Banana bites with homemade Hazelnut butter

I adore nut butter of all kinds and have experimented with many different combinations – sometimes you can’t beat a classic and this is where my Hazelnut Butter comes in! The perfect solution to curb even the most persistent sugar cravings!

For the butter:
350g raw hazelnuts shelled
1/2 vanilla pod

To make my banana bites:
– 1 banana
– tbsp pomegranate seeds
– tsp chia seeds

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°c/356°f.
Place the hazelnuts on a large baking tray.
Bake the nuts for 15 to 20 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes until golden and the skins have started to split.
Set aside for 10-15 minutes to cool before placing all of the nuts in the middle of a tea towel/dish cloth – cover over and roll them inside the little parcel until the skin has come off all of the nuts.
Place the nuts in a food processor and blend until liquefied.
When the butter has reached your desired consistency – I usually make mine very smooth – split the vanilla pod and add the vanilla pulp to the blender.
Blend for a further 20-30 seconds until combined before adding the butter to a sterilised container.

To make the banana bites:

Simply chop up the banana add a tsp of nut butter to each piece, pop some pomegranate seeds on top of the butter and sprinkle with chia seeds. Serve and enjoy!