Chai-Spiced Vegan Chocolate Truffles are a decadent no-bake chocolate treat packed with warm spices that just scream out THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!
How was your Thanksgiving? Was it wonderful? How much pie did you eat??? Mine was perfect. I ate lots of pumpkin fudge, leaving absolutely no room for pie. That’s right. I’m still obsessed with it.
And oh my word, happy almost-December!!!
In honor of the onset of the holiday baking season, I bring to you a totally no-bake dessert. So your oven doesn’t get too tired. I’m considerate like that.
My oven has been running like 12 hours a day since last Wednesday, so we were both ready for a break. And what a break it was! I wasn’t prepared to love these adorable little guys; this recipe started as a total experiment.
I’ve gotten numerous requests for vegan desserts since I started blogging and, as someone who always aims to please, I’ve been playing around with dairy-free dessert options. (Yeah, like my pumpkin fudge.)
I knew I wanted to make a truffle of some kind so my first instinct was to use vegan chocolate chips. Easy! But I generally don’t like the flavor of chocolate chips so I wasn’t sure how much I’d care for them as the base of a truffle.
Good news. The addition of the spices made their inherent chocolate chip-ness recede into the background, for me at least, resulting in a truffle that was actually something I wanted to eat. That’s huge, considering I’d rather eat no chocolate at all than eat chocolate chips.
The chocolate-chai combo is so perfectly yummy because the spices add depth and intensity to the chocolate flavor, and chai spices make me feel all wintery inside. But in a good way.
Vegan chocolate truffles make excellent gifts for the holidays, especially if you’re giving them to friends whose dietary restrictions are somewhat unpredictable. As in some days they eat dairy, some days they don’t. (I sooo do this and confuse everyone in my life.) But they’re delicious enough for even non-vegans to enjoy.
These are the chocolate chips I used; my regular grocery store carries them in the baking aisle and I’ve also seen them at Whole Foods.
Have a wonderful week!
- 10 ounces vegan chocolate chips*
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 teaspoon Kahlua or vanilla extract
- 12 cardamom pods, shelled and finely ground
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder for rolling truffles
- Place chocolate chips in a medium mixing bowl. Heat coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it just starts to steam and bubble around the edges. Pour over chocolate chips and allow to sit for 5 minutes, then whisk until mixture is completely smooth. Stir in Kahlua or vanilla and spices. Refrigerate for 2 hours, then use a teaspoon to scoop into bite-sized balls. Roll each ball in cocoa powder and refrigerate until firm. Serve and enjoy.
- *If you don’t care about making vegan truffles you can use any dark chocolate.
