Paleo Dark Chocolate Truffles
As we continue this week of total decadence, I give you one of my personal favorite treats in the whole wide world: truffles.
When made right, truffles are indeed a pure delicacy: they are rich and creamy and oh so velvety. And they practically melt the minute they hit your tongue.
For me, a good truffle is nothing but a high quality dark chocolate ganache rolled into a ball and coated with a soft chocolate shell.
Of course, there are many different varieties, especially as far as flavor is concerned, but I think of orange as the true, original truffle flavoring. And well, chocolate orange also happens to be my ultimate favorite flavor combination, so I’m not too inclined to mess with this, if you know what I mean.
It had been an eternity since I’d last made truffles but lucky for you, this year, I felt like making a batch and, just as with the rest of my Holiday Decadent Creations, keep them entirely refined sugar free and paleo friendly.
To be honest, I sort of knew it would work well, but the result FAR exceeded my expectations. These babies are just insane.
Orgasm in a box. That’s what they are. And lucky for you, I’m about to show you how to make your own!
Start by chopping your cacao paste extremely finely.
My favorite tool to do that is a long, serrated knife. It might sound surprising, but it works great, trust me!
Pour the simmering cream over the finely chopped cacao paste.
Don’t forget to remove the empty vanilla pods!
Stir delicately until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is nice and creamy.
As if this wasn’t dreamy enough as it is, let’s add a little ghee to the mixture
Mix it in and send to the fridge for about 30 minutes
Using a small spring-loaded ice cream scoop, scoop out little balls of the chocolate mixture…
…and place them onto a baking sheet that’s been lined with parchment paper…
…then shape those into perfect little spheres by rolling them between the palms of your hands.
Act quick here, for you wouldn’t want that to chocolate to melt in your hands now, would you?
Here’s a quick tip that I learned when I was in school: it helps to work in a “cool” environment when working with chocolate. It’s not a bad idea to turn the thermostat down one or two degrees. Just sayin’, you know!
Remove the chilled truffles from the baking sheet and set a fine meshed cooling tray right over that parchment paper.
Dip the truffles one by one in the melted chocolate mixture and place them on the tray to drip. Send them to the fridge to set once again, then repeat the process one more time!
If you have a little bit of melted chocolate left, drizzle it over your finished truffles to make cute a little design.
You might want to be a tad more patient than I was and give it a few more minutes so it gets a chance to thicken up before to start drizzling…
When your truffles are completely set, drop them in a bowl full of cacao powder, move them around a little bit to completely cover them…
…and then take them out. Give them a quick shake to remove any excess…
…and finally, place your finished truffles in cute little paper cups.
AND VOILÀ! Just like that, you’re done!
Wait! We’re not quite done just yet after all. See that stuff? Whatever you do, DO NOT throw that away.
That is pure crack right there. Scrape it off with an offset spatula and save it to munch on later…
Trust. You’ll thank me!
Alright, now you’re really done.
And there you have it.
You just made REAL truffles, just like the professionals do. With none of the crap that the professionals use.
Seriously. Just look at that texture. Creamy enough for you?
These babies, they literally melt in your mouth. And between your fingers, too.Don’t go holding them for too long, I warn you.
Alright, that’s enough temptation for one day…
Place your chocolates in a cute little box now and get ready to share. Bring these to your next party and I’m sure you’ll make LOTS of friends.
You’ll be the star of the night!
Paleo Dark Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
Part I
- 9 oz organic raw cacao paste
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, Grade B or Canada Medium
- 3/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
- 1 pinch Himalayan salt
- 1/4 cup ghee
- 3-6 drops orange essential oil, to taste (optional)
Part II
- 3.5 oz organic raw cacao paste
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp unpasteurized honey
- 1 pinch Himalayan salt
- About a cup of raw cacao powder to coat the truffles
Instructions
- Chop the cacao paste very, VERY finely and place it in a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Bring maple syrup, coconut milk, salt and scraped vanilla seeds to a slow simmer over medium heat. (You can also throw the empty pod in there to infuse more flavor; just make sure you remove it when you pour this over your chocolate)
- As soon as the creamy mixture starts to simmer, pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir delicately until completely melted and smooth. Add ghee and essential oil and stir until well combined.
