Truffles...mmmmmmmm (baby cheat)

Amaretto/Almond Truffles

Coconut Truffles

MMMMMmmmmm! It's that time of year that the holiday treats begin. Now, for me a HUGE part of Christmas has always been about the time spent baking special treats for loved ones. Well, since grains no longer exist in my eating, I was dreading starting the baking this year. I've been keeping my eyes open for things I could make that are only little cheats instead of big, gut ache cheats. Today is my first treat. I've always made some candy, but this year will probably be mostly candy and not so many cookies.

Peppermint Truffles

So, Truffles. Made with dark chocolate and cream, I figure these are pretty paleo/primal.  I am ok with a small amount of dairy in my diet.  And of course I won't be eating these all for myself... really!  Some will be going in treat boxes for gifts.  

I adapted this recipe from the cookingforengineers.com blog. Using a 2:1 ration of chocolate to cream I made pure deliciousness this afternoon. 3 variations, almond, coconut and peppermint.

Corey's favorite is the Almond.  I like the peppermint.  You could do them with hazelnut (using a hazelnut liqueur and rolling in chopped hazelnuts), or really any flavor you can find a pure extract or liquor for.  Pick your favorite!

Truffle Recipe

8 oz dark chocolate (best you can find, I used Ghiardelli's bittersweet chocolate chips since Meijer carries them)

1/2 C. Cream (again, the best you can find. I used some Country Fresh and some Horizon Organic)

Flavoring (1 Tbsp of Amaretto in one batch, 1 tsp peppermint extract in another)

Stuff to roll the truffles in

You're probably going to want to chop up your chocolate relatively finely. Or you can partially melt it like I did in the microwave. Careful though, you don't need it to be completely melted. And over heating chocolate creates a mess.

Heat the cream in a saucepan on the stove top. Bring it just barely to a boil.

Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir. And stir. And stir. At first it will look like the pic on the left.


Then it will come together and look like this. Stir until it's smooth and shiny. It should not look grainy at all. If it does, add a little cold cream and stir until it does.

At this point, stick it in the fridge for an hour or two, until it's firm.
Toast some nuts or coconut while you wait. Make sure this cools COMPLETELY.



Once it's firm, take a spoon or a tiny scooper and scrap the chocolate. Use your fingers to shape it into a ball. Drop it into a bowl with your topping of choice (nuts, coconut, powdered sugar, cocoa) and roll it around to cover. Press a little into the truffle to make sure it sticks. I placed the finished truffles in mini muffin like papers to keep them neat.