Dairy-free Chocolate Truffles

Beth Lee

Easy

Difficulty

These dairy-free truffles make the perfect Passover (or anytime) dessert. They’re easy to make, dairy-free if you want them to be and they’re easy to make ahead of time. Flavored with orange and cardamom, the main ingredients for these truffles are simple and flexible. Make them with whipping cream and butter, or remove the dairy and use coconut cream and coconut oil. I promise it tastes just as wonderful either way.

You also don’t have to stick with orange and cardamom. Feel free to experiment with the flavors; try rose water, other liqueurs, vanilla or almond extract. Or maybe you want to keep it traditional with just chocolate.

P.S. This recipe can easily be doubled. I mean, you can’t really have too much chocolate, right?

Inspired by a recipe in The Fearless Baker, by Emily Luchetti.

Ingredients for 8 Servings

1/4 cup coconut cream or heavy cream*
Grated zest of 1/2 medium-sized orange
3-4 cardamom pods slightly crushed
5  oz. dark or semisweet chocolate chopped or use good quality chips
1 1/2 Tbsp. coconut oil or butter
1 Tbsp. orange liqueur or orange blossom water
A choice of coatings such as cocoa powder, toasted nuts, sea salt, sugar and toasted coconut

*The coconut cream/oil dairy-free version softens up a bit quicker than the heavy cream/butter version so don’t leave them out of the fridge for too long. And they eat easily right from the refrigerator.

Preparation Time

45 minutes
Cooking Time

2 minutes

Directions

#3. Cream straining and being poured over chocolate

In a small pan on medium heat, heat the coconut cream or heavy cream with the zest and cardamom pods, just until boiling. It will bubble quickly so don’t walk away. As soon as it starts to boil, remove from the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes or so, to infuse the flavor of the zest and cardamom.

Meanwhile, prepare your chocolate. Place the chocolate and coconut oil or butter into a microwave safe bowl.

Then place a fine mesh strainer over the bowl. After the cream has infused with the flavors, reheat it just to bubbling and pour it through the strainer into the chocolate.

Mix the cream and chocolate together. Because this is a small amount of cream, you may have to place the bowl into the microwave for 30 seconds to finish the melting process.

Once smooth, add your orange liqueur or orange blossom water and mix again.

#6. Correct consistency of chocolate mixture

Then place the mixture in the refrigerator until it firms up—an hour or so but it can stay longer. You can prepare the chocolate mixture ahead of time to fit your schedule and the truffles can be formed later.

To form the truffles, scoop about a teaspoonful of the chocolate mixture and use your hands to form it into a ball. The version with the coconut cream and oil softens quickly so I highly recommend wearing gloves to form the truffles and move along quickly/deliberately.

Roll each chocolate ball in your choice of coatings, whether that’s toasted coconut, toasted nuts (such as pistachios or hazelnuts or almonds), a touch of sea salt or cocoa powder. It’s up to you! Experiment and have fun (if you have kids helping, this is a good step for them!).

Serve in mini cupcake containers or on parchment paper. Keep refrigerated until use.

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Dessert

Holidays

Passover

Beth Lee

In 2010, Beth left her Silicon Valley tech career behind when she realized she preferred pita chips over computer chips. She launched her food blog, OMG! Yummy, and her first cookbook, The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook, came out August 2021. Beth’s blog and book have been featured in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, the Forward and on many podcasts and blogs. Beth is so glad she can make a New York style bagel in her sunlit kitchen in Northern California.

Dairy-free Chocolate Truffles

Beth Lee

Easy

Ingredients for 8 Servings

Directions

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Beth Lee

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