Easy
Raw
Chocolaty
Nutty
Naturally sweetened
& Delicious
Who’s ready for Valentine’s Day?!
Valentine’s Day holds some funny traditions for John and me.
When we were dating I had a very health-conscious roommate who would occasionally go all out on hard cider and a bucket of fried food (namely chicken and biscuits). It was like hearing the pope swear – mind blowing.
Valentine’s Day was just a few days away and after seeing my friend relish in her big splurge, we decided to follow suit. And what would trashy food be without a good comedy flick? Nacho Libre is our go-to choice every time.
Pretty much every Valentine’s Day since, we’ve indulged in some form of junk food and hard cider and watched Nacho. This year, I think I may need to add these truffles to the mix. They’re too simple and too delicious not to.
These may not be truffles in the traditional sense, but they certainly fool the palette into thinking you’re indulging in a decadent chocolate truffle.
The center is made of dates, cocoa powder, raw nuts, cinnamon and sea salt, and semisweet chocolate and coconut oil form a decadent dark chocolate “shell.”
Toppings are optional but recommended for an extra something special. I went with pecans, sea salt and cacao nibs! No regrets.
I think you’re going to love these gems. They’re:
Simple (30 minutes)
Healthy
Naturally sweetened
Super chocolaty
Decadent
Nutty
& Super satisfying
If you try these truffles, show us! Take a picture and tag it #minimalistbaker on Instagram – we’d love to see! Happy Valentine’s week, friends! We hope it’s lovely.
Easy Vegan Truffles
Ingredients
TRUFFLES
- 1 cup raw pecans
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 1 Tbsp cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
- 10 whole medjool dates (pitted // if dried out, soak in warm water for 10 minutes then drain)
- 1 1/4 cups dairy-free dark chocolate (real chocolate bar, not chips // roughly chopped*)
- 1 tsp coconut oil
FOR TOPPING (optional)
- ~1/4 cup cacao nibs, crushed pecans/walnuts, and/or sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Place pecans and walnuts in a food processor or high speed blender and process until it reaches the consistency of a meal. Remove and set aside in a dish.
- Next, place pitted dates in the food processor and process until small bits remain and/or it forms into a ball.
- Then add in the cocoa powder and 1/2 of the nut meal and pulse. Continue pulsing and adding the nut meal a little at a time until a loose dough is formed. You may not need to use all of the nuts, which is fine because you can use any leftovers for topping the truffles.
- Once you have a dough that’s easy to form into balls, scoop out 1 Tablespoon amounts and roll/carefully form into balls. (If they aren’t quite forming, hold in your palm and let the heat of your hand warm them, then gently shape into a loose ball.) Set on parchment paper and place in freezer to chill – you should have about 14 truffles.
- In the meantime, melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second increments. Be careful not to overheat. Once melted, stir in coconut oil to help the chocolate thin and ease the dipping process.
- Remove truffles from freezer and, one at a time, dip them into the melted chocolate. Use a fork to remove them and tap away excess chocolate. Transfer back onto parchment paper and top with sea salt, crushed pecans, or cacao nibs.
- Repeat until all truffles are dipped. Let set at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. Transfer to freezer for longer term storage.
Notes
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.
MeChell says
They’re chocolate covered sugar plums! What fun. I definitely agree that soaking the dates makes things come together.
Benida says
I’ve made these for birthdays, New Years, and now for a Valentine’s Day party. I have added a dash of rum to 1/2 of them and put a different topping on those. They have always been a big hit! Everyone loves them! Thank you!
Ooo yum! Sounds delish. Thanks so much for the great review, Benida. So glad everyone enjoys these truffles!
Lou Dale says
Almond Brittle question.
What can I substitute for coconut oil and coconut sugar?
Hi Lou, perhaps brown sugar for the coconut sugar and vegan butter (or dairy butter if not vegan/dairy-free) for the coconut oil? We haven’t tried it though so can’t guarantee the result! Let us know if you try it!
