Herbal truffles are super yummy, healthy, and carry the medicine of plants to people in a way that they will happily eat! The truffles can be adapted to accommodate needs and what you have available in your apothecary.
Basic truffle ingredients:
7-8 dates or a dozen dried apricots
1/3 cup nut or seed butter of choice
1/3 cup oats – powdered in a coffee grinder
1/3 cup coconut – ground in a coffee grinder
3 Tbsp. powdered dried herbs
2 – 3 Tbsp. plain or herbal honey
1 – 3 Tbsp. herbal elixir of choice
Mix all ingredients in a food processor until a thick paste. Roll into small balls and dip in melted chocolate with a bit of creamed coconut. 1 Tbsp. creamed coconut to 1 lb. chocolate chips. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, a pinch of Himalayan mineral salt, and/or a bit of dried rose petal. Roll in the unsweetened coconut flakes, if you’d like. Each batch makes about 20 – 30 truffles depending on size. They freeze well and can be kept frozen for a month or so.
Every time I make herbal truffles, I vary the ingredients to suit the occasion, need, and the people eating them. For a recent ladies evening out, I made dark chocolate and white chocolate truffles. Everyone raved about them! I held some back to serve at my Nature’s Remedies workshop the next day for my delighted students to enjoy. The following are the recipes:
Dark Chocolate Elderberry and Rosehip Truffles
My favorite so far!
10 apricots
1/3 – 1/2 cup ground og. oats
1/3 cup og. sunflower seed butter
1/4 cup rosehip mass, ground in the food processor
1/4 cup powdered unsweetened og. coconut flakes
3 Tbsp. rosehip honey
3 Tbsp. elderberry elixir
3 Tbsp. powdered freeze dried strawberries
3/4 pound melted og. dark chocolate sweetened with coconut sugar
3 drops green mandarin essential oil
powdered og. cocoa, shaved coconut and nettle salt for sprinkling on the truffles after dipping in the melted chocolate.
Please note that the rosehip mass that I used came from straining my rosehip honey, which I had preserved by freezing. After thawing, the rose hip mass was pulsed in a food processor until ground. If using dried rose hips, soak them in warm water until soft. While pectin and sugars will be present in the mass, the Vitamin C and antioxidants will not as they are destroyed in the drying process.
White Chocolate “No Social Anxiety” Truffles
These turned out almost cake-like. Herbal petit fours, if you will.
3/4 cup ground og. oats 1/2 cup og. cashew butter
1/2 cup og. creamed coconut (not coconut oil)
1/3 cup og. tahini
3 Tbsp. willow honey
3 Tbsp. powdered roasted dandelion root
3 Tbsp. hawthorn, rosehip, ginger, lemon elixir
2 Tbsp. wild currant berry elixir
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
3/4 pound melted og white chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Coconut for sprinkling after dipping in the melted chocolate.
Ingredient suggestions:
Crushed cacao nibs, chopped raisins or figs. Put a fresh blueberry or raspberry in the middle of each ball! Add a ½ tsp. bee pollen to the mix. How about flax and sesame seeds? Almond and rice flour. Or how about rolling the balls in powdered baker’s chocolate? The point is to make it fun and tasty, herbal and healthy. Let your imagination go, the possibilities are endless! If using fresh fruit, refrigerate and eat within a couple days or freeze.
Contemplate these herbal honeys and elixirs options:
Energy and anti-inflammatory: Nettle powder and bee pollen. Willow honey.
Stress and anxiety relief: Wild rose, lavender and/or hawthorn honey and elixir.
Cough and cold relief: Cough and cold elixir, of course! Grindelia honey. Balm of Gilead (cottonwood leaf bud) honey.
For instructional info for making herbal honeys and elixirs, go to our Herbal Medicine Making Tutorial.
Happy truffle making!!!
