I have talked about my friend Shannon aka The Nutritionist lots of times already (ps I’ll get to these delicious nutella bliss balls soon). We wrote Bub Grub together and are working on the next book right now. Not only is she a wonderful co-author but a fantastic friend and super-star nutritionist and naturopath.

In her previous job, she was the one other naturopaths called for assistance with their tricky cases.

When her maternity leave was coming close to an end last year, she knew she didn’t want to leave her little man -who is just a few days younger than Ollie – and return to a full-time job and an idea she’d had rolling around for a while – to start her own clinic (in Nundah, Brisbane) – came to fruition.

I was her first patient and promised to give feedback like seats in awkward positions or anything like that. Of course she was super professional, everything was perfect and I got to see my blood up on screen which was awesome.

She also gave me one tip that I needed to eat more protein and as soon as I started on this (along with a change in multi-vitamin) my energy picked up. She helps with all sorts of things from kids nutrition to fertility and energy and stress and offers lots of tests too.

The other great thing about Shannon is her kitchen creativity. This woman knows how to make up a delicious recipe packed with goodness – so good you would swear it was naughty. Like these nutella bliss balls. As soon as I saw them on her instagram feed I added hazelnuts to the shopping list.

I’ve made them three times now and all three times they disappeared in I’m-not-telling-you-how-few days. Ollie managed to get a few but I gave him a run for his money that’s for sure. They really do taste like nutella but minus all the other ingredients and plus some extra goodies like chia seeds. Enjoy!

Find Shannon on her website or for lots of inspiration and recipes follow her on Facebook or Instagram.

Nutella bliss balls

Yield: 24

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 80g (3oz) hazelnuts
• 20 fresh whole dates (pitted) - or soak dried dates in hot water for 30 minutes then drain
• 60g (2oz) desiccated coconut
• 4 tbs of cacao
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• Extra cacao or desiccated coconut for rolling (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the hazelnuts in the bowl of a Thermomix or food processor and process into a fine meal.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until it forms a dough that you can shape into balls. Be careful not to over-process or the nuts will start to release their oils and it will get a bit greasy.
3. Roll teaspoons of mixture into balls and then roll in extra cacao or desiccated coconut.

Notes

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.