Jennifer says
I’ve made these truffles every Christmas for the past few years, even after I decided veganism wasn’t for me. They are amazing and I continue to be obsessed. Due to covid this year, I’d like to mail these instead of the usual of bringing them to gatherings. How long do you think they’d hold up in the post?
Thanks!
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, we’re so glad you enjoy these! It will depend on temperature conditions of where they travel through. But we think they should last up to 1 week.
Liz says
Hi I am loving these vegan recipes.
Can you let us know what type of blender do you use, for example in the one for vegan fudge?
Hi Liz, you can find our blender review here. Hope that helps!
Kirsten says
Can I use choc chips instead of a chocolate bar if that’s all I have on hand?
We haven’t tried it, but we think it would work!
Nadia says
I haven’t made this recipe yet but it looks lovely and very easy to make. I did want to ask, how long could they keep in the fridge?
Thank you.
They should keep at least 1 week.
Belle says
I have a bunch of relatives including two vegan sisters and one dairy-intolerant brother in law, so I have made a couple of batches for Easter. Had no issue rolling them into balls – I did a ‘squeeze together’ technique at different angles to make sure the content was first stuck together, then gently palm-rolled them into perfect balls. I wasn’t sure if I had the right dates, so I soaked them for 5 min anyway and I think that created the moistness I needed.
I made some honeycomb earlier, and crushed some of the excess pieces up and sprinkled them on top of the chocolate, along with the salt and excess nut mix as suggested. I am storing them in the fridge in an airtight container because it is quite humid at the moment and I find when I moved the truffles to the container they started to melt against my fingertips so hopefully they stay solid!
I made a couple batches of the candied spiced nuts, the first turned out great but I burned the second… I will just say I went for ‘scorched’ nut effect haha. Anyway, Looking forward to making a few batches of the white truffles tomorrow! I don’t know if I can upload photos here, but the truffles do look just like the photos on this site (maybe even better because of the honeycomb harhar!). I never write reviews so that’s why this is so long.
Hi Belle! Thank you for sharing your review! If you’d like to share a photo, feel free to post it on Instagram using the hashtag #MinimalistBaker and we’ll keep our eye out for it! :D
Ailsa says
I tweaked it a bit – swapped the dates for some agave nectar and a little cashew butter and infused the whole thing with rosemary and sea salt – yum!
Thanks for sharing your recipe changes, Ailsa! We’re glad you enjoyed it!
Laura says
Great recipe, I made it with the children last year and noted metric weights for the Europeans looking at this: 175g dates, 300g mixed nuts, 100g dark chocolate (covers a bird of the truffles).
Jessica Stiles says
Thank you for that! I was just wondering, since I don’t shell out for expensive medjool dates, and weight is much more precise anyway!
Dana says
So excited to make these tonight! When do I add the sea salt and cinnamon? I don’t see that in the directions.
Hi! You can add it along in step 3! Good luck!
MiMi says
Still wondering why no choc chips? I have vegan choc couverture chips, they should work, right?
Thanks!
Chocolate chips have ingredients to help them keep their form once baked which can mess with the truffles. But give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Alice Chen says
It’s our family tradition to gift my dad chocolate truffles and eat them on Christmas day. Since my sister became vegan, I was hoping to give her some vegan truffles (and they’re not easy to find in stores or online). Luckily I stumbled on this wonderfully simple and delicious recipe. I’ll just note a few things that might be useful to anyone making this recipe for the first time. When I was processing the dates, I found that pulsing the food processor worked best to give an even and completely blended product. Like the recipe said, I had some leftover nut mix. I also added extra coco powder (2 tbsp instead of 1 tbsp) to make the filling more chocolate-y. The balling processes was a bit messy because the nut oils get extracted from the food processor, but the filling held its shape perfectly. Instead of a vegan chocolate bar I use vegan chocolate chips (enjoy life dark chocolate morsels) and because the chips were just chocolate and sugar, they completely hardened after a few hours at room temp. Let me tell you these chocolates were incredibly tasty! I’ll probably make these chocolates for non-vegans too. I just have one question…how long will these truffles last and how should they be stored? Right now I’m storing them in the refrigerator but I’m not sure that’s necessary given the ingredients.
