Chocolate Truffles....(sugar-free, gluten-free & dairy-free)

If any of you, like me, have given up junk food for the New Year but loooove chocolate then here is a super easy recipe to make delicious Chocolate Truffles with natural, healthy ingredients.  I found variations of this recipe on a few websites but I chose this one as it's probably my favourite recipe so far.  I love these truffles...they do not have the same creamy taste as regular chocolate truffles; they are not regular chocolate truffles! In my opinion, this is a good thing, as the regular truffles are loaded with sugar and hence calories.  This is a nourishing alternative.  The ingredients may sound strange but I say "just give it a shot!"  Nothing ventured, nothing gained!  So here it is...I hope you like it....

Ingredients + Instructions

 

Truffle Filling:

• 1/2 Cup of Cashew Nuts
• 1 Cup of Gluten Free Oats
• 1 Can Chickpeas
• 4 tbsp. Raw Cacao Powder
• 6 tbsp. agave or maple syrup (I use agave)
• A pinch of salt

Chocolate Coating:

• 50g of Raw Cacao Powder
• 100g Coconut Oil
• 1 tbsp. Agave syrup

 

1. To make the truffle filling: Place the cashew nuts into a food processor and process until a butter-like texture is formed. This may take 4/5 minutes.
2. Add the drained chickpeas, oats, cacao and agave and process.  This will take a little bit of effort as the ingredients are quite dry and so will stick to the sides a lot. Just keep pushing them back down to the blade and keep the process going until a smooth, dough-like texture is formed.  (all the chickpeas and oats should be well blended) I did add a tablespoon of cold water to help the mixture form. Don't be alarmed if your food processor sounds like it's about to die!  In the end your mixture should look something like this...hopefully...
3. It's important to taste your truffle mixture at this stage..and add more cacao / agave if needed.  It should not taste like chickpeas! It should taste more like chocolate than falafel!
4. Roll the mixture into medium sized balls and place in the freezer for 10 minutes
5. Now make the chocolate covering: Melt the coconut oil in a bowl over hot water
6. Whisk in the cacao and agave syrup
7. Remove the truffles from the freezer and begin to dip them in the chocolate

       7. You can now coat the truffles in whatever you'd like: coconut flakes, chia seeds, cacao       powder, etc.  I chose to leave mine plain.
       8. Pop them back into the freezer for 20 minutes and then transfer them into the fridge and enjoy each and every one!

 

(I adapted the original recipe from www.keenongreens.com)