These spiced chocolate truffles are so intensely chocolatey you’d never believe they’re also nutrient dense. And yet they contain ample amounts of vitamin E, fiber, and cacao, which contains molecules that appear to reverse age-related memory decline. That means you won’t have any problem remembering where you hid your stash of this healthy nosh. Even better, these chocolate truffles are incredibly easy to make so you don’t have to be an aspiring pastry chef to make them. Same goes for the rest of the recipes from Drew Ramsey’s Eat Complete, one of my favorite new cookbooks.–David Leite
Spiced Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
- 8 ounces dark chocolate (70% cocoa), finely chopped
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream, cinnamon, cloves, and coriander to a gentle boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate, and let it sit until the chocolate softens, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- Meanwhile, toss the almonds and pumpkin seeds in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
- Stir the chopped almonds and pumpkin seeds into the chocolate mixture and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the mixture, uncovered, until firm, about 1 hour.
- Spoon heaping teaspoon mounds of the chocolate mixture onto the lined baking sheet. If at any time your mounds of chocolate truffle loveliness turn soft and sticky as you try to work with them, place the baking sheet and/or the bowl of chocolate mixture in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Roll the mounds between your palms into smooth, even balls. Dump the cocoa powder on a plate, roll the balls in the cocoa, and return them to the baking sheet or, alternatively, dump the cocoa powder in a small strainer and sift the cocoa over the balls. Arrange the truffles on a plate and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately or hide them, um, we mean, place them in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
If you like dark, bitter chocolate and strong flavors, this spiced chocolate truffles recipe is a perfect recipe for you. It’s a “traditional” French truffle, covered with cocoa powder, flavored with several different yet well balanced spices that takes its crunch from almonds and pumpkin seeds. And you don’t need to have any particular skills in the kitchen to prepare it, just a few ingredients and a little time in the fridge to create this pretty and delicate French confection. After whisking the melted chocolate mixture, I put it in a small bowl and then let it cool to room temperature, which took about 15 minutes. I preferred to roll the balls in cocoa as the use of a small strainer didn’t cover them so well. This is a really simple and delicious recipe!
I loved the simplicity of this spiced chocolate truffles recipe, the wholesome ingredients, and the fragrance and flavor of the spices. The truffles are easy to whip up for special occasions, as a gift, or a decadent at-home treat. The mixture could have stayed in the fridge longer than an hour but it was okay if you worked quickly. A strainer isn’t necessary for coating the truffles with cocoa; rolling the truffles in cocoa powder worked well. The texture was a bit too chewy for me, though I’m not sure how to remedy it as I finely chopped the almonds and pumpkin seeds.
I have always been a fan of cocoa-dusted truffles—the ones that grasp the back of your throat with their powderiness and then slowly melt over your tongue. These are definitely on my Christmas baking list. Perfect for gifts for your chocoholic friends. While I love the addition of nuts, as a purely personal opinion I would pulse them until ground, not just chopped. I also think the dusting with a strainer works so much better as my slightly warm hands caused some melting when I was rolling the truffles on a plate.