Sofi Sun says
Hello Dana,
Thank uUu soOo much for sharing this gr88 recipe. I just finished making it. They look amazing and I can’t wait trying them. Of course I need to wait till they cool down ;)
Love
Sofi+
Sofi says
Thank uUu soOo much Dana for sharing this gr88 recipe. I just finished making it and I am soOo excited. They look gr88. Can’t wait to try them. Of course I have to wait till cool down ;)
Love
Sofi+
Cass says
I made these for my first vegan thanksgiving and my family went crazy over them. Will definitely be making more of these, thank you for the recipe!
Eden Passante says
I wonder if you can taste the difference between normal and vegan truffles! Im sure its not a huge difference, but these look amazing! I’m definitely trying this out!
Nicholas Ng says
Vegan truffles sound interesting! I wonder how they taste in comparison. Would love to try out this recipe. :)
hil bichovsky says
hello dana from the UK,
just made these – asked my friend to come round with her nutri bullet. worked though had to pulse ingredients in small batches. they shaped up beautifully and just had one with a coffee after dinner to test them in the proper environment – lovely. not too sweet actually. didn’t have medjool dates so used ordinary which will have cut down the amount of dates in them. lovely recipe tho, made 28 truffles in an hour or so;). Thanks for the site and the recipe.
Natalie Crocker says
These are beautifully delicious, just made a batch for my bestie for Yule…..of course my husband and I tried them needless to say he loved them, thank you! X
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them, Natalie!
Siobhan says
Thanks for this! I was very inspired by this recipe. After having some disappointing cherry chocolate cordials, I realized I should just make it myself. I tweaked your recipe some. I don’t like walnuts and hubs doesn’t like pecans so I used hazelnuts. I used 3 tbsb of cocoa powder and 1 1/2 oz of Grand Marnier. It wasn’t sweet enough so I put 4 tsp of date sugar in the filling. Also, it seems that they really should be kept refrigerator. Maybe it’s just my chocolate.
Anne says
How long will these truffles keep?
My Grandaughter is a Vegan and I want to make them for her for Chrismas.
Many thanks.
Anne
Lisa says
I love that my 9 year old just made these by herself. She’s entering a friendly dessert contest at school tomorrow and I have to believe she will win. So delicious! And I doubted that the dates were going to be good in a truffle. I’m sorry I doubted you. You’re never wrong. I’ll let you know if she wins!
So great! Let me know if she wins! xoxo
Julia says
I made these last night and they were sooo delicious!! My first batch ended up being too nutty tasting, so I added a little bit of honey, and they ended up so perfectly sweet and sticky!! I used some old salted chocolate bars I had in the fridge for the dip and they just taste perfect. Thanks for creating and sharing, I love your recipes!!!
Donna Hardin says
Anxious to try! I have BAD luck with coating truffles with chocolate and coconut oil. Yours look perfectly set! When I have tried with other recipes…the chocolate gets very messy…melts in your fingers. Wondering how yours set? Would like to serve at a tea party with linen napkin, but don’t want chocolate mess. Have always wondered how candy makers do it? Any thoughts? Tx. Love, Love your site!
If you let them set out at room temperature long enough they should set just fine. And for dipping, use a fork! That keeps your hands clean. Good luck!
Suzanne says
5 stars for the recipe as written, though I’m inveterate fiddler, and will adjust to personal preferences. I have a newly vegan friend whom I will gift a batch of these for the holidays.
I work with couverture chocolate to make about 30 lbs of truffles every year. It got to be such a production that my family and I make a weekend of our annual holiday chocolate making.
The secret to non-melty chocolate dipping is to temper your chocolate. Chocolate can crystalize in any one of about 8 ways, and only ONE gives you that classic chocolate “snap”, and crisp bite, and non-melty surface when touched briefly (no accounting for warm weather or hot hands!!).
