Hazelnut Truffles

Creamy, rich, satisfying, with a surprise in the middle. YUMMMMY! If you love chocolate and hazelnut, you will love these!




Hazelnut Truffles (Inspired by Carmella's recipe) 

Filling
1 cup raw hazelnuts, soaked 6 hours
3 Tbsp cacao powder
3 drops Medicine Flower Hazelnut Extract
2 drops Medicine Flower Coffee Extract
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup raw honey, or agave nectar (per taste)
1 Tbsp shaved cacao butter, melted
1 Tbsp flax seed oil
1 tsp Sunflower Lecithin (emulsifies)
water, enough to reach desired consistency

Chocolate Hazelnut Coating
1/2 cup cacao butter, melted
1/4 cup cacao paste, melted - (can replace with coconut oil - but changes flavor a lot)
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp agave nectar (or honey)
2 drops Medicine Flower Hazelnut Extract
1/4 tsp Sunflower Lecithin (optional)


Filling Preparation:
Melt cacao butter. I shave it with a cheese grater and then place in a medium metal bowl, on top of a smaller metal bowl filled with very hot water, and let melt. Process the hazelnuts until they start to clump and get oily. Add remaining filling ingredients and process. Add water until it's a creamy consistency, but not too thin.

Place in freezer to chill for 15 - 30 minutes. 

Using about 1/2 Tbsp of filling, wrap around a single hazelnut and roll into a ball.

Sunflower Lecithin emulsifies fat and I found this contributed to a very very creamy texture. 


Have a small dish of cacao powder nearby. Drop ball into cacao powder and tap and shake to coat the ball. Roll coated ball firmly in palms. Keep uniform in size. Set on tray and freeze for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Coating Preparation
Shave the cacao butter and cacao paste, and melt as suggested above.

Add remaining ingredients and continue to stir. I had to add more maple syrup AND some warm water to thin the chocolate.

Assembly:

You may need to keep melted coating over hot water while working with it. This can be a little messy! I found a "chocolate dipping spoon" which made the dipping process much easier.


Dip hazelnut truffles into melted chocolate. Remove, let set for a few moments, and then drop into cacao powder again.

Set for a few minutes, then roll powdered hazelnut truffle in palms.

Set on parchment paper and place in freezer to set.


Remove from freezer to thaw before serving.

*Mention Rawfully  Tempting in Shipping Comments and Medicine Flower will send you a Free Bonus Sample.