Sweet Potato Truffles

These Sweet Potato Truffles are chewy and sweet, easy to make and you don’t need a food processor.  They are also naturally sweetened. Chocolate is the main flavour, with dates and sweet potato providing moisture and fibre which means these are the perfect dessert sized treat to cure after dinner cravings.

Truffle Fan? Check out these Chocolate Pecan Pie Truffles and these Chocolate Avocado Truffles.

Recipe Highlights

• 6 simple ingredients is all you need to create a simple no bake dessert that lasts all week
• Keep the in the fridge for firm truffles, or on the counter for soft truffles
• Easy to add extra flavours and spices, even a dash of your favourite liqueur
• Enjoy after dinner, or as a mid morning or afternoon snack
• They’re naturally sweetened with no added sugar
• Make around 20 small truffles, or 10 large ones
• They’re super fun to decorate using a few different coatings
• They make ideal holiday gifts, or to take to a BBQ

Ingredients

For an even easier recipe idea with less ingredients but same addictive quality, try these 3 ingredient Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls - perfect for breakfast, or even dessert! or perhaps these No Bake Pumpkin Energy Balls with chocolate chips.

Ingredient Notes

• Sweet Potato:  I love using yellow sweet potatoes which I think tend to have more flavour, however you could also use white sweet potato if you prefer. 
• Almond Meal:  I prefer to buy almond meal where the skins have been removed, however its really a matter of preference.  The almond meal provides a nice texture and helps to hold the truffles together.  Alternatively you could use hazelnut meal but it is a little more expensive.

• Medjool Dates:  The are the ideal date for sweetening this recipe as they have a soft centre, and soft skins which makes them easy to make into a paste.  Using medjool dates means this recipe can be made without a food processor since making the date paste is straight forward with little hot water and mashing, or even better, a hand or stick blender. 

• Date Swap: Alternatively you could swap the dates out for date syrup which is available in most supermarkets in the health food or baking aisle.  Start with ¼ of a cup and taste the mixture, adding more if required.

• Cocoa Powder:  If possible use a good quality unsweetened cocoa powder, and not the drinking chocolate powder as that will be way to sweet.  Cocoa powder provides a super rich chocolate flavour and helps to dry out the moisture of the sweet potato which is what’s needed in this recipe.
• Vanilla:  I used vanilla essence in this recipe, however you could also the same amount of vanilla paste, or I fresh vanilla bean.  Honestly, I find that  the vanilla essence is more than fine and is an economical option as vanilla bean paste and fresh vanilla beans can be more expensive.

• Desicated Coconut:  This is the fine unsweetened desiccated coconut, usually found in the baking aisle of supermarkets.  If you have a food processor and shredded coconut, you could blitz it to make it finer so that it almost disappears in the balls like wth the desiccated coconut.  Desicated coconut is also perfect for rolling the balls in for added “subtle” texture.  You could roll them in shredded coconut but it will result in a rougher and more rustic looking truffle.

I love making truffles and bliss balls because they are easy, only require a few ingredients and you have them as bite sized snacks all week.

How To Make

1. Mix sweet potato puree with dates puree and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.

2. Then add almond meal, cacao powder, and ½ cup of desiccated coconut. Stir until combined.

3. Roll the mixture into 22 to 25 small truffles and then coat them with the remaining desiccated coconut.

4. For a firmer truffle, place them in the fridge for an hour.

Sweet Potato Puree Tips

• Peel and cut the sweet potato into chunks of the same size
• Boil the sweet potatoes in a pot of water on the stove on high heat until soft.  Test with a fork to make sure they’re soft before draining the water
• Use a strainer to put the potatoes in and let them sit for a few minutes to let all the water naturally drain away so that there isn’t excess water coming into the bowl with the truffle mixture
• Mash sweet potatoes with a fork and try to get them as smooth as possible.  The more cooked they are the easier they will be to mash.

Date Puree Tips

• After pitting the dates (removing the seed), soak them in hot tap water for 10 minutes. Once dates are soft, drain the water (as much as possible) and puree them with a hand blender.
• To remove excess water, you can use your hands to squeeze out the water or put them into a strainer and press down with your hands or a cup to push out the moisture.

Other Tips

• Food Processor:  If you have a food process, this recipe will be even easier to make and you can skip making the date puree and just put all the ingredients into the food processor and blitz.
• Storage:  Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
• Make them Spicy:  add a little ground ginger, ground cloves or all spice to give these truffles a Christmas touch
• Make them Boozy:  add a little of your favourite orange  or chocolate liqueur for adults only truffles.
• Nutty Centre:  for a surprise centre, add a whole hazelnut or macadamia nut for a little crunch. Shape the truffle mixture around the nut into a ball shape.
• Coatings:  Roll some in desiccated coconut, some in a little cocoa powder, some in finely crushed pistachios
• Other date varieties:  If using dates other than Medjool, experiment with the soaking time to ensure that they will be easy to make into a date paste as some types of dates have tough outer skins that are harder to break down.

Sweet potato truffles are easy and fun to make.  They can be both a dessert or a snack, both adult friendly and kid friendly and are sure to be a crowd pleaser at your next gathering.  Or equally as indulgent in your lunchbox, or in between meals to keep cravings at bay.

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