Relaxing Chocolate Hazelnut Reishi Truffles

I was introduced to the wonders of reishi by the magical mushroom princess that is Ayelen of Myshrooms, who sell delicious healthy snacks made with medicinal mushrooms and healing herbs.

I attended a beautiful online mushroom gathering hosted by We are Formless where I learned about the various healing and life enhancing properties of various different mushrooms, including Resihi and was hooked from there!

Revered in China for thousands of years and used in traditional medicine, reishi is known as the mushroom of immortality. Its health benefits include immune system support, stress relief and relaxation, brain and cognitive support, improved sleep and a general deepening of spiritual connectedness, to name but a few. You can purchase and read more about reishi from the Myshrooms website.

I personally like to take reishi either in snack form or in a hot drink after dinner as a way to prepare my body for a delicious night’s sleep, which often features crazy and profound dreams! Apparently this is quite common.

Most medicinal mushrooms are easy to incorporate into food and drink because of their subtle, woody mushroom flavour, but not reishi. Reishi is bitter and make no mistake! If you are not used to including bitter foods in your diet, prepare to raise an eyebrow when you try reishi for the first time. When I first started taking it, I found the flavour very strong and quite distracting, but it seems the more you take it, the more your body starts to love it and I now no longer try to put it in drinks that will hide its flavour and even enjoy a cheeky lick of the spoon!

That said, I have specifically developed this recipe to compliment the flavour of reishi. It goes so well with chocolate and in these rich truffles, I feel it is beautifully balanced with the flavour of hazelnut.

I have put a guide amount of 4 teaspoons of reishi in this recipe, as I feel this is about the minimum you’d want to add for the quantity. Although you will certainly taste the reishi, its flavour is still subtle, so if this is your first foray into reishi snacks or you’re making them for someone with a low threshold for bitter tastes, you might want to start with this amount and perhaps add a teaspoon more the next time. Reishi has a very strong taste, so I recommend not adding too much more than I have suggested.

When you first start taking reishi, it’s recommended to start with 1/4 teaspoon per day and to work up to 1 teaspoon per day. The exact “dosage” of reishi per truffle will depend on how much you add and how big your truffles are, so bare this in mind when you are enjoying them.

The process for making these truffles is really quite straight forward. We have 4 stages:

Firstly, we blend most of the ingredients together to make a smooth chocolate paste.

Secondly, we combine this chocolate paste with a dry mix of oat and coconut flour.

Thirdly, we roll our mix into balls and give them a little coating.

Finally, we let them chill in the fridge until they are lovely and firm.

To coat my truffles, I mixed together a few tablespoons of coconut flour, a few tablespoons of ground toasted hazelnuts and a pinch of salt. You can use whatever you fancy, or just leave them “naked”

—- As with all new herbs or mushrooms that you haven’t used before, I recommend spending some time doing your own research to check whether they are right for you. We are all different and some ingredients may or may not be suitable for you.

Ingredients

1 cup cashews, soaked for 1 hour up to overnight

1/2 cup dates

1/4 cup melted cacao butter

6 tablespoons hazelnut butter (I use roasted)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tamari

4 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cacao

1 tablespoon carob

1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lucuma

1/2 cup oat flour (use certified gluten free if necessary)

3 tablespoons coconut flour

4 teaspoons reishi - this is a guide amount. You can add a little more. See my notes above.

Optional - Coating of your choice, such as:

cacao powder

a mix of coconut flour, ground hazelnuts and a pinch of salt

melted chocolate

desiccated coconut

ground nuts

Method

Blend together all ingredients except oat flour, coconut flour and reishi in a food processor or blender until you have a beautiful smooth chocolate paste.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine oat flour, coconut flour and reishi and mix well.

Pour the chocolate paste into the bowl and mix well until everything is completely combined. I use a big wooden spoon. I wouldn’t recommend using your at this stage, while the mix is still sticky.

Once everything is completely mixed and evenly incorporated, prepare a tray or large flat plate and line it with a piece of parchment paper. You’ll also need a small bowl of water that you can use to dampen your hands every now and then.

If you are coating your truffles, prepare a small dish with whatever you are using.

I like to keep my truffles quite small and so this mix makes about 35-40 for me, but you can go for whatever size a truffle should be for you.

Roll your mixture into evenly sized truffles, then carefully role them in your coating (if using) and put them onto the parchment paper.

Place the truffles in the fridge to set for at least an hour or so.

Transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge. Mine last for several weeks.