you so much, Kristine!!! 🙂 You have to make it to Italy one day! It’s absolutely beautiful!