How to Make Dairy Free Chocolate Truffles

Decadent and creamy truffles were the first chocolates I ever made by myself. Tasting that first truffle, biting through the powdery cocoa coating into the meltingly soft center, was sheer bliss. This week I ventured into new territory making dairy free chocolate truffles. Rather than using cream or butter to achieve that luscious truffle flavor and texture, I used nut oils and coconut oil, a few marvelous extracts to add an extra hit of flavor, and some special additions and coatings.

To make dairy free chocolate truffles, you basically need one part nut oil to three parts dark chocolate plus one part liquid. So for one cup (8 ounces) of dark chocolate, you'll need 1/3 cup of oil and 1/3 cup of liquid or puree.

Chocolate

I'm a dark chocolate fan, so I always use dark chocolate in making truffles, but you can also use semi-sweet, milk (vegan, of course), or even white chocolate if you prefer those options. Just remember that milk and white chocolates are much sweeter than dark, so lower the sweetness of your additions so your truffles aren't sickly sweet.

Oil

Coconut oil is beautiful for making truffles, but it does give a distinctive coconut odor and flavor, so be sure to take that into consideration when making your truffles. Nut oils such as hazelnut, macadamia, or walnut are also excellent choices with a less pronounced flavor profile.

Liquid

While you can use plain water as your liquid, I much prefer using things like coffee, tea, fruit juices or syrups, or even pureed fruit such as cherries, raspberries, or apricots. These are far more interesting in flavor and texture; just make sure you puree your fruit very well so you don't get any chunks in your truffle mixture.

Coatings and Topping

While dairy free chocolate truffles are every bit as good as their dairy-licious counterparts, they do melt easier and thus need a coating to make them easy to pick up without leaving a chocolatey mess on fingers and hands. Try cocoa powder, desiccated coconut, ground nuts, or seeds such as chia, poppy, or sunflower. You can even roll them in finely chopped dried fruit, chocolate, or candied ginger.
My favorite dairy free chocolate truffles are Cherry Coconut and Macadamia Coffee, each distinctive yet absolutely delicious.
For the Cherry Coconut Truffles you need dark chocolate, coconut oil, pitted cherries, sour cherry extract (you can find this online or in shops featuring Eastern European foods), and desiccated coconut. You can also use sweetened coconut, but I find it's too sweet for my taste. Simply melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler until smooth, stir in the pureed cherries and sour cherry extract, then cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, scoop the mixture out by teaspoon, rolling each scoop between your hands to form a ball, then roll it in the coconut and chill until ready to serve.
The Macadamia Coffee Truffles are equally simple; just use coffee and ground macadamias in place of the cherries and extract.