Gingerbread Cookie Dough Truffles

These gingerbread cookie dough truffles are SO delicious. I just made a batch that I planned to freeze and give away for Christmas….but let’s just say that isn’t gonna happen. They do make great gifts though (they’re happy out of the fridge for a few days) or a great snack for during the day.

These truffles are nut-free, gluten-free, sweetened naturally AND they’re good for you! Yes, that’s right. Despite tasting decadent and festive, these gingerbread cookie dough truffles are made with wholesome ingredients that will make you feel great and give you a lovely boost of nutrients.

There were a few things I wanted to achieve with this recipe. The truffles needed to be:

1. simple to make

2. full of festive flavour

3. made from lovely healthy ingredients

4. perfect gifts

5. more-ish

If I may say so myself, I think I’ve achieved all these things! Hooray!

The gingerbread centres in these truffles are made from tiger nut flour, oat flour, dates, a teeny bit of liquid sweetener and lovely warming spices. If you’ve never tried a tiger nut before, I urge you to do so! And before you say anything, these are nut-free truffles, because tiger nuts are not actually nuts! They’re tubers, like potatoes! In fact, they look like tiny shrivelled potatoes. Very cute. Taste-wise though, they are sweet and powdery. I think they taste like oaty cookies.

Health-wise, tiger nuts have a lot to shout about. Like uncooked oats, they are very high in resistant starch (when uncooked). This means that the starch in them passes through the small intestine without being digested and instead gets fermented in the large intestine, acting as a prebiotic and feeding the good bacteria in the gut. When regular starches are digested, they usually break down into glucose. Because resistant starch fibres aren’t digested in the small intestine, they don’t raise glucose levels. So in theory, less blood sugar spikes.

Tiger nuts are a good source of protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals and fatty acids! They’re a great ingredient to use if you can’t have nuts or just fancy using an ingredient that feels a bit less heavy. Tiger nut flour can generally be substituted for regular flour in baking and you can also use tiger nuts to make horchata de chufa - a milk made from tiger nuts. You can even make a nut-free nut butter from these wonderful little tubers!

Although I’ve coated my truffles in chocolate, you could absolutely leave out that step, or simply double the gingerbread sprinkle (in the recipe) and roll them in that instead. This would reduce any added sugars as the gingerbread cookie dough is sweetened with just dates (and an optional tablespoon of liquid sweetener). The chocolate makes them a bit more conventional in the truffle-world but who says we have to be conventional!?

To coat my truffles, I like to use either raw chocolate, such as Ombar or chocolate sweetened with coconut sugar. But that’s just me. You can use whatever chocolate you prefer.

If you can’t get hold of tiger nut flour, you can just put peeled tiger nuts in a high powered blender (this is what I do), however be warned that the process is extremely loud! Loud enough for me to feel like I need to put a warning in here! I must also let you know that I have cracked a Nutribullet cup making tiger nut flour in the past, so I now only do it in my Vitamix.

You can also easily make your own oat flour. It’s the same process, but far more quiet and gentle! Just throw oats (gluten-free if required) into your blender until you have a flour consistency. Remember to measure the flour itself for the recipe, as this will likely be different from the cup measurements before you blend (some kind of magic).

When it comes to the (optional) tablespoon of liquid sweetener, I prefer a darker syrup like date syrup or coconut nectar as they give that treacle-like taste that I associate with gingerbread. Any liquid sweetener will do though, or you can leave it out and add a couple of extra dates and a tablespoon of water.

I have used tahini because I love it and it keeps these truffles nut-free (not to mention tahini is highly nutritious!). You could absolutely use a different seed butter or even almond butter as it doesn’t have such a strong taste. This will affect the flavour slightly but will still be yummy.

I love how simple these truffles are to make and hope you enjoy both making and eating them!

Ingredients

(makes around 22 truffles)

Gingerbread cookie dough centres

1 cup tiger nut flour

1 cup oat flour (certified gluten free if necessary)

1/2 cup soft dates (soak in warm water to soften if necessary)

2-2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger (depending on how gingery you want your truffles)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder (optional)

A few gratings of nutmeg or a tiny pinch of nutmeg powder

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon liquid sweetener (you can leave this out and add a few extra dates and an extra tablespoon of water)

1 tablespoon water (you may not need this if you soaked your dates)

Chocolate Coating

1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

1 teaspoon coconut oil (optional - changes the texture slightly)

Gingerbread sprinkle (double if not using a chocolate coating)

1/2 tablespoon tiger nut flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar

Pinch of salt

Method

1. Add all of the gingerbread cookie dough ingredients to a food processor and process until you have pliable dough that you can roll into balls. This may take several minutes, so give it time. If after some time the dough is really not coming together, add a little water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time.

2. Prepare a flat plate or tray (that will fit in your freezer) with a sheet of baking parchment. Roll your dough into small evenly-sized round balls and place them on the plate/tray.

3. Place the balls into the freezer to chill while you melt your chocolate. You want them cold so that the chocolate sets quickly, but not frozen. If you think you might take a while, pop them in the fridge instead of the freezer.

4. Melt your chocolate over a bain-marie or fashion one using a small pan of hot water and then put your chocolate in a bowl over the top of it (ideally not touching the water). Avoid using your stove once the chocolate is actually over the water - heat it beforehand.

5. Once melted, stir in your coconut oil if using and transfer your chocolate to a small bowl or ramekin.

6. Make your gingerbread sprinkle by simply combining all the ingredients in a small bowl.

7. Remove your gingerbread cookie dough from the freezer and have your melted chocolate and gingerbread sprinkle at the ready (you don’t want the chocolate to set before you’ve sprinkled or it won’t stick!)

8. Now enjoy yourself! Using a spoon, drop a gingerbread ball into the chocolate and move it around until it’s completely coated. Then drop it onto another spoon or a fork to remove some of the excess chocolate. Carefully drop your chocolate coated gingerbread ball back onto the baking parchment and quickly sprinkle a little gingerbread sprinkle on top. Repeat with the rest of the balls.

9. Leave the chocolate-coated truffles to set at room temperature.

10. Provided the weather isn’t too warm, you can leave these truffles at room temperature for at least a few days. They’ll last longer in the fridge (or even the freezer) but they may sweat a little when you take them out, so keep them at room temp if you can.