Better Than Nutella

A chocolate spread to die for

A chocolate concoction you can be proud to spoon

A friend of ours once ate half a jar of Nutella with a spoon. That’s right. Good thing she doesn’t shame easily. Still, poor her. She might’ve been spared the 21 grams of sugar, 22 grams of carbs, and 3.5 grams of saturated fat per two tablespoons of the dastardly hazelnut-chocolate spread (multiplied by however many tablespoons in a half-jar divided by two) if she’d only known our friend Stephanie Middleberg, a nutritionist. Stephanie would have suggested Rawtella, one of her favorite new snacks. Rawtella, which is available at health food stores and through rawtella.com, is like Nutella, only simpler and slimmed way down—it’s made with hazelnuts, cacao nibs (crunchy bits of roasted cacao beans), and coconut sugar. No oil, no preservatives, and a whole lot less sugar. “With heart-healthy fats and only three grams of sugar per serving, Rawtella will satisfy your cravings and won’t make your blood sugar spike,” Stephanie says. She likes spreading a tablespoon of Rawtella on a whole-wheat crepe and topping with a sliced banana. But, please, tell your friend not to eat half a jar of this either.

For more healthy eating advice from Stephanie, a New York City nutritionist, go to www.middlebergnutrition.com.

Easy Whole-Wheat Crepes

Makes about 8 crepes

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 tbs. vegetable oil

1 1/3 cup fat-free milk or soy milk

1 cup whole wheat flour

¼ teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour about a half-cup batter into a nonstick pan heated to medium high and coated with cooking spray. Cook until air bubbles appear on the crepe, about a minute, then flip, cooking an additional 30-60 seconds.