Give me chocolate...all types of chocolate! Do you feel the same? You won't believe how easy these rich and creamy dark chocolate truffles are to make at home.
This creamy, melt in your mouth dark rich chocolate just dares you to eat just one! These truffles are naturally gluten free, and if you use dairy-free chocolate, they can be vegan as well!
If you love chocolate as much as we do, you are going to love these gluten free chocolate recipes!
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I couldn't decide how to top these homemade truffles, so I used three different toppings; Cocoa powder, coconut, and chopped nuts.
Our family went on a hike in downtown Los Gatos last weekend. Los Gatos is a quaint town that borders the Santa Cruz mountains on one side and San Jose on the other side.
After our hike, we stopped in our favorite bookstore, Village House of Books. We love locally-owned bookstores because they get a better local selection of books.
My latest find is a chocolate cookbook by Alice Medrich titled, "Seriously Bitter Sweet. The Ultimate Dessert Makers Guide to Chocolate." (I hope you can find it locally, but if you can't you can try at that link.) This is NOT a gluten free cookbook. Many recipes are gluten free, others I am going to attempt to make gluten free versions for my family.
The author, Alice, goes into so much depth, as only a professional chocolaterie could. She not only talks about all types of chocolate, but she also develops incredible recipes around the many types of chocolate.
The book's photographs are drool-worthy and I look forward to the challenge of trying to convert some of these incredible recipes into gluten free so my family can enjoy these desserts.
This simple chocolate truffle recipe caught my eye because I wanted to try an easy recipe for my first try at making chocolate candies.
These homemade dark chocolate truffles taste just as good as any fancy store-bought truffle! Once you learn how to make your own truffles, and realize how much money you can save, you will never buy truffles again!
What kind of chocolate is best for making truffles?
- I like to use Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers
- This Belgian Chocolate also works beautifully in this homemade chocolate truffle recipe.
Instructions:
Melt the chocolate in a double broiler. I don't have a double broiler so I placed this metal bowl of chocolate in a pan of boiling water to melt the chocolate.
Can you microwave the chocolate?
When it comes to truffles, and the delicate chocolate flavors, I hesitate to recommend using the microwave. The risk of burning your chocolate in a microwave is much higher...and that can impart some strong not so pleasant flavors into your truffles.
Use an immersion blender to really whip up the melted chocolate. This will help prevent lumps and keep your homemade chocolate truffles creamy and smooth.
I love, love, love my Cuisinart Immersion Blender. I even used it's grinder attachment to chop the nuts that we rolled some of the truffles in.
My son, who has a serious love for chocolate, volunteered to help me make truffles. I have to say I was impressed that he didn't eat more than he made!!! He is my partner in crime when it comes to all things sweet. (He also loves to make this 3 Ingredient Homemade Chocolate Bark recipe!)
We often create hidey holes and stashes of sweets around the house...just for the two of us. It started out as a sweet bonding moment, only to be continued over the years. We never snitch on each other...nor do we share hidden sweets locations :-).
How do you roll the chocolate into balls?
Allow your chocolate to cool, then use a spoon to scoop some chocolate. use your hands to roll into balls and place on wax paper. Roll into your favorite toppings.
Topping Ideas:
- cocoa powder
- coconut
- chopped nuts
- shaved chocolate
- dip in chocolate that hardens
- cinnamon
These truffles would make an excellent holiday gift. Another delicious candy to make to pair is this Creamy Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Candy. If you are making these truffles for Valentine's Day, here are even more fun dessert recipes to try!
Tools You Need To Make This Recipe:
- Cuisinart Immersion Blender. As I mentioned above, this is awesome. It also has several attachments so you can grind nuts and veggies, whisk up whipped cream, etc!
- Double boiler. I will say I don't have one of these, but it is on my list to buy. I put a smaller pot into a larger pot and boil water in the larger pot to melt my chocolate.
📋 Recipe
Dark Chocolate Truffles Three Ways
How to make easy creamy homemade dark chocolate truffles.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 10 ounces dark chocolate
- 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, or brandy
- nuts, cocoa, coconut, etc for rolling.
Instructions
- In a double boiler, melt chocolate on low heat.
- Stir often.
- Line a pan with plastic wrap so it comes up on the sides as well.
- In a sauce pan, heat heavy cream to boiling.
- Remove from heat and add Grand Marnier.
- Cool chocolate to 115 to 125 degrees.
- Pour chocolate into cream and use an immersion blender to blend until velvety smooth.
- Pour chocolate mixture into pan, on top of plastic wrap.
- Allow to cool for 2 hours at room temperature.
- When cooled, fold plastic wrap on top and allow to sit overnight.
- (You can put it in the refrigerator, but you will need to take it out and allow it to be at room temperature again to roll it.)
- Use a small scoop or spoon to scoop out chocolate. Using a very gentle touch, roll softly between your hands to make a small ball.
- Roll the ball in cocoa, nuts, or coconut. (You can even dip it in chocolate shell if you would like a hard outside.)
- Store in the refrigerator.
- (* Please know the book goes into an enormous amount of detail to make these, and gives a lot of options. These directions are what I did to make my truffles.)
Notes
Make sure the chocolate is cool before starting to roll it into balls.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 115Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 18mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 1g
Please note this nutrition information is calculated by a recipe plugin and is an estimate based on the ingredients used in this recipe.
(*This post was updated from a 7/15 post date with some newer pictures.)
Linda @ With A Blast
My son and I also love making sweet treats together ! These Chocolate Truffles would be perfect as a homemade Valentines gift 🙂
Sandi Gaertner
Enjoy Linda 🙂
Rebecca
I love truffles and I love all the different toppings you can do!
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you so much 🙂
Linda (Meal Planning Maven)
I am completely in love with each of your truffles Sandi...and I haven't even tasted them yet! OMG, they look AMAZING!!
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you Linda...wish I could send some your way 🙂
Debra @ Bowl Me Over
How amazing do these look? And I see you share 😉 I'll be right there!!
Sandi Gaertner
Anytime Debra 🙂
Healing Tomato
Truffles done three ways? What could be better than that? I love a good chocolate truffle and I think I could eat a dozen of these chocolates.
Sandi Gaertner
I would happily share 🙂