Christmas recipe alert! It's been a while since the last time, as per usual. But hey, no sad faces. Christmas is just around the corner and if you haven't made my Rocky Road Fudge yet then it's definitely time to warm up (chill down?) with these über cute snowballs. Aww. I was actually tempted to build a tiny little truffle snowman out of these but we had a plumber working in the kitchen so... Yeah. One has to know when such weirdness needs to be constrained. But once you've had your first taste I promise you'll be just as obsessed as I am!
The citrus notes in these marry perfectly with the mellow coconutty taste and make one hell of a flavour combination if I may say so myself. It's just one of those meant-to-be combos, like banana and peanut butter, strawberries and cream, chocolate and anything...
Yields: 12 bite-sized truffles
Filling:
3/4 cup oats/oat flour (75g)
6 pitted dates (85g)
2 tbsp desiccated coconut (15g)
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (21g)
2 tbsp plant based yoghurt (40g)
Zest of 1/2 lemon
White Chocolate Shell:
2 tbsp cacao butter (could sub for coconut oil but not recommended)
2 tbsp coconut cream (the thick layer on top of a can of coconut milk that has been chilled overnight in the fridge)
1 tbsp lucuma powder (Or coconut sugar if you want it sweeter)
Desiccated coconut (as much as you like) and the zest of one lime
How to:
1. Put oats, lemon zest and desiccated coconut in a food processor and blend until a fine flour forms.
2. Place the remaining ingredients for the filling into the food processor and blend again until smooth. (Skip the first step if you already have your oat flour ready)
3. Roll the dough into approximately 12 small balls and place in an airtight container in the freezer for a least an hour to firm up.
4. When the truffles are (freezing) cold, prepare the 'white chocolate' by melting the cacao butter over a hot-water bath and stirring in the lucuma powder and coconut cream. You could adjust the ratios to your own preferences here, feel free to play around!
6. In another bowl, mix the desiccated coconut with the lime zest. This will go onto the truffles once they have been coated with chocolate.
7. Keep the white chocolate in a warm bowl to stop it from setting, then take one truffle and pierce it halfway through with a wooden skewer. Dip the truffle into the chocolate and make sure it gets an even layer all the way around.
8. Sprinkle with as much of the desiccated coconut-lime zest topping as you want.
9. Secure the skewer in an upright position. This can be a bit tricky but a styrofoam board will work amazingly! I usually balance mine in the toaster (truffle-side up!) but be creative... Repeat this process with all the balls.
10. Once the coating has set enough to allow for the truffles to be removed from the skewers, place them in an airtight container and store in the freezer.
Enjoy!