Just five good-for-you ingredients make up these paleo and keto chocolate truffles! i.e. they’re the ultimate fat bomb treats!
Paleo & Keto Chocolate Truffles 🍫
Ultra Decadent
No chocolate bars were melted for these guys (i.e. they don’t have soy lecithin, a gazillion carbs or sugar alcohols… and they won’t break the bank!). Think only simple clean ingredients, making them ideal chocolate fat bombs!
So keep them handy in the fridge (or frozen for a couple months!) and feel free to customize them to your needs.
Go for a classic cocoa dusting, roll in toasted nuts (almond and hazelnut are my favs!), and you can even add some extracts for a special touch (orange is my undisputed love here).
Looking for more easy keto chocolate fat bomb treats?! Be sure to check out our extra fluffy chocolate mousse and our insane (no-bake!) cheesecake-for-one!
The Method
Making these low carb chocolate truffles is a breeze. Think melting the sweetener and cocoa into (full fat!) coconut cream*, whisking in a tad of xanthan gum (which acts as a stabilizer here) and just letting it cool before shaping.
*OK so coconut milks and creams always lead to (a lot!) of questions as it’s an ingredient that varies widely. So you can either buy it as is (label will read coconut cream); or you guys can use your cans of full fat coconut milk, chill them in the fridge overnight, open them and scoop out only the solids on top (i.e. the cream). You get roughly 1 cup out of a can (just roll with what you got!).
The Chocolate
Cocoa or cacao? Both work great, just know that quality really matters here. My favorite will forever be the Dutch-processed alkaline cocoa Valrhona, known to be one of (if not the) best cocoas in the world. But feel free to use a raw cacao powder (arguably more nutritional perