These No-Bake Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles are sweetened with dates and molasses for a rich, gooey gingerbread center with a sweet chocolate shell. They’re the perfect decadent yet healthy Paleo and vegan holiday treat!
Healthy truffles are definitely one of my favorite treats to make – and a year ago I had no clue how easy they could be and how incredibly rich and decadent you can make them taste with really simple ingredients. And a food processor. Can’t forget my food processor!
If you are more the blender “type”, I think any high speed blender could handle this mixture as long as your dates are nice and soft. But anyway, back to my love for truffles! Typically for these types of no-bake recipes, the formula was dates + fruit/veggie puree (bananas, pumpkin, etc), nut butter and coconut flour.
I’m totally over pumpkin, guys, I have to be honest. I made pumpkin pie in AUGUST, and, now that T-day is checked off (it was awesome, but still nice to check off!) I won’t be opening a can of pumpkin anytime soon. I also wanted to take a little break from bananas, since I’m just not feeling tons of banana love in December. Even though I eat bananas year-round. I don’t know, I wanted to try something new!
So, I took a chance and subbed coconut cream – which is the thick solid part of a can of chilled coconut milk – for the puree. And whoa, I mean OF COURSE it turned out delicious! In fact, this might have to be my new “base” truffle recipe now – or at least if I’m not in the mood for/out of bananas.
In addition to the dates, since we are doing gingerbread, blackstrap molasses helps to create that deep, sweet characteristic “gingerbread” flavor. Molasses, and all the right spices! Between the dates and the molasses, these are definitely the “gooiest” truffles I’ve ever made!
As with all truffles, the filling needs to be chilled to make it easier to scoop and dip. I recommend chilling the mixture before forming balls, and then chilling again before dipping in chocolate. To make the scooping really easy, you can use a cookie scoop (I just bought this one) or a regular teaspoon will work too, don’t worry about getting messy! Having some extra filling to lick off the spoon is NOT a bad thing here!
I can’t even begin to explain how incredible the texture of the filling is. Creamy, gooey, thick, and syrupy. As for the flavor, they’re spiced “just right” in my opinion, but the GREAT part about no bake treats is that you can taste for yourself to get the spice level to suit your family’s taste perfectly.
Also, even with coconut milk and coconut flour, there is no coconut flavor to these truffles at all – I checked with my family, since I’m a little too used to coconut to judge by myself 🙂
Of course I had to have one of these myself since I’m going on and on about how amazing they are – I just ate my last one! Maybe time for a new batch? Let’s start “no-baking” these Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles – and, GO!
No Bake Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles {Paleo & Vegan}
No Bake Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles {Paleo & Vegan}
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup dates pitted*
- 1/2 cup coconut cream**
- 1/3 cup creamy cashew butter
- 3 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 3 Tbsp organic coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1.5 cups dark chocolate morsels I use Enjoy Life brand
- 1/2 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
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To make the truffles I recommend using a food processor, although a high speed blender will also work.
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Add the dates, coconut cream and cashew butter to the food processor and process on high until smooth, about 1 minute.
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Add the molasses, spices and vanilla and process again to combine. Finally, stir in the coconut flour until fully combined. The coconut flour needs time to absorb all the moisture so the mixture firms up - chill the mixture in the freezer for about 10 minutes to make it easier to work with.
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While the filling chills, melt the chocolate morsels and coconut oil together in a small saucepan over very low heat while stirring. Once just melted, set aside.
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Using a cookie scoop or small spoon, scoop the chilled mixture (I used a heaping teaspoon per truffle) into small balls and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
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After forming balls (they will be sticky - this ensures a nice gooey center!) you can put them in the freezer once again before dipping in the melted chocolate if they're too sticky to work with.
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Once they've firmed up a bit, dip the truffles in the melted chocolate/coconut oil mixture (you can re-melt the chocolate if needed) and place each one back on the parchment lined baking sheet. It will get messy, but in a good way! Perfection isn't necessary - anyway you dip is just fine 🙂
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Once all the truffles have been dipped, chill the truffles once again until the chocolate hardens into a shell. This doesn't take long - I chilled mine for 10-15 minutes.
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Once the chocolate forms a nice shell, it should stay solid at room temperature but I recommend storing in the refrigerator to prevent any melting.
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You can sprinkle with extra cinnamon or even organic powdered sugar for a nice "holiday" touch 🙂 Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*Your dates should be soft and "gooey" - soak them in a small amount of hot water (you can use the microwave) before adding if they're too dry. Remember to drain before adding!
**This is the thick, hard part of a can of coconut milk. Refrigerate the can and use only the thick cream. You can also purchase a can of coconut cream only if you prefer.
What I Used to Make My Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles:
Want more Paleo and Vegan truffle recipes? Try one of these!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
Banana Sunflower Butter Truffles
Healthy Truffles on the web:
No Bake Brownie Batter Truffles
Paleo & Vegan Chocolate Coconut Truffles
Tell Me!
Have you made your own truffles?
What’s your favorite no-bake treat?
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Gingerbread is a top 3 favorite for me. These would be soooo dangerous!
Yup they were gone fast 🙂
These sound amazing! Gingerbread is my favorite flavor and cookie. I haven’t tried them like this yet!
Oh then you’d seriously love these!
Totally agree with truffles being a favourite! I polished off my last batch ridiculously quick and have been dreaming of a new flavour combo ever since. Loving the sound of a spiced gingerbread and chocolate… I’m pretty sure I’d eat the batch in one go 😆
Yup, very addicting!
Would this recipe work with almond butter?
The flavor would change a bit but the texture would remain the same.
These look amazing! So amazing, actually, that I know the kids will never even guess that these are the slightest bit healthy! 😉 Totally need to try these!
I LOVE truffles. They are so easy to make, and they seem to be a universal favorite. The fam loved your pumpkin truffles, and now we do have some molasses that needs to be used. 🙂
Thanks for this! These were perfect.the molasses was so great in here. I added a little more flour and didn’t dip, just spooned chocolate over. I was doing a trial run to see if I would take them to my grandmas holiday dinner. And I will.
Meant to note also that I used almond butter because I didn’t have the other.
So glad you liked them!
I can only imagine how amazing the coconut creme would make these.
Also the food processor is right up there next to my coffeemaker when it comes to kitchen appliances and that is saying a lot.
Awesome recipe! Definately want to try it
Hope you enjoy!
Hi, I made these according to the recipe but my truffle filling is much too thin and I am unable to form balls, let alone try dipping them in chocolate 🙁 any suggestion? I did try adding more coconut flour but it didn’t seem to help…maybe process more dates into my mixture? Thank you!
If you freeze the filling you’ll definitely be able to dip them, hope it works!
I ended up adding some more dates (I think the first ones weren’t drained enough which caused the extra thin consistency) and spices and made it work, they are a hit, thank you and happy holidays!
Glad it wound up working out!
Is there a substitute for the cashew butter that deosn’t involve nuts?
These are unreal! Will definitely be making more batches throughout the holidays, thank you!!
I made these and they were a huge hit! I want to make a bigger batch next time. How long do they think they will stay fresh for in the fridge?
What a great post. My mother who paint has these delights. They are seen in the photos that must be quite rich. They have an impressive look. I see in this blog that you make many delicious desserts, you could consider opening a confectionery business, so you can offer these sweeties to more people, a company could help you with the processing of a license for the new business if you consider it. But I liked the recipe and I’m going to keep it to make it myself in my free time.