- Place the chocolate in the refrigerator to firm up, about 30 minutes or so.
- Using a small ice cream scoop (about the size of a melon baller), scoop out little balls of the chocolate mixture and place them onto a baking sheet that’s been lined with parchment paper, then shape those into perfect little spheres by rolling them between the palms of your hands.
- Put these in the fridge to chill while you work on the chocolate coating.
- Melt the cacao paste in the microwave in 20-30 second intervals and stir well for an equal amount of time between each interval until it’s completely melted.
- When the chocolate is fully melted, add the honey, coconut oil and pinch of salt and stir delicately until smooth.
- Remove the truffles from the baking sheet and set a fine meshed cooling tray right over that parchment paper. Dip the truffles one by one in the melted chocolate and place them on the tray to drip. Put them back in the fridge to set for 10-15 minutes then dip them a second time. Place them in the fridge once more until completely set.
- If you have a little bit of melted chocolate left, drizzle it over your finished truffles to make cute a little design.
- When your truffles are completely set, drop them in a bowl full of cacao powder, move them around a little bit to completely cover them and then take them out. Give them a quick shake to remove any excess and place them in a small paper cup.
- Stored in a cool dry place in an airtight container, these will keep for a couple of weeks.
Nutrition
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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15 Comments on “Paleo Dark Chocolate Truffles”
I love truffles. Especially healthy truffles…which means, I am in love with these. They look so creamy and smooth and I just want to curl up and roll around with them. I don’t know what the means but it’s what I want to do.
Perfect truffles girl!
LOL! You’re just too funny Taylor! But tell you what, I would gladly join you in curling up and rolling around with those truffles! 😀
Forget Godiva, these truffles are the real deal.
I sooooo want one, especially the cocoa coated ones look particularly scrumptious!
Haha! Sonia “THF” Godiva. That would suit me well, wouldn’t it? And you don’t even know how badly you truly want one. Good for you you haven’t sampled them, you’d probably be jogging your way here right now! 😀
Can carob powder be used instead?
How could it work?
Thanks
Carob powder instead of the cacao paste, you mean? If that’s the case, then it definitely wouldn’t work, as they are 2 totally different things. You’d have to add cacao butter to the equation, and without testing it first hand, I can’t really say in what proportions… sorry about that, Alice.
Thes sound delicious, but a couple of questions… First, can you give me an equivalent to the grams of cocoa paste (cups or ounces)? Also, I personally LOVE coffee flavored truffles (read See’s Candy Cafe Au Lait Truffles), so could I substitute some kind of coffee extract for the orange oil? And, lastly, do you have any idea how many carbs are in these bad boys? We DO love the bad boys, don’t we?
Hey Diane,
First off, I updated the recipe to show imperial measurements… that will make your life easier!
Regarding coffee extract, that wouldn’t be a problem, just make sure that your extract contains no water whatsoever because that could create problems for you and cause your chocolate to seize, unless you added it to the coconut milk mixture instead.
Lastly, I don’t understand your question: the nutritional information is already posted and does mention carbs, fiber and sugar. Is that not what you were looking for?
Anyway, hope this helps and if you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! 🙂
They turned out really delicious! I’ve been mentally preparing to make these for over a month now and finally put time aside on Saturday. It took me 4 hours to make 50 of them. It’s definitely finicky rolling the soft chocolate filling, and I found that the coated truffles stuck to the cooling rack. A little bit broke off when I tried to peel them off. Any advice on how to avoid that next time?
Looks like you totally nailed it, Naomi. Wow! Your truffles really look amazing. If you ever make them again and find that they stick to the rack, you can use the tip of a small offset spatula to detach / lift them. Or, you could put the truffles to set on a piece of parchment paper instead, but then they would get a little bit of a “lip” at the bottom, from the excess chocolate dripping as they set…
Thanks! I’ll try using an offset spatula next time.
Can you just use organic dark chocolate instead?
I really don’t think that it would pose a problem, Laura. Make sure it’s at least 70% cocoa, though.
Do these completely melt at room temperature? Thank you!
No they don’t, providing that it’s not overly hot, of course!