I had a ripe avocado and wanted to do something with it other than make avocado toast, so I decided to use it to make some quick and easy chocolate truffles! You can eat them as they are after refrigerating the mixture, or dip them in chocolate. The texture of these is so creamy and rich, yet these are simply made with a few healthy ingredients, and are vegan and gluten-free. It doesn’t taste like avocado at all! My mom thought it tasted great and that the texture was very rich and that she would not have expected avocado to work so well in truffles - and she is definitely a chocolate lover and truffle connoisseur, so that is saying something!
If you have a food processor, I would recommend using it because then the mixture will be very smooth and you won’t have little avocado chunks. A blender could also work if your blender can blend things very smoothly. I did not have my food processor and so I mashed my avocado and mixed these together by hand and it definitely still works great! Just be sure to really mash the avocado as best as you can to minimize the little green chunks. If you dip your truffles in chocolate, then you won’t see the chunks of avocado anyways, so it really doesn’t matter! I used a dark chocolate bar with almond pieces, so when I dipped my truffles in the chocolate they look a bit lumpy from the almonds, but I liked how they added a bit of crunch. I used half of the chocolate bar for the truffle mixture and the other half to dip the truffles.
I used peanut butter to make these, but if you are allergic to nuts, use a seed butter instead and don’t add almond extract to make these nut-free. However, if you have almond extract and aren’t allergic to it, I HIGHLY recommend adding it because it really adds a lot of flavor and some sweetness too. The almond extract makes these seem like fancy truffles - I think this is the secret to making these so decadent!
I personally thought the truffles tasted great without any added sweetener, but if you like your treats sweeter, then I recommend adding a bit of honey or maple syrup, especially if you aren’t adding almond extract. You can taste the truffle mixture before refrigerating to see what you think and then add sweetener to taste if you want to make it sweeter! I also added raspberries in some of the truffles, which adds a new flavor and touch of sweetness, so feel free to add berries if you like for a fun surprise when you bite into the truffles!
Ingredients
Makes about 10 truffles
1 mashed ripe avocado
½ cup peanut or nut/seed butter
About ⅓ to ½ cup melted dark chocolate (about half of a full-sized chocolate bar)
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract (optional but strongly recommended)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp honey or maple syrup to sweeten if desired
Optional:
About ⅓ to ½ cup melted chocolate for dipping (about half of a full-sized chocolate bar)
Raspberries or other berries to add in
Steps
1. Scoop the inside out of the avocado and mash it very well, or add to a food processor.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth (by hand or in the food processor). Taste test it to check if it is as sweet as you wish, and add honey or maple syrup until it meets your liking.
The mixture should hold together, but should be easy to roll into balls shouldn’t stick to your hands (it may be more sticky if you add sweetener however, and that is ok).
3. Roll the mixture into balls about ½ to 1 inch in diameter, and set on a tray lined with parchment paper.
You can shape the mixture around berries if you wish! Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes, until the truffles are solid.
4. While the truffles are in the fridge, melt the rest of your chocolate if you are dipping the truffles.
5. Remove the truffles from the fridge and dip into the melted chocolate, rolling to cover all sides. Place back on the parchment paper and refrigerate for another 15-20 minutes, until the chocolate coating has set.
6. Enjoy!
