I'm sure Willy Wonka would agree: it's hard to believe that anything which tastes this good is entirely plant-based.
The possibilities for flavour combinations for these truffles are endless and some of my favourites are at the end of the recipe.
If you have time on your hands, and you want to try a few different combos, make double the truffle base mixture and create your own truffle alchemy.
Head on over to the website (www.nibl.co.nz) or join me on Facebook/Instagram (search for niblonthis) to let me know about your best truffle taste sensations!
These make great gifts but they must be kept refrigerated.
If your friend places your beautifully wrapped bag of these truffles under their Christmas tree, where it sits in the blazing Otago sunlight for a couple of days, someone's going to be sorely disappointed on Christmas Day.
Scrumdiddlyumptious truffles
Ingredients
½ cup coconut oil
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp almond butter or cashew butter
¼ cup chia seeds
¾ cup cacao or good quality cocoa powder, sifted
Flavour options
1 tsp freeze-dried fruit powder (e.g. raspberry, passionfruit or strawberry. I use Fresh As powders)
¼ cup dried fruit (e.g. dried blueberries, currants or goji berries)
Coating options
shredded coconut, extra freeze-dried berry powder, or finely chopped/ground nuts
Method
Gently melt coconut oil and maple syrup together in a bowl over hot water and stir in nut butter. Grind chia seeds in a mini-blender, coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Place cacao/cocoa powder, ground chia seeds, freeze-dried fruit powder and dried fruit in a bowl. Pour in combined coconut oil, maple syrup and nut butter and mix well.
Refrigerate mixture for around 20 minutes or until firm enough to handle (the ground chia seeds will absorb moisture and the coconut oil will begin to set).
In the meantime, prepare materials for rolling truffles. You will need the coating in a shallow dish, a teaspoon or melon-ball scoop, a bowl of cold water to keep hands/utensils moist, and a tray lined with baking paper.
When mixture is solid enough to be rolled into balls, work fast. Use a heaped teaspoon of mixture per truffle. With wet hands, roll and coat each truffle in coating, then place on a tray and refrigerate until set. If mixture has become too firm to handle, allow it to sit at room temperature again for a few minutes. It's a messy job: embrace the chaos!
TIPS
• Freeze-dried fruit powders can be bought at specialty food shops and some supermarkets.
• Makes around 25 small truffles (if you don't ''accidentally'' eat too much mixture during the production process).
FLAVOUR COMBINATIONS
• Flavour with raspberry powder and dried blueberries, then coat with additional raspberry powder
• Flavour with passionfruit powder (start with ½ teaspoon of powder and adjust according to taste as it's is a strong flavour) and goji berries, then coat with ground pistachio nuts
• Flavour with strawberry powder and currants, then coat with shredded coconut
NIBL WORKSHOP
Nicola Brown will demonstrate some seasonal plant-based/raw food recipes at the Otago Farmers Market on Saturday, November 29. She will also be running the last Nibl workshop for 2014 on Sunday, December 7, with a focus on festive plant-based snacks, both sweet and savoury. See www.nibl.co.nz/product/super-snacks for more information.
