I won a contest! And this is very exciting as I never win anything. No, I didn’t win first place, but a close second… or maybe third. Either way, I was up there! I was a runner up in a recipe contest for Crazy Sexy Life. The contest was to submit a recipe that was ideally raw, vegan and gluten-free. Uh hello? This is my world. And what recipe won?
My Drool Worthy Balls of course. I was one of two runners up, which suits me just fine. The recipe I sent in was an adaptation of my original ball recipe, and of course I gave it a more sophisticated name- calling them Cocoa Mint Truffles.
Here are my balls among the two other winners over at CSL.
The modification to the recipe was adding in a couple drops of Young Living’s Peppermint essential oil (member number 1062980 if you want to order some). Though it is a minor modification, it totally changes the whole feeling around these balls. It makes them a little sophisticated, a little more after dinner mint like, and a whole lot of delicious.
Here is the revised recipe with the added mint and this time rolled in cocoa instead of coconut.
Raw Vegan Gluten-Free Cocoa Mint Truffles
1 cup raw walnuts, unsoaked
1/2 cup almonds, unsoaked
1/2 tsp salt
15 pitted dates, unsoaked
1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 Tbs agave
2 Tbs water
2 drops Peppermint Essential Oil (make sure its food grade- I like Young Living)1/2 cup extra cocoa powder
- Place the nuts & salt in a food processor fitted with the S-blade and process until finely ground.
- Add the dates, cocoa powder, agave, peppermint and vanilla process until the mixture starts to stick together. Add water as needed & process briefly.
- Using about 1 Tbs of mixture, roll into balls.
- Sprinkle coconut or extra cocoa out onto a plate or cookie sheet and roll balls through, giving them a light dusting.
- Keep refrigerated until serving, or even better- eat them right out of the freezer.
Hi, I’m allergic to dates (& so many other things!) so I was wondering if they could be substituted for anything else? And I just wanted to say I love your site! The information is wonderful and the recipes are great!
Julia
WHOO HOO! Congrats! They do look BOTH prize-worthy AND drool-worthy! Ah, can’t wait until I can have something like these again. . . I’m coming back to this post as soon as I can!
oh my, certainly drool-worthy, these sound phenomenal
congrats on winning!!!
These truffles look and sound amazing!! brilant recipe. I can’t wait to try them!!
petitfoodie.com
Thanks ladies!
These look divine! I made some yummy raw truffles with cocoa nibs last summer, but I like the sound of the texture of these ones… and the addition of peppermint. I can’t do almonds- can I use just walnuts instead, or would you suggest another nut in it’s place?
I’ve been drinking my share of smoothies lately, so I thought I’d scroll down here and stare at these beautiful truffles.
Congratulations on your win! The photo is wonderful. I make a similar yummy delight, but I’ve never used raisins or cranberries. What a great idea.
Your smoothie cleanse sounds really well put together. Good luck with it.
Melissa
SoI thought I would try these. I was invited to a friend’s for Easter dinner. I wanted to take something Eastery and sweet, but her father is diabetic, so this looked like a safe recipe… EXCEPT… I didn’t have dates…so I used apricots. I didn’t have raisins… so I used currants. I didn’t have Walnuts… so I used Pecans. I didn’t have agave, so I had to use Splenda (sorry Meg). I didn’t have Peppermint oil, but I did have my own home made Vanilla, made from fresh Vanilla beans that I brought home from Tahiti. (you soak the fresh beans in Vodka for several months, and voila!! Vanilla Essence!)
I rolled some in coconut, and some in ground pecans (because I used up all the cocoa) and I secreted tiny bits of crystallized ginger in a few. I can see adding nice Caribbean rum as well… but I didn’t this time.
They were absolutely FABULOUS!!!
(blush) … I don’t use the stuff anymore, but it was lying around, and i didnt know what to use for the diabetic thing… didn’t know if he could have honey, which is all i had….
Hi Julia, Thank you so much for your compliment on my site. It means so much to me that people get value from the information I share and the love and energy I put into my recipes. You could absolutely substitute the dates. I would suggest a combination of organic dried apricots These will be a darker colour than the bright orange ones you find in most supermarkets) and thompson raisins. You need something that will be sweet and stick together.
That does sound amazing and I love the idea of rolling it in pecans. I have never thought of that. Also the ginger- great idea!… ll but the addition of the toxic Splenda. Yes TOXIC! Elain- get that out of your house!!!
(And anyone reading this- Elain is my cousin. I would never be so harsh on a stranger using Splenda. With strangers I am far more passive aggressive)
With all that dried fruit, a little honey wouldn’t have made much difference. Agave has less of an effect on blood sugar and stevia has none.