Healthy Truffles—for Gifting & Eating

                                   Truffles 

Easy to Make—Naturally Sweet—Great Holiday Gift!

Your family will be delighted to help you make and decorate these sweet little treats for the holidays.

I've made a healthy mostly-raw version of truffles half a dozen times and decided to try a new recipe last week. (See my earlier truffle recipe post here.) I made some goodies for a bake sale to benefit a needy family in our local homeschool group and these were a portion of what I ended up bringing. See the easy instructions below!

Chocolatey Truffles: 

This recipe is like one found in the book Raw Family Signature Dishes by Victoria Boutenko. The basic dough ball is formed from the same mix she uses as her basic chocolate cake (but there's no chocolate in it)!

Yes, it does look like chocolate! But here are the simple ingredients: 

• 2 cups walnuts (soaked, drained and dehydrated)
• 2 cups organic raisins
• 2 Tbs olive oil,
• juice from 1 lemon

Of course—it's the raisins that give it that rich dark color! And it really does have a chocolate taste.

Directions: Place walnuts into a food processor and grind well. Remove walnut mixture to a bowl. Add raisins, lemon and oil to the processor and mix until it's creamy. Combine this mixture in the bowl with the walnuts. Roll by hand and form into one-inch or teaspoon size balls. Set them aside.

Place small dishes of your favorite toppings to dip your truffles in. I chose: 

• shredded unsweetened coconut, 
• sesame seeds, 
• cinnamon, 
• carob chips
• melted dark chocolate

The Toppings

 Dipping

Place dipped truffles in small candy-size papers and arrange in a pretty box and top with a bow. I also arranged a six-count amount in inexpensive plastic storage containers. (You must save some to enjoy for your own family!)

Optional: Decorate with a cherry half, nut, or candy, pressed into the top center of each truffle.

Pretty boxes add some holiday color.

Raw Dessert Posts I Have to Share . . .

Within the next week I'm going to be contributing to a "bake sale" benefit for a needy homeschooling family who recently lost their father to cancer. Perhaps something from this list would be good, but I need something that won't melt.

Anyway, I've come across several scrumptious raw delectable recipes that I must share! Aren't these photos awesome? You can almost taste them! Check these out:

Raw Pumpkin Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

 A walnut based cake that is dehydrated. It uses squash in place of pumpkin. I'll be making this for sure!

Hemp and Acaí Clusters

I may be able to change a few ingredients here and make something similar. I love Reeses Peanut Butter thingies but don't indulge anymore there. Maybe something with an almond butter center? We'll see.

 Raw Nutella Macaroons

 Chocolate and coconut are faves of mine! No, they don't use Nutella, but use a healthy alternative.

 

Face Book: Just Eat Real Food

 

A great after-school snack for the kids - idea & photo by Just Eat Real Food

Hollow out your banana, dip the end in melted cacao (or vegan chocolate chips), roll in nuts (could also use coconut flakes) and fill with almond butter!

I love these ideas and I'm happy to share these new-to-me raw food blogs to get ideas from. Enjoy!

 

 

"Treat Yourself" Trail-mix

Treat Yourself Trail-mix

I purchased a raw, dried fruit and nut trail-mix from my raw-foodie friend Lynn at the Farmer's Market last week. It was crunchy and tasty and hit the spot, inspiring me to make my own just a few days later.

What are you and your family snacking on?

This is an important question. If not prepared, you'll find yourself in the drive-thru of the neighborhood fast food change-your-mood-with-glue chain on a continual basis. And if your fear of calories makes you run and hide from the idea of dried fruits and nuts, don't run off just yet. There is such a thing as setting limits for yourself. If you want a nutrient dense, fiber rich, antioxidant filled, enzyme intact, tasty snack, (instead of Oreos, Snickers, Fries, or the DQ Blizzard of the Month), this is an excellent choice. And when you make it yourself—to treat yourself—it's just perfect!

Bag it.

That's the key—making it yourself. Unlike what you may find in the way of trail-mixes at the Neighborhood Multi-Dollar Store, you can control the amount (or lack) of sugar, salt and less-than-healthy processed ingredients. 

