Keto Hazelnut Blondies. Rich, moist, and just a smidgen under 1g carbs.
Butter and hazelnut paste are the main ingredients in this very easy recipe. The result is delightfully fudgy, and sweet but not cloyingly so.
To make these gorgeous keto delights you just need scales, a bowl, a manual wire whisk and a baking dish.
So not only is it an easy recipe, it’s also quick and with minimal cleaning up afterwards. Happy days.
Italian Piedmont Hazelnuts
I love hazelnuts, and they have the added bonus of being very low-carb.
However, where your hazelnut paste comes from matters. A lot.
The best hazelnuts on the planet grow in the valleys of the Piedmont region of Italy, with the variety “tonda gentile” taking the top spot. They are so unique that they’ve been assigned protected provenance status (IGP) – much like the finest wines.
Piedmont hazelnuts are sweeter, crunchier, more buttery, and more intensely flavoured compared to any other hazelnuts from anywhere in the world. Italy does not permit mono-cropping or chemical pesticides, so environmental concerns aren’t an issue.
The nut paste is obtained by blanching, air drying, low-temperature roasting, and gentle mechanical extraction. All without additional oils, so it’s as natural as it can be, and the health properties remain intact. This paste is much lighter in colour and more oily than common nut butters, hence being the top choice in Italian artisan gelato, and favoured by eminent pastry chefs and chocolatiers.
Only thing is, it’s expensive. But then quality natural products that are not mass-produced or overly-processed, always are. Especially if imported. I can sometimes find Piedmont hazelnut paste on Amazon, and at other times I end up searching online for hours, fruitlessly. But trust me, if you have discerning taste it’s worth scouring the web for it and accepting the price tag.
On several occasions I’ve had no choice but to buy alternatives because that’s all I could source, and found them nothing like Piedmont hazelnut paste, tending to be tasteless and bitter. A complete waste of money.
Of course you can use ANY hazelnut paste, or even other nut butters. Your choice entirely. But I won’t be surprised if you find the result less than satisfactory.
How to Make Keto Hazelnut Blondies
It’s a one-bowl affair. All you have to do is gently melt butter and hazelnut paste to obtain a tepid liquid.
Then add your eggs one at a time, followed by the remaining ingredients. It’s better not to use an electric whisk or blender – a manual wire whisk is fine. That’s it! Scoop the batter into your lined baking dish, level it, and bake!
Lupin ‘flour’ is my choice, and the reason for these blondies being so low-carb. During testing, coconut flour made the blondies too dry and dense, and almond flour made them too crumbly. I combined the two and obtained an improvement, but the best texture and flavour by far was with lupin flour. It’s my favourite ‘flour’ for good reasons: high protein and fibre, low-fat, very low-carb, nutritionally complete, and highly versatile.
I find that allulose works better than erythritol, but it’s down to preference. Soft brown sweetener (erythritol-based, like the one from Pure Via you can buy in Tesco – UK) also works well, although you’ll notice increased ‘grittiness’ over time, such is the nature of erythritol. In fairness, when using erythritol-based soft brown sweetener, the hazelnut flavour is more intense, so use this if you don’t mind some crystallisation to develop – which won’t be an issue if you eat them within a day or so.
If you use allulose, the batter will be more fluid and your blondies will be a darker golden colour. With soft brown sweetener (erythritol-based), the batter will be denser and the blondies will bake a lighter colour.
Be careful not to over-bake your blondies. If you do, they’ll still be delicious, but more cake-like. Start with 20 minutes. Do a stick test. If wet, bake for a couple more minutes. Repeat as necessary, and remove from oven immediately. Mine turn out perfect at 25 minutes, but every oven is different.
Now all you have to do is resists the temptation to slice them. They must be cooled and chilled.
Enjoy!
Keto Hazelnut Blondies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 120 g butter - room temperature
- 120 g hazelnut butter - Piedmont hazelnut paste is the absolute best (U.S. option HERE)
- 3 large eggs
- 80 g allulose (U.S. option HERE) or erythritol-based soft brown sweetener, e.g. Pure Via
- ½ tsp pure stevia powder (U.S. option HERE)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp fine Himalayan salt (U.S. option HERE)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (U.S. option HERE)
- 45 g lupin flour (U.S. option HERE)
Instructions
- line a 23cm (9”) square Pyrex baking dish (or similar) with non-stick parchment paper, allowing for some over-hang. TIP: make the paper stick by smearing a little butter over the bottom and up the sides of your dish.
- pre-heat oven to
180 °C static. - briefly heat butter and nut butter in the microwave; stir and repeat until liquid and just lukewarm.120 g butter, 120 g hazelnut butter
- using a manual wire whisk, mix in eggs one at a time, then add remaining ingredients.3 large eggs, 80 g allulose, 1/2 tsp pure stevia powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp fine Himalayan salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 45 g lupin flour
- pour the mixture into your baking dish, level it out, and bake for approximatley 25 minutes (see post).
- immediately remove from oven and let cool inside the dish.
- when the bottom of the dish feels barely warm, you can transfer it to the fridge, where it will need to chill for at least 1 hour.
- once chilled, lift the blondie cake using the over-hanging paper, and place it on a serving plate or tray.
- slice into 12 squares by making 3 horizontal cuts and 2 vertical cuts.
Notes
Nutrition
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Simple but fabulous.