Just three ingredients, that’s all you need to make these vegan truffles. They are creamy and smooth bites of sweet chocolate ganache coated in lightly bitter cocoa powder.
The combination of sweet, creamy, and bitter is absolutely mind-blowing in chocolate truffles. That’s an explosion of flavors in each bite and the best chocolate treat to bring along with my 2-ingredient fudge and vegan gingerbread on your platter of vegan Christmas cookies.
Classic chocolate truffles are not vegan, they contain butter and heavy cream. But don’t worry, you don’t have to miss out on truffles this Christmas.
Plus, these vegan truffles make amazing homemade holiday gifts, along with my vegan peanut butter cups, vegan buckeyes, or homemade hot chocolate mix All together, they are the best vegan gift for friends and family.
Why You Will Love These Vegan Chocolate Truffle Recipe
- Just 3 ingredients
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- Low-carb option
Ingredients and Substitutions
This paragraph gives you all my tips about picking the right ingredients. For the full recipe with measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!Go to Full Recipe
Three ingredients is all it takes!
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – The secret of high-quality chocolate confectionary, vegan or not, is the choice of the chocolate. Poor chocolate chip quality leads to untasty desserts. For the truffle, I am using a semi-sweet, Premium Belgian chocolate button made with 54% cocoa. They are dairy-free but semi-sweet, which makes the chocolate truffles not too bitter. Feel free to use darker chocolate chips for a dark chocolate truffle or sugar-free vegan chocolate chips for low-carb truffles. If you use chocolate tabs, finely chop the chocolate before melting.
- Vegan Cream like soy cream, canned coconut cream, or thickened cream.
- Coconut Oil or Vegan Butter I am using unrefined coconut oil, it doesn’t add a coconut flavor to the truffles
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (optional) or cacao powder, to roll the truffles. Or, if you are using this recipe for Valentine’s Day, try rolling in freeze-dried raspberry powder to add a lovely red coat to the truffles.
Making Vegan Truffles
- In a large glass bowl, add vegan chocolate chips, cream, and coconut oil or vegan butter. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring with a silicone spatula between each burst.
- Cook until the mixture is fully melted, shiny and glossy. Cover the bowl with a lid and refrigerate for 1 or 2 hours. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and refrigerate as well.
Check the chocolate truffle mixture often. The batter is ready when it’s firm but not hard. It should be easy to roll. If you refrigerate the mixture for too long, it gets quite hard and difficult to roll into balls.
Rolling Vegan Truffles
- Use a small cookie scoop or teaspoon to scoop out some of the chocolate ganache. Lightly oil your hands and roll – it will be super messy, and that’s normal.
- Roll the truffle into unsweetened cocoa powder, nuts, or coating you love like vegan sprinkles. Reserve the truffles on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat the steps above until all the batter is rolled into the truffles. Store the truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Bring to room temperature before serving for an ultra-smooth texture.
Mistake To Avoid When Making Vegan Truffles
- Picking cheap chocolate chips. Good quality chocolate chip ingredients should be made from cocoa mass and cocoa butter, then vanilla and sugar. If your chips list sugar as the first ingredient, it’s fair to assume they are low in cocoa, and the truffles won’t taste very good.
- Refrigerating the batter for too long. Some recipes call for overnight refrigeration. This is way too long! Especially if you use coconut oil that firms up in the fridge faster than vegan butter. The best time is 1 to 2 hours. Check often and start rolling the truffles when you can handle the ganache by hand.
- Not being prepared. Rolling truffles is messy, and your hands will be covered with chocolate ganache as it melts when you roll. Therefore, having a bowl of cocoa powder ready to roll the truffle is a must. Also, working next to the sink helps as you can wash your hands if needed.
- Using milk instead of cream. Many recipes call for coconut milk instead of vegan cream. While full-fat coconut milk from a can works, not all plant-based milks are equal. For example, a carton of dairy-free milk – like oat milk, or almond milk – won’t work, they are basically water and they won’t form a creamy ganache for truffles.
Expert Tips For The Best Vegan Truffles
- Beware of Vegan Cream Flavors. Coconut cream has a potent coconut flavor that turns the truffles into a coconut chocolate truffle flavor. We love this combination, but if you don’t pick low-flavor cream like soy cream or lentil cream.
- Know your fat. Vegan butter makes smooth and creamy truffles, while coconut oil makes the truffles a bit harder. If you use coconut oil, bring the truffles to room temperature for 1 hour before serving for the best texture.
- Play with flavors. Chocolate truffles can be flavored with peppermint extract, vanilla extract, or almond extract. Add 1/4 to 1 teaspoon, depending on the strength of your extract. Stir the extract in the melted chocolate mixture to flavor it. Then, play with toppings, rolling in desiccated coconut, chopped roasted peanuts, or vegan shaved chocolate.
- Work with cold hands. The batter is melting quickly in your hands. I like squeezing a cold bag of frozen strawberries to get my hands cold before rolling. This prevents the ganache from melting in my hands. Also, refrigerate the baking sheet on which you release the vegan truffles to prevent them from melting.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I store these vegan truffles?
You can keep the truffles for up to 5 days in the fridge, preferably in an airtight container.
Can I freeze vegan truffles?
You can freeze them, and they can be eaten partially frosted but the best is to thaw them for a few hours in the fridge.
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Vegan Truffles
Just 3 ingredients, that’s all you need to make these vegan truffles. They are creamy and smooth bites of sweet chocolate ganache coated in lightly bitter cocoa powder.
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Servings: 24 truffles (2 teaspoons each)
Calories: 107.7 kcal
Ingredients
- 10 oz Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips - semi-sweet or 70%
- ½ cup Canned Coconut Cream - shake the can before opening
- 2 tablespoons Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - or refined coconut oil
To coat vegan truffles
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder - unsweetened for bitter truffles or drinking chocolate powder for sweeter truffles
Instructions
- Place the chocolate chips, vegan butter, and cream in a glass microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each with a silicone spatula. Repeat until the chocolate mixture is melted and shiny.
- Cover the bowl with a lid or foil and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, checking often. Remove from the fridge as soon as the mixture is firm but not too hard and easy to roll into truffles.
- Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and refrigerate as well. This will be used the next day to release the vegan truffles.
Roll vegan truffles
- Fill a medium bowl with powdered cocoa powder and bring the chocolate mixture out of the fridge.
- Scoop out 2 teaspoons of chocolate, roll between cold hands (I squeezed a cold bag of frozen berries to get my hands super cold before rolling) into a ball, then roll into the cocoa powder.
- Release the truffle on the cold sheet, and repeat the step above until all the chocolate mixture has been rolled into truffles.
- Pop the truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving for an ultra-smooth, creamy texture.
Nutrition
Serving: 1truffle | Calories: 107.7kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.3g | Protein: 1.1g | Fat: 7.1g | Saturated Fat: 4.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 0.4mg | Sodium: 13.3mg | Potassium: 98.3mg | Fiber: 1.8g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 4.6IU | Vitamin B12: 0.03µg | Calcium: 9.8mg | Iron: 1.5mg | Magnesium: 31.4mg | Phosphorus: 43mg | Zinc: 0.5mg
why use a microwave?
can it be melted on stovetop instead?
Yes, it can, or using a bain-marie