I actually bought a machine designed for chocolatiers to keep couverture chocolate in temper since I do so much at one time!
But the “easy” home cook way is as follows (you SHOULD use a candy thermometer or instant-read for best results).
1. Chop your chocolate bar (preferably the best you can find! – quality counts!) fairly fine – pieces no larger than about bean sized. Reserve about 1/3 of the chopped chocolate and set aside.
2. Heat in microwave for 30 second burst in a glass container. Rotate bowl between bursts to heat evenly. Once melting begins, stir to combine. Take the temp of the melting chocolate every other burst. repeat until the temp is about 105° F, or until the chocolate is warm to the touch when dabbed on side of wrist (my grandmother’s trick). Leave sit until any remaining chunks are fully melted. Stir to combine well.
3. If not using a microwave, melt in a double boiler over barely simmering water (do NOT let any water or steam reach the chocolate or it will seize – that is, clump together in an unusable mass) until nearly completely melted and temp reaches about 105°.
4. Stir in small quantities of your reserved chopped chocolate, stirring well to combine. Let sit until each addition is melted. Repeat until chocolate reaches about 84°-89° degrees (see, I told you an instant read thermometer would be helpful!). It’s now ready to use.
5. Work fast and dip all your fillings, but be aware that if they are chilled, your working time with the tempered chocolate will be reduced as it cools faster.
BTW, the subscribe links on the “About” page don’t work. Just FYI. Thanks for the free download!
If you want a video demonstration you can find them on youtube or under Ina Garten’s recipes on Food Network’s site. I believe its her rum-raisin truffle recipe.
There are a million things that can go wrong when working with chocolate, so be prepared for failure and don’t give up. If your chocolate seizes (gets lumpy and hard), add warm liquid (coconut milk, cream, hot water) in small amounts until it looses up and becomes a thick pudding like liquid. Ta-da, you’ve just made ganache!
Helpful hint (and a critical one!) DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS if the room temp is warmer than 80 degrees, and do NOT try this if it’s humid or rainy! your chocolate will bloom (get those ugly whitish streaks) if you do. Trust me. I’ve made this mistake! :-) I hope this (overly) detailed description helps a few of you succeed in creating perfectly tempered chocolate covered candies!
Thanks for sharing, Suzanne! So glad you enjoyed the truffles!
Natalie says
Tried these this past weekend and tested them on some friends. They loved them, but they are very rich. Best served with milk (I had unsweetened/vanilla almond milk) or ice cream… even coffee would probably be good. I love love LOVE dark chocolate, so this wasn’t an issue for me… I could’ve eaten the whole lot of them with nothing else :)
I was a little confused however about the cinnamon and salt. I didn’t see it in the instructions for where to add it (I’m sure it is assumed to add it to the nut mixture, but I just totally forgot about it until the very end because it wasn’t listed in the instructions.)… so what I ended up doing was mixing the cinnamon into the melted chocolate and grinding some sea salt on top of the truffles after they were dipped. So they still had those flavors they were just in a different area.
Final review is that they are very good! I will make them again and serve them with something to cut the richness for everyone else.
Kate says
Nachooooooo! Sounds like the perfect way to spend Valentines Day to me!
Nancy Bowles says
I recently discovered this blog and oh my goodness there are so many recipes I want to try!! This one looks amazing. I also strive for minimalism (as much as possible with 3 kids) and have yet to bite the bullet on a food processor. However I have determined that I want one because the money I will save in Larabars alone will be a plus. Wondering if you have any recommendations? Thanks:)
So great to hear from a new reader, Nancy! You can find all of our kitchen essentials here! As far as a food processor go, I’d recommend Kitchenaid as a brand in general. Good luck!
Madeline | My Fitter Life says
Looks so good and so simple!!! Love your blog and every single recipe :)
Theresa says
These look divine!! I like how simple (and healthy) they are.
