Raw Cacao Truffles

Nina Manolson

Raw Cacao Truffles – Healthy candy!

These rich tasting truffles are a treat that treats you well!

They are easy and quick to make. I often whip them up for a quick desert for company. They are also perfect to keep on hand for when you need a little sweet treat for yourself.

Before you jump straight to the recipe, I want to give you a quick primer on cacao, because these truffles use two different forms of the Cacao bean – nibs and powder.

Ruby (my daughter) holding a cacao pod at a market in Peru.

Cacao Primer:

Cacao is the raw material for chocolate.
It grows as a big pod (see pic above).
Inside the pod are smaller beans.
Inside the bean are nibs. They look like coarsely ground coffee.
If you grind the whole bean or the nibs you get cacao powder.
You can purchase cacao in all these different forms at your local health food store, or you can get the cacao beans and grind them yourself.

Cacao beans and powder in the back, Cacao nibs in the front.

1/4 cup organic raw cocoa nibs
1/2 cup organic walnuts (soaked or not, soaking the nuts for a couple of hours will give you a creamier texture).
1.5 tablespoons raw coconut nectar – I’ve been using this instead of Agave these days. You can also use pureed, soaked dates or raw honey.
2 tablespoons of Raw Cacao Powder or Ground Almonds or Shaved Coconut- Choose your favorite for coating your truffle.
Grated Orange rind (optional and to taste).

How to:

Put the walnuts in a food processor, grind until it’s walnut meal
Add the cocoa nibs. Mix until the walnuts and cocoa are blended well.
Add your favorite natural sweetener. Process until it’s a paste texture.
Grate in a little orange rind, if you like the orange-chocolate combination.
Roll it into balls. Roll it in the cacao powder, ground almonds or shaved coconut if you like.
They keep well in the fridge or freezer.

Enjoy!

If you love having healthy sweet treats on hand, here are some other healthy candy recipes I think you’ll like:

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or are you looking for healthy kid friendly treats? Then this is for you: www.HealthyYummyKids.com