Truffles!

One of the projects I’ve been working on this year is putting together a cookie/treat plate for the Christmas season that’s not so full of junk.  I spend the holidays trying to keep my kids from eating an excess of sugar, white flour, and processed foods, and then we take a bunch of processed sweets to the neighbors.  That just doesn’t seem very consistent.  So I’m working toward having a repertoire of festive treats that are tasty but “cleaner.”  And Thrive Life strawberries are the perfect way to make these red — for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.

Truffle Toppings

Now, you can use a variety of things for the coatings/toppings on these.  In fact, I’ll show a few in this post.  Chopped nuts, seeds, powdered sugar, cocoa powder (probably blended with a tad bit of powdered sugar to cut the bitterness), some herbs or spices (depending on how adventurous a palate you have!), sprinkles or edible luster dust, etc.  But here we’re going to be using  fruit powder.  (I like this option because it gives a little bit of a tang that complements the sweetness of the chocolate well, rather than being cloying like coating them in sugar.)

Fruit Powder

If you’re planning far enough in advance, this is a perfect use for that powder that’s left over at the bottom of the can.  I haven’t been at this long enough to have that in plentiful supply, so I “made” my own.  The great thing about freeze-dried berries is that they’re just the right texture that if you apply some force, they crumble.  (That is, they crush to dust when you smash them, but they don’t just smash if you touch them.)  For reds, you could probably use raspberries, too.  I used strawberries because I prefer them.

This is what I started with — the whole strawberries.

These cans come sealed, and you have to pop and peel the pop top the first time you use them.

(As you may notice from the first picture, there is also a plastic lid, so you can recap the can once it’s been opened.)

That little “do not eat” packet helps protect against moisture.

All I did was put a handful of strawberries in a zip-top bag and then crush them with a meat tenderizer.  (Flat.  Not the pointy textured kind.)

If you have a dehydrator, you can make your own strawberry powder (although it won’t be freeze-dried; freeze-drying is a little different than regular dehydrating).

And then to make the truffles!  The nutshell version (more information below) is to melt together oil, cream, and chocolate chips, let the mixture cool until it’s firm enough, then form into balls and roll in the toppings before allowing to firm up some more.  The original recipe, from my mom’s cookbook, Everyday Cooking, called for butter and cream, but I substituted coconut oil and coconut cream, so these are dairy-free if you use dairy-free chocolate.  (Also, I “fudged” it on the original cream quantity in order to use an “even” carton of coconut cream, and that worked just fine.)

Here are some of the other options we made:

One more note before we get to the actual recipe: I found this chocolate mixture really finicky to work with.  The best way I found to form these was to scoop them up in a cookie scoop (the kind with a lever, like a mini ice cream scoop), use my fingers to form the “outside” part of the truffle, then lever them out of the scoop into my small bowl of topping.  Rolling them in topping I didn’t have any trouble with, but they didn’t seem to want to roll into balls by hand.

Chocolate Truffles Recipe

Dairy-Free Truffles

Rachel Ramey

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Dessert

Cuisine Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free

Ingredients

  

• 6.8- oz. carton of coconut cream
• 6 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 2-3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips about 17 oz. (GFDF if necessary)
• Thrive Life strawberries or other toppings of your choice

Instructions

 

• Pour coconut cream into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat until hot.
• Add coconut oil and stir until melted.
• Stir in chocolate until they're completely melted and mixture is uniform.
• Chill for several hours or until very firm. (A little of our coconut oil separated a little around the edges; you might want to stir periodically early in the thickening process to prevent this.)
• Form into balls about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter and roll in toppings in small bowls to coat.
• Place on waxed paper or parchment and refrigerate overnight or until firm.
• Store refrigerated.