I filled up four quart size bags and brought one on an overnight trip this past weekend to share with my husband. We were busy, busy, busy, as sponsors for our National Galaxie Car Club meet this past weekend, so it worked out great to grab a little treat on the go. Often, after working my 8 AM to 12 Noon schedule, I'm famished for a little treat before lunch. It also works as a breakfast replacement.

The Basic Recipe 

Mix together any combination of your favorite raw nuts and dried fruits. Add in additional ingredients to your liking.

For my particular mix, I dried some fresh sliced peaches and apples dipped in lemon and dusted with cinnamon. I also soaked pecans, almonds and sunflower seeds overnight, then dehydrated them until fairly crunchy. My dehydrator has nine trays and I had something on each tray, drying at the same time. Drying time was approximately 24 hours.

What Else I Added:

Roasted cashews

Raw pumpkin seeds

Organic Thompson Raisins

Dried mango slices (sulfur free)

Banana chips (purchased)

Unsweetened shredded coconut

Dark chocolate covered ginger balls

Mini carob chips

I went heavy on the nuts and fruit and light on the chocolate ginger and carob chips. Next time I'd like to dehydrate pineapple and banana. Treat yourself to a knock-out, trail-mix treat!

Yummy!

From Almond Milk to Healthy Treats . . . Almond Pulp Bites

Chocolate Almond Pulp Bites

Ummm . . . I just grabbed one of these tasty little chocolatey treats from the freezer  . . . delightful . . . they hit the spot, plus I'm munching raw nutrients that are good for me!

My husband does pretty good eating nutritious foods and adding in a good amount of raw foods, but he still buys and eats  jalapeno potato chips, ice cream, and has his stash of candy and Little Debby Nutty Bars . . . but I need a healthy treat that I can grab on the run (which helps me to avoid the no-nos). These are good!

I've enjoyed making and drinking my own almond milk but there were baggies of left over almond pulp in the freezer calling me to put them to good use. I thought of almond pancakes or macaroons (see recipe in a previous post), but I came up with my own easy dehydrated cookie.  They are similar to the macaroons which I LOVE, but a bit different. I made a double batch—one plain with cinnamon, and one with a melted chocolate, nutty topping. Here's how:

Ingredients for basic cookie:

2 cups raw almond pulp (left over from almond milk recipe)

1 cup raw almond butter

4 Tbs unsweetened coconut - fine cut

4 Tbs sucanat (or honey or sweetener of your choice)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp coconut extract

Options:

3-4 Tbs raw cacao powder (for chocolate version)

1 tsp cinnamon (for plain version)

dark melted chocolate for topping

chopped nuts, for topping or add some to basic cookie mixture before forming

 It makes a stiff dough.

1. Blend the almond pulp with almond butter, coconut, sweetener, salt and extract. You should get a stiff heavy dough that will still be moist and easily hold together.
2. Depending which option you want, add cinnamon, cacao powder, or chopped nuts to the above and mix in.
3. Pinch off a teaspoon-size chunk of dough, roll it into a ball, and flatten into a cookie shape with your fingers. Place on a dehydrator sheet. (Makes approx 36 cookies)
4. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 12-18 hours. I made these in the afternoon and let them dry until morning. They were most likely done before then. 
5. If you want to make the chocolate treats, then melt the dark chocolate, spoon some on top, and sprinkle with nuts.
6. Store in a baggie in the fridge, (or freezer like I do).

 Lined up for the dehydrator.

 Before the topping.

I have to admit, the plain, basic cookie I made tasted kind of bland, and that's when I decided to add the chocolate topping and nuts. I think the cinnamon ones would have been better if I had added some chopped nuts to the batter, but then I am thinking they'd be good dipped in chocolate too. Anyway, I'll probably eat a few for a breakfast pick-me-up along with some fruit.

 Ready to enjoy!

P.S. I took some of my plain cinnamon bites and sandwiched a heap of nut butter between two of them. Delicious!

Quote for the day: 

“If you can't get a miracle, become one.” ― Nick Vujicic http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/