Ria says
These look so yum! I must try making them x
Ashlee says
These look so good! And I have all ingredients except for dates, and roads are iced over. I’m definitely making these as soon as some of the ice melts!
Kerri says
Could I substitute another type of oil, like olive oil? We have coconut allergies here but these look so good otherwise.
Betty says
Happy Valentines Day John & Dana!
Just to let you know I’ve linked this recipe into my latest post of my 13 favourite Valentines recipes and bloggers :) because they look irresistibly SCRUMMY!
Betty x
Azu says
Lately I have been preparing a lot of bite-sized healthy treats so my husband can take to work, instead of the packed unhealthy treats. This are next on my to-do list. Pinned!
Anna says
Hey Dana this looks absolutely insane <3<3 Happy V-day
Lauren says
Yum, I have all the ingredients too. Huzzah! PS we tend to pig out on our favorite food as well: cheese!
Abbie @ Needs Salt says
This… this is everything I want in a truffle. <3 Beautiful, beautiful job as usual, Dana. I hope you and John have a fabulous Valentine's Day/weekend! Pinning this!
Abbie @ Needs Salt says
This…. this is everything I want in a truffle. <3 Beautiful, beautiful job as usual, Dana. I hope you and John have a fabulous Valentine's Day/weekend! Pinning this!
Christine says
Hi Dana!
Making these today, but just wondering why not chocolate chips?
Laura says
Oh my golly. These look incredibly incredibly delicious. I want to leave work and make them RIGHT NOW!!! Thanks for my Friday excitement:)
Leila says
These look so tasty, I was curious if there are measurements for the dates since I will be using another type other than medjool.
Leila revel says
Hi there, this recipe looks so tasty and is just the thing to try out on my husband for a healthy dessert. I don’t have any medjool dates so I’m curious if there are measurements for using another type?
Use the same weight I’ve provided (I also include it in cups)!
Ash morris says
Where does it say the amount in cups ???
Anna says
Did you say “truffles”? Oh my, they look soooo delicious! What can be a better occasion than Valentine’s to make them? And your photos are stunning, Dana!
Arman @ thebigmansworld says
These look delicious- LOVE the photography here- I love making truffles for any occasion, and V day is the perfect excuse. Even for a singleton ;)
Abby says
I love all your photos, Dana, but the ones in this post… OMG. Wow. I can’t stop staring!! This recipe is going to happen in my kitchen ASAP. I’m literally drooling.
Mabel @ Ma Bella Vita says
WOW! Those seriously look incredible. I am pretty sure the pictures dont do them justice (and those are some gorgeous pics). Thanks for sharing that recipe!
Annaliese says
Yum! I just posted a similar recipe (with almonds and cherries and nibs, oh my!!)-but didn’t cover my truffles in chocolate! I will most certainly do this next time :) good stuff!!
Kristina says
Just made a batch of these and they are delicious!! The salt on top is just what they need for that perfect sweet/salty balance.
Matea says
These look better than non-vegan truffles!!
Jessie Snyder | Faring Well says
These look AMAZING!
Marianne says
I am ready to try these this week! They look fabulous… but what brand of dairy free dark chocolate bar do you use? I have a well-stocked Whole Foods near me and I buy dairy free chocolate chips, but have never found dairy free in a bar form. Can you tell me what brand you use?
Thanks!
Oh really? Trader’s actually has a dairy free dark chocolate bar. But Whole Foods should have the motherload.
Nicole @ Vegan ShowOff says
Your photos are so amazing it feels like I could literally pluck one of these truffles from my screen and pop it into my mouth (I tried but it didn’t work darn it!)
Thanks Nicole! So kind. Hope you love these!
Adriana says
I have a question and not a comment. I am an avid medjool date eater but recently discovered that some can contain insect eggs and mold? is there a certain type to buy to avoid this, or is it just apart of buying dates?
Hmm, never heard of that. I always buy mine from Trader Joe’s and have never had a problem. I would seek out other sources if yours have issues.
