Seven Ingredient Truffles

I’m blown away by a lot of things about these truffles:  how easy they are to make;  how delicious they are;  how good they are for you, and not in a ‘diet dessert’ way, but in a ‘these actually have nutritional value’ way.  But mostly I’m blown away by how natural they are.  So many of the foods we eat are so processed and packed with preservatives, it’s really hard to avoid.  Not these guys.  These have only seven ingredients, all raw foods.  Give them to your friends and make them guess, it’s fun.  Or better yet, keep them all to yourself!

Apricot Almond Truffles

From USA Weekend

Ingredients:

• ½ cup whole, natural, unsalted almonds
• 1½ cups dried Turkish apricots
• 1 Tb. honey
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3 ounces dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Place the almonds in a dry skillet over a medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until they are toasted and become fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Put the almonds into a food processor and pulse a few times until the nuts are coarsely chopped. Add the apricots, honey, cinnamon, ginger and salt to the processor; process until the ingredients are finely chopped and begin to stick together, about 45 seconds.
   
3. Roll the mixture with your hands into heaping teaspoon-sized balls and set them on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.
   
4. Place a small bowl or double boiler over a saucepan of barely simmering water, over low heat. Place half the chocolate in the bowl and stir until melted. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the remaining chocolate, stirring until it is melted.
5. Roll the apricot balls in the melted chocolate, one or two at a time, until they are all covered. Place them back on the waxed paper, and then chill in the refrigerator until set, about 15 minutes. Serve and store at room temperature.

Yield: 20 truffles

Per truffle: 80 calories; 3.5g fat (1g saturated); 1g protein; 12g carbohydrates; 2g fiber; 0mg cholesterol; 30mg sodium

Johanna