This delicious, healthy and somewhat sophisticated treat is not too sweet, making a great candy for adult palates.  It may appeal to the younger crowd as well –my 10 year old ate a dozen of these and then packed more in his school lunch.

Along with their rich chocolate-prune flavor, these vegan truffles are packed with healthy antioxidants and quite nutritionally dense.

Chocolate Prune Truffles
1 cup prunes, pitted
¾ cup tart cherry juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup chocolate drops, melted over very low heat
¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Place prunes in a bowl and cover with cherry juice
2. Soak for 1-2 hours
3. If your prunes are hard, not juicy, you may need to heat them just a bit in the cherry juice until soft
4. Place prunes and juice in food processor and pulse until smooth, about 30 seconds
5. Pulse in vanilla, then melted chocolate
6. Scrape mixture into a bowl and place in freezer for 30-45 minutes, until almost smooth
7. Remove from freezer, and roll into 1″ balls in palm of hand
8. Roll in coconut to coat
9. Serve

Makes 15 truffles

These tasty little truffles are based on a recipe called Prune Armagnac Truffles in Baking with Agave Nectar, by Ania Catalano.  Her recipe has heavy cream and liqueur and looks absolutely divine.

I made these truffles liquor free (for the boys) and dairy free (for me) and swapped out a few other ingredients as well to create this vegan version.  I hope you enjoy this little treat as much as my family has!