Annaliese says
This is a great question, and I actually came across this from the bulk dates from Whole Foods in my town. I would say to always buy packaged, fresh and refrigerated dates (unless you live in a climate that readily produces dates)-like what Trader Joe’s sells. Likewise, I buy a package of Joe’s dates each week, and haven’t seen any mold or nasty critters since I have started this habit about 4 months ago. I would also advise to follow the same principles with figs, as they are prone to contamination by insects and mold…probably due to their lack of sulfites and other browning (polyphenol oxidase) inhibitors. When in doubt, go to a store that you know goes through inventory fast-like your local hippy-dippy cooperative :) good luck!!
Millie | Add A Little says
These look amazing, especially with some sea salt sprinkled on top!!
John Hartil says
These are perfect for Saturday!
Valérie says
Great idea to make healthy energy balls ready for Valentine’s day! Any suggestions for an alternative to dates?
//Valérie
I think most sticky-ish dried fruits would do, such as dried blueberries, cherries, figs, raisins or cranberries.
Valérie says
Thank you, I think I’ll give the cranberries a go!
//Valérie
Alessandra Martellacci says
I did it with prunes and it worked very well.
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit says
These are like the classic raw date balls, but all fancied up!
Speaking of Valentine’s Day, I must say I have a massive blogger crush on you’re site! I’m always excited to see a new recipe posted, and you just nail it every time. Aside from the food, your photography just blows me away! You are my go-to for photo-shoot inspiration for my own recipes, and I just asked my sister to get me your photography course for my B-day! Thank you for being so amazing <3
So kind! Thanks Natalie! That tottaly made my pre-Valentine’s Day :D Let me know if you get the course and how you like it! We’re getting ready to add our artificial lighting section soon!
SAUL says
STOP! These look insane. Must try.
Gaby says
I love these little bite sized truffles for Valentine’s Day!!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
These are mega stunners – I am dying to try them!! And that date filling sounds like perfection!
yanyan says
hi Dana
I love your commitment to healthier foods and thank you to share. As it is Lunar New Year next week, I’m going to visit Plum Village in Hong Kong and plan to make these goodies for the Nuns& Monks as they are vegan… I’m so excited to try your recipe ! :) Yeah! hope they go well….
I’d never thought our recipes would serve monks and nuns! So honored. Thanks for sharing! Hope everyone loves them and Happy Lunar New Year!
yanyan says
hi Dana
I tried it but I couldn’t make them into ball shapes as too crumbling …
could i add another binding ingredient or something I didn’t do correctly?
the meal was not easy to shape therefore any suggestions pls maybe more dates as this is the binding ingredient? thank you.
It can do that sometimes if your dates aren’t big / moist enough. I’d recommend adding a little bit of nut butter or coconut oil and mixing until a firmer dough forms! You can also just put a little oil on your hands and help them form that way!
yanyan says
hi Dana
I made them again with different dates and the oil did the trick !
fyi, i used almonds , cashews , pink salt instead as didn’t have pecans or walnuts or sea salt..
and also added some chestnuts :) …thank you.
yanyan says
hi Dana
I love your commitment to healthier foods and thank you to share. As it is Lunar New Year next week, I’m going to visit Plum Village in Hong Kong and plan to make these goodies for the Nuns& Monks there as they are vegan… I’m so excited to try your recipe ! :) Yeah! hope they go well….
Sara @ Cake Over Steak says
Haha! My husband and I have a similar tradition where we eat something trashy (usually Chinese takeout or Domino’s pizza), drink beer or cocktails, and binge-watch television or a fun movie. There also has to be chocolate dessert of some kind. These sound great!
You get us :D
Christine @ Gotta Eat Green says
Get outta town.. these look so delish! We’re trying to do a healthy Valentine’s day this year and I’m on dessert… so these may be the winner1
Heather - Butter&Burlap says
Delicious! I love truffles:) I’m not familiar with too many vegan recipes or eating restrictions. What makes these truffles vegan?
They’re free of animal products :D