Fig and pistachio truffles

My kids are currently really into Nakd raw fruit and nut bars and when I asked my son what I could make for an after school snack, he suggested making bars. This is my version and is based on what I had in the cupboard. I had a look at a few recipes and the general rule seemed to be to use about twice as much fruit as nuts, a liquid sweetener to help bind the mixture and other flavours as wished. This amount happened to make exactly twelve little truffles.

I had one before I went for a run for a quick energy boost and it seemed to do the trick, and my son pronounced them as good as the bars, which is high praise so I was happy. While they are a healthier option than a piece of cake, for example, they still contain a lot of fat and sugar; it just happens to be healthier fat and sugar. However, unlike cake I think you would struggle to eat too many of these in one go. For some reason they seem to make me very thirsty though I’m not entirely sure why!

It was also an excuse to use my Christmas present from the kids, a handheld blender that slots into a mini chopper. I love it!

Just add the ingredients and blend!

This is such a quick, simple recipe: put all your ingredients into your blender, blitz and shape into balls. I used organic cacao powder but am still confused as to whether it is really any different from cocoa powder despite hours of research on the internet a few months ago!

Recipe

Ingredients

100g dried figs

85g pistachios, shelled

50g dried apricots

20g cacao powder

1 tablespoon agave syrup

Method

Roughly chop your dried fruits.

Put all the ingredients into a blender or mini chopper and blend until the mixture turns into a paste:

Leave your mix chunky or blend further for a smoother mixture

When sufficiently blended shape into balls with your hands. I found that I had to blend some of the mixture further as it wasn’t chopped finely enough but I was aiming for quite a smooth texture.

I think they look really cool in the little truffle cases but they don’t actually need cases as they hold together really well on their own. You could also sprinkle them with icing sugar but I thought that sort of defeated the object.

Fig and pistachio truffles

I might even make some next time I have a school coffee morning, will keep you posted! Do you have any other good flavour combinations I could try?

Categories: Baking, Chocolate, Dairy-Free Baking, Fruit, gluten free baking, healthy baking, Recipes, Starters and snacks, Uncategorized, Using Alternatives, Vegan baking

Tags: agave syrup, baking, cacao powder, chocolate, cocoa powder, dried apricots, dried figs, dried fruit, fruit, healthy snacks, pistachios, raw fruit and nut snacks, recipe