Fudgy Chocolate Truffles

Last year at my June Women's Wellness Retreat in Tuscany, I made these truffles as the Welcome gift for everyone attending!

Research suggests (as if we didn't know already) Cacao/cocoa (and dark chocolate) has been shown to have a range of psychological effects, including enhanced arousal, cognitive function, and stimulation of feelings of wellbeing and euphoria!

Cacao and cocoa contain prebiotic goodness which the bacteria in your stomach gobble up and ferment into anti-inflammatory compounds.

Maria Moore from the American Chemical Society says “The good microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate; When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory.”

Fantastic, prebiotic goodness and a fabulous tasting, fudgy chocolate truffle!

1 cup macadamia nuts (120g) or almonds
¾ cup cacao or cocoa powder (65g)
6 pitted fresh (Medjool) dates (90g)
4 pitted prunes (35g), (for fudgyness), or dried figs
5 tbs coconut milk (80 mls)
optional - 2 tablespoons chia seeds, and 1 pinch of salt (which helps to bring out the chocolate flavour)

Leave as is or add in:
Finely grated zest from 1 organic orange
Or 1 tsp cinnamon powder
Or ½ tsp cardamom powder and ½ tsp star anise powder

Blitz the macadamias and cacao in a food processor until the nuts are ground.
Then add the rest of the ingredients and blitz until we’ll combined.
Roll into 1 tablespoon size balls, then coat the outside by rolling in either cacao/cocoa powder or toasted coconut flakes or leave nude.
Alternatively flatten out the mixture in the base of a small baking paper-lined square cake tin, so that the mixture is about 2 cm thick. Cover and allow to cool in the fridge for afew hours or overnight. Take the mixture out of the fridge and using small cookie cutters, cut out heart or round shapes.
Store the truffles in the fridge for up to a week, sealed in an airtight container. Or freeze.