chocolate almond truffles

I made these truffles on the weekend to take  to a friend's dinner party as dessert, and they went down well. They're similar to my Salted 'Caramel' Truffles, but chocolate coated. The dark chocolate coating provides a nice contrast to the soft interior and makes these truffles a bit more decadent, and thus passable as a dessert! 

I used an 85% cocoa dark chocolate for the coating to keep sugar low. But if you have more time up your sleeve, you could make your own raw chocolate to coat the truffles instead. 

ingredients

• 1 cup almond meal
• ? cup raw virgin coconut oil, softened
• 1 tbsp rice malt syrup *
• Pinch of salt
• 100g dark (85% cocoa) chocolate

preparation

1. Mix the almond meal, coconut oil, rice malt syrup and salt in a bowl until well combined.

2. Roll the mixture into balls, place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper and chill in the freezer until set.

3. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl (it's easier to dip the truffles into a deeper level of chocolate), then allow it to cool slightly. You want it to be starting to thicken, but still runny.

4. Using two teaspoons, dip the chilled truffles into the chocolate and place back on the tray lined with baking paper. Place the tray in the fridge until the chocolate layer is set, then repeat the dipping one more time for a thicker coating. You may need to re-melt the chocolate before the second dipping if it's starting to set in its bowl.

5. Store the truffles in the fridge, as the coconut oil in the filling may start to melt if left at a warm room temperature.

* I use rice malt syrup because it's fructose-free. You could substitute raw honey or pure maple syrup if you prefer.

NB: I use a 20ml tbsp. If you have a 15ml tbsp (if you're in the US or UK), you can measure out 4 tsp in place of each tbsp.

I served the truffles in a recycled chocolate box, which I just lined with some baking paper.