What I’m making for Christmas: Chocolate truffles the healthy way

You know you’re on to a good thing when the husband trawls the fridge in search of one of these babies.

The original recipe is from Green Kitchen Stories, a food blog which has since spun out into a cookbook and app, all of which I highly recommend for those who are after some innovative clever vegetarian cooking.

No sugar, cream or butter is needed for this recipe. The base of these chocolate truffles is dates, mixed in with oats, cocoa powder, espresso and coconut oil to help it all come together. I also added a splosh of Tia Maria. Sometimes, I omit the shredded coconut when I make it for the mumsies or friends who don’t like coconut.

Quantities in this recipe makes for about 15-20 truffles, and I regularly double or even triple the amount for parties or gift giving.

Ingredients

15 large medjool dates, pitted
4 tbs rolled oats
2 tbs dried shredded coconut, unsweetened
2 tbs coconut oil, room temperature
2 tbs cacao powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 shot cold espresso
1 shot Tia Maria

For the coating

Your choice of cocoa powder, chocolate sprinkles, shredded coconut, finely chopped pistachio or almonds

Method

Place all the ingredients (except those you need to set aside for rolling) in a food processor and blitz until you get a thick sticky paste – almost like dough.

Transfer the mixture in a glass bowl, cover with clingwrap and refrigerate for about 10 minutes, by which point, the mixture should be firmer but still pliable enough to roll without sticking too much on your hands.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out a heaping mound of mixture and form into a ball by rolling gently in the palm of your hands. Place on a tray.

Finally, roll the truffles one at a time in your coating of choice. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before serving.