Yields: About 12 to 16 (1½-inch) truffles
Warm winter spices mix with fragrant pumpkin and almond butter to make seasonal truffles hand dipped in fresh vanilla bean-infused white chocolate.
Filling
¼ cup canned pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
¼ cup almond butter
¼ cup vegan cream cheese
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼-½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp fresh grated ginger
1 Tbsp coconut flour
2 packets stevia (like Sweetleaf packets)
Coating (vanilla bean white chocolate)
2 oz food grade (not for skin care) cacao butter broken up into small pieces for melting
¼-½ vanilla bean pod, cut in half lengthwise to scrape out the interior, or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
20 drops stevia (like Sweetleaf Steviaclear drops)
In a medium-sized bowl, combine everything for the filling, including pumpkin purée, almond butter, cream cheese, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, coconut flour and stevia. Mix thoroughly until smoothly incorporated and no cream cheese chunks are left.
Chill by refrigerating the mixture for 10 to 20 minutes or freezing it for 2 to 5 minutes.
Roll chilled filling mixture into medium-to-small-sized balls a little less than an inch in diameter and place them on a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Place balls back into the refrigerator for 10 minutes or the freezer for 5 minutes so the balls harden enough to allow dipping.
Heat a double boiler or small pot that fits into a medium pot of gently boiling water over medium-to-low heat.
Scrape out the vanilla bean pod, conserving vanilla beans for adding once the cacao butter is melted.
Place cacao butter in the top of a double boiler and melt and add stevia. Then add vanilla beans and mix well.
Turn the heat to low to keep warm and melted. Pull out the hardened filling shaped into balls and one at a time drop them into the white chocolate mixture and roll them around until they’re fully covered with mixture using fingers or a small spoon.
Carefully spoon out each truffle using a spoon, gently tapping the spoon on the inside of the saucepan to slough off
excess cacao butter that may pool on it. Take special care not to drop the truffle.
Gently place each treat back onto the tray. Repeat the whole process until all the coated balls are on the tray.
Let them cool at room temperature and serve immediately or place them in the refrigerator to harden and serve later. Chilled, truffles will keep for 3 to 5 days.
