almond butter truffles

Oh my gosh, where did the time go? I thought I was ahead of the game, but alas Valentines Day is tomorrow and I am just getting around to sharing this amazing almond butter truffle with you. Lucky for you these are incredibly easy to make, so easy you could whip up a batch tonight or tomorrow afternoon just in time to share with your loved ones. 

Homemade almond butter is the star in these truffles, if you are short on time and not up to making your own (although it is super easy!) simply sub in store bought almond butter. A chocolatey coating is whipped up with raw cacao powder, pure maple syrup, coconut oil and a bit of vanilla extract - I found it best to store the finished truffles in the fridge, the coating is a little softer than your average truffle. If needed you can certainly keep these at room temp.

Remember that beautiful raspberry lime chili sea salt  I shared with you a few days ago? Well, here it is again - I absolutely love a bit of salt with my dark chocolate, they work beautifully together. 

Do you also recall how I mentioned Justin and I never go out on Valentines Day? Well my friends, I spoke too soon! I kid you not, after I hit publish on that post I received a message from our friends Matt and Mitzi inviting us out for a double Valentines Day date...so I'm not really considering this a romantic Valentines Day dinner but rather a chance to go out and spend some much needed time with our incredible friends that we do not get to see nearly enough. To tell you the truth I am super excited, we are enjoying a late night dinner (that's what you get for making a reservation on valentines day 3 days before the big day!) at a local tapas restaurant that features locally sourced fare with a ton of vegan options- double score!

Okay, so back to these truffles- they are so pretty! Knowing Justin, I wasn't so sure how he would feel about the salt on top- so I left a few plain thinking he would dive into the plain and leave the salted ones for me to enjoy....well that didn't quite work out to plan. I ate 1 truffle....ONE truffle, the rest disappeared in a matter of a day and a half. On the up side this confirmed how amazing these little truffles are.

A little pink box filled with these truffles and a ribbon tied around would make your loved ones feel super special- these would make anyone's heart melt. 

From start to finish these little bundles of goodness only take about 45 minutes or so. If they look a little misshapen after the second freeze with the chocolate coating you can easily reshape the truffles by tucking the overflow chocolate under the bottom of the truffle - but don't get too picky, homemade truffles should look handmade, it add a bit of character!

Almond Butter Truffles

makes 12 truffles, easily doubled

you will need: 

1/2 cup Almond Butter (homemade or store bought)

1/4 cup confectioners sugar for rolling truffles

4-5 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup

1/3 cup Cacao powder

1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

2 tbsp Coconut Oil

Raspberry Lime Chili Salt

assembly:

Place almond butter in the freezer for about 10 minutes (makes it less sticky when rolling)

Dust your hands lightly with powdered sugar, a teaspoon at a time lightly roll the almond butter between your hands and coat in powdered sugar, re roll if necessary. Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and continue until all 12 truffles are formed. Pop back in freezer for an additional 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine maple syrup through coconut oil in a small sauce pan, whisk over medium heat until coconut oil is melted and chocolate is glossy. Pull the truffles from the freezer (reshape if needed), working with 1 truffle at a time and a spoon, roll the truffle in the chocolate until well coated. Place back onto the baking sheet and continue until all truffles are coated. Lightly dust truffles with raspberry lime chili sea salt. Place back into the freezer until chocolate coating has set- about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from freezer & store in fridge.

Enjoy!