When you are maybe trying to lay off of the sugar just a little bit, you begin to realize how much you miss that bite of chocolate after dinner. While you can nibble on a square of 90% dark chocolate, it’s just not the same. Too bitter and not enough sweet. Enter these totally sugar-free and gluten-free Date Truffles.  No matter what nutritional plan/diet you are following (vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free or Paleo) these dates are a simple but delicious treat.

Ingredients:

• 20 Medjool Dates – pitted and soaked
• 1 – 2 Tablespoons of raw cacao powder
• 1 – 2 Tablespoons of raw cacao nibs
• salt to taste
• Stevia/Truvia/Honey/Agave for extra sweetness (optional)
• spices – I add a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• Additional add ins – I add almond pieces and raw, unsweetened coconut
• Sea Salt to taste
• Vanilla, Orange, Mint extract (optional to change the flavors)

Preparing the truffles:

• Pit, soak and drain your dates. Cut them in half for easier processing.
• Add those to a food processor with all of the other ingredients above.
• The choices for add in’s are pretty much endless.  Add dried fruits, different nuts, shredded coconut. You can change the flavors with different extracts such as orange, vanilla, or even mint.
• Process until everything is blended and you get a dough like consistency. These can be pretty sticky though. If too wet or sticky add a touch more of the cacao powder and blend again.
• I spray my hands with a Pam like product, or use coconut oil, butter, etc so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands and you can roll these into the balls.
• Take a tablespoon sized amount of the dough and roll into between hands into a small ball shape.
• You can roll these in coconut, cacao powder or even nuts.
• Freeze! Placing them in the freezer helps to firm them up a bit so they are more of a truffle consistency instead of a mushy, dough like ball. These don’t get too hard in the freezer so you can eat them right out of the freezer.
• Enjoy!

Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions.  And if you tried these let me know what you thought!