Chocolate Orange Truffles
It’s trufflemania! Healthy organic truffles are not only easy to make, they are bursting with flavor in every bite. In addition, these little treats are power packed with nutrients. And on top of that? My family has been devouring them.
The boys have been taking them to school in their lunches and yesterday I sent my father a package of the chocolate prune truffles (including a couple of these as well). Hi Dad! Hope you are enjoying the truffles :-)
½ cup cashews
¼ cup creamy roasted almond butter
¼ cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange zest
¼ cup cocoa powder
- Place cashews in a food processor and pulse until the texture of coarse sand
- Add almond butter, agave, cocoa powder vanilla and orange zest and pulse until smooth
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until firm
- Remove from fridge and roll into ½ inch balls
- Coat with cocoa powder
- Serve
Makes 12 truffles
This gluten-free vegan truffle recipe is based on one in Charlie Trotter’s book Raw
It also contains a plethora of wholesome delicious recipes. While they are rather complex, they can also provide great ideas and staring points for your own simple creations.
I have one more truffle recipe up my sleeve. Stay tuned as trufflemania continues…
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Subscribe by Email to elanaspantry.com:Posted on November 4, 2008 in desserts by Elana
you might also like: Sesame Truffles
or Rosemary Chocolate Truffles
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21 comments for the post “Chocolate Orange Truffles”
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Elana, these look lovely. I made some yesterday, practicing for Christmas presents. I did almonds, cranberries, currants and agave in the food processor and then covered with chocolate and coconut. Yummy. The possibilities are endless and your inspiration is wonderful. I will be doing your orange chocolate clusters for presents as well, they are too good! Can’t wait for the next recipe.
Hannah
November 5th, 2008 4:25 am
You are my hero :)
I’m new to this world of healthy living and you allow me to indulge in the odd treat without feeling like I’ve done something wrong.
I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Renee
November 5th, 2008 7:04 am
Elana,
These look awesome, as always! I just this week decided to (finally) try your vanilla cupcake recipe! YUMMINESS! I have not ventured into grapeseed oil yet, so I used butter in equal amounts since I thought that was the way you have substituted it before based on your choc. chip cookie recipe. Those things are addictive! I have never had much luck with other coconut flour recipes on the web but these are awesome! I made the frosting the first time but this time I just put a small square of 85% chocolate on each cupcake as they came out of the oven and smooshed it around a little for the frosting! YUM! Thanks SO much! Oh, and I took the choc. chip cookies to a school function and people were WOWED that they had no grains! You rock!
November 6th, 2008 6:34 pm
Hi Elana,
These do look divine. I have been avoiding all of the California pasteurized almonds. Do you think there’s a way to do this with other nut butters? I find cashew butter can be a little ‘gummy’ tasting and the macadamia is impossible to find organic here. Any ideas? I’m able to purchase the raw, organic Spanish almonds, but to make almond butter with them is a really different consistency than the bought product.
Thank you!
November 7th, 2008 10:19 am
Hannah -That sounds delicious!
Renee -Thanks so much for your kind words, I really appreciate them.
chrissy -Thanks for sharing your recipe successes with us. I especially like the way you smooshed the chocolate squares onto the warm cupcakes. Yum.
Tara -I made them with cashew butter and they were still pretty good; you could experiment with any organic nut butter of your choosing –just be sure to let us know how they turn out :-)
November 7th, 2008 3:26 pm
These truffles look so good, I love the combination of orange and chocolate.
November 7th, 2008 6:02 pm
I’d love to try your chocolate orange truffles but my doctor tells me I my body has an intolerance to chocolate and cocoa. I didn’t ask about Carob but from what I understand there is a difference. Have you tried carob instead of cocoa in this recipe? Better close for now and make more pumpkin custard. I’m addicted to it.
Have a blessed week.
Love,
Paulette
November 10th, 2008 10:25 am
MaryBeth -I do too!
