CARDAMOM CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES WITH ALMONDS AND DATES
by Sepi Z
Sepi Z
Ingredients
Almonds, toasted if preferred ¾ cup
Dates, pitted, chopped ½ cup
Cocoa powder 2 Tbsp. + additional for coating
Cardamom, ground up to ¼ tsp.
Salt ¼ tsp
Vanilla extract (optional) ½ tsp.
Water up to 1 ½ Tbsp.
Raspberries (optional) as needed
Directions
Using a food processor or blender, grind the almonds into a fine meal. Add the dates, cacao (or cocoa), 1/8 teaspoon cardamom, salt, and optional vanilla extract and pulse until blended. Taste and blend in more cardamom if desired.
One teaspoon at a time, sprinkle in water and pulse until a sticky, uniform dough is formed.
Scoop out the dough by heaping tablespoons and place onto a plate lined with parchment or wax paper. Roll dough into balls with hands. If coating with cacao, sift an additional tablespoon of cacao into a bowl. Roll truffles in cacao until evenly coated and return to parchment or wax paper.
Store in the refrigerator or freezer to maintain the texture and serve chilled or at room temperature. Can be held in the refrigerator up to one week or in the freezer up to 3 months for optimal quality.
Serve with raspberries if desired.
Variations
Cinnamon and/or cayenne pepper as the spice (Mexican chocolate truffles).
Pecans as the nut and pumpkin pie or chai spice as the spice.
Walnuts as the nut and orange zest in place of a spice.
Peanuts or peanut butter as the nut and dried apricots or raisins as the fruit without any spices (PBJ truffles).
Sesame seeds or tahini as the nut/seed and ginger as the spice and rolling in the sesame seeds.
Instead of adding salt to the truffle dough, sprinkle coarse sea salt on each truffle after rolling.