Cocoa Peanut Truffles

I was walking around the aisles of Trader Joe's the other day and stumbled upon something I hadn't noticed before. It was peanut flour, in a fun little orange package. I peeked around the bag and decided to bring it home to experiment with. First I put it in a blender with almond milk and ice cream and made a peanut butter milkshake, which was amazing. Then I did some more research on it and found out that it is actually pretty good for you...if you don't put it in a milkshake. Peanut flour is created through the process of pressing peanuts to make peanut oil. The peanut oil is taken away to be sold, and the dry remnants of the peanuts are churned up into a powder. Peanut flour is good for you because most of the fats have been removed through the pressing process and a lot of the vitamins and proteins are left behind. Since I have been trying to eat less unhealthy carbohydrates and more protein, I decided to try and make some truffles with it. I was very pleased with how they turned out, nice and rich and creamy with a crunchy little peanut inside! They're a really healthy dessert option, and, more importantly, quite delicious. I did, however, put a wee bit of sugar in them because without it the cocoa mixture would have been too bitter for my taste. If you like it extra sweet, you can throw a few more teaspoons of granulated sugar into the cocoa. I also added flax seed meal for some extra fiber.

Click Here For Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Peanut Layer

1/2 Cup Peanut Flour

3 Tablespoons Almond Milk, or Regular Milk

2 Tablespoons Peanuts

1 Tablespoon Butter or Margarine

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Cocoa Layer

1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder

2 Tablespoons Almond Milk, or Regular Milk

1 Tablespoon Butter or Margarine

2 Teaspoons Granulated Sugar

2 Teaspoons Powdered Sugar

1 and 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Flax Seed Meal

Coating

2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar

2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

To make the peanut layer, mix together all of the ingredients, except the peanuts, in a medium-sized bowl until they create a thick paste. To make the cocoa layer, mix together all of the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until a thick paste forms as well. To make the outside coating, simply mix the ingredients together in a small bowl until they are evenly combined.

 

To start making the truffles, take a teaspoon of the peanut mixture and flatten it slightly so that it makes a very tiny pancake, about 1/4 of an inch thick. Place a peanut in the middle of the pancake, and pull the edges up around the peanut. Gently roll the ball between your hands until it is smooth and the peanut is completely covered in the peanut mixture. Repeat this process until all of the peanut mixture is gone.

Then take a teaspoon of the cocoa mixture and flatten it into a small pancake in the palm of your hand that is about 1/8 inch thick. Place the peanut truffle on the little pancake and curl the edges up around the truffle. If it doesn't cover the whole truffle, grab a little bit more of the cocoa mixture and spread it around to cover any existing gaps. Repeat this process until all of the cocoa mixture is gone.

Then, take the truffle and roll it around in the coating mixture so that it won't be sticky on the outside. Shake off any excess powder, and set on a serving plate. Repeat this process with the remaining truffles. If you used dairy-based products, keep the truffles refrigerated. Enjoy!