Christmas Series: Two Really Easy Vegan Truffles Bases

Every Christmas, my French grandmother sends us a box of homemade chocolate truffles. These truffles are chocolaty, and sugar crusted; they melt in your mouth and just beg to be eaten.

I really wanted to recreate my own vegan version of these delicious truffles and here is what I came up with. I actually made two versions of a “truffle-base” that I then flavoured with different nuts, fruits and spices. You can really personalize the truffles with whatever you prefer.

This would also make a great gift if you were to put these little chocolate treasures in a tin box.

Version one: Almond base

Here is what you’ll need for a dozen truffles:

• 1 cup of pitted dates
• 1 cup of raw almonds
• 1/4 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 1 tbs of coconut oil (this really helps making the mix a little less sticky for when you roll them up)
• 1 tbs of maple syrup

Here is what you have to do:

1.  Soak the dates in lukewarm water. If you store the dates outside of the fridge, you’ll only need to soak them while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. If you store them in your fridge, soak them for 20 minutes.
2. In a food processor, put all the other ingredients and process until you have a very fine, slightly sticky powder. This took about 5 minutes. If your food processor is a little old, process for a few seconds and give the machine a break before restarting again.
3. Drain the dates and press them to take out the excess water. Add them in the food processor.
4. Process until you have a chocolate ball rolling around your food processor, or until the dates are all mixed in.

Version two: Peanut butter base

Here is what you need for a dozen of truffles :

• 1 cup of pitted dates
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp peanut butter (I use crunchy, but use the kind you prefer)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Here is what you do:

1. Soak the dates in water.
2. Drain the dates after 10 minutes of soaking, but this time don’t press them.
3. Add them and the rest of the ingredients in the food processors.
4. Process until you have a big ball of chocolate rolling around your processor.
5. Take about a teaspoon of the mixture and roll it. Make sure you slightly wet your hands because this is sticky!

Then, all you have to do is roll about a teaspoon of the base and add some flavour. Here is what I use for these:

• sesame seeds
• shredded coconut
• fresh cranberries
• almonds
• cashews
• earl grey tea (this is really great!)
• cayenne pepper
• sriracha

It’s really fun to set up all your ingredients, and mix and match flavours. And yes, one of these truffles has sriracha in it. Surprise! Of course you can adapt these to match your taste.

Let me know what you think of these little delicious truffles. They’re not my grandma’s recipe, but they are still pretty amazing! Keep them in the fridge in an air-tight container, and they will last for about 2 weeks… if you can stop yourself from eating them all at once!