Paulette -I haven’t; for more info please see my faq’s. Have a wonderful day :-)
November 10th, 2008 11:11 am
HI Elana,
I am loving your blog and your trufflemania. These all look so delicious and I too love making raw treats such as these. I often use walnuts and dates with agave and raw cacao powder. I look forward to trying out your yummy treats - and I too think these would make wonderful gifts for the holidays!
Also, I love you photos!
sincerely,
sarah
November 11th, 2008 8:15 pm
Hi - any good “eggnog” tasting ideas????
November 12th, 2008 3:11 am
Sarah -Your agave-walnut-cacao combo sounds delicious! Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it.
jodie -Thanks for the great idea –I started working on it right after receiving your comment. I’ll post it soon.
November 12th, 2008 1:02 pm
Elana,
I’d like to make these for Christmas, but I will also be out of town for a week. Is it possible to make these ahead of time and freeze them? How long will they last in the fridge?
I’m so excited to have found your site! I am not (that I know of) a celiac, but I get severe cystic acne when I eat sugar, so I know I have some sort of food intolerance. I’m hoping that agave nectar will be something I can eat and I look forward to trying many of your recipes!!!
December 10th, 2008 8:57 am
Mandy,
Thanks for your comment. What a great idea –to make the truffles ahead of time. I wouldn’t freeze them, I’d just keep them in the fridge. I think they’d keep pretty well that way, though not sure for exactly how long. Personally, I keep mine on the counter for days.
Hope this helps. If you need a better answer you can post your question in the forums and someone there might be able to give you an exact time frame.
Elana
December 10th, 2008 10:44 am
Elana, are there any other ingredients in the 73% chocolate and if so, what are they? I have searched all over the internet and could not find this information. Thank you.
December 16th, 2008 9:12 pm
Rachel,
Your best bet when searching for ingredients is to contact the manufacturer directly or ask a vendor who sells the product; manufacturers are constantly changing their formulations.
You also might want to try my forums.
Hope this helps.
Elana
December 17th, 2008 1:25 pm
Elana,
If it’s not too much trouble since you use this product, will you look on your packaging and tell me what the ingredients are on the 73% chocolate? I have emailed Dagoba but never got a response.
Thank you.
Rachel
December 18th, 2008 7:46 pm
RachelB,
Unfortunately, I don’t have that information. Just google “dagoba chocodrops,” the first item in the google search is usually “worldwide chocolates,” scroll down the page and you will find the product along with the ingredients.
Also, feel free to post any queries you may have in my forums. There are lots of helpful folks full of information over there.
Good Luck,
Elana
December 19th, 2008 2:27 pm
Thanks, Elana. I found it and, sadly for me, it does contain sugar. I’ll keep searching for a chocolate that I can use to make your recipes.
Rachel
December 19th, 2008 3:47 pm
Hey Elana!
I made these truffles for a Christmas social I attended. I was so happy to make my first agave sweetened dessert - they tasted delicious!
One thing though, my truffles were a little too gooey even though I coated them with lots of cocoa powder, to the point that they would gradually shift from a round ball to a disk shape. It could be because I have a mini-food processor and it couldn’t handle getting the nuts chopped finely enough, or because Trader Joe’s creamy almond butter is VERY creamy. I am making them again tonight with a little more nuts and a little less agave.
If anyone else had this problem, I would recommend leaving the truffles in the fridge or even freezer until just before you serve them :) Will let you know if using less agave solves my problem too.
I love your blog Elana, it makes me excited to be able to make treats I can eat for Christmas!
December 22nd, 2008 8:19 am
RachelB,
If you are not on a gluten free diet (I personally am more on a sugar free diet and NOT a gluten free one) you can purchase chocolate chips sweetened with malted barley or unsweetened carob chips. Sunspire makes both. Here are links.
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=172832&prrfnbr=213701
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=172832&prrfnbr=213698
December 22nd, 2008 8:26 am
mandy,
Yes, if the cashews were not ground to the consistency of sand then they would not be an effective dry ingredient. I think any/all of your fixes –refrigerating/freezing longer, cutting down on wet ingredients, increasing dry ingredients will solve this issue and make them retain their shape more effectively.
Thanks for your comments.
Elana
December 22nd, 2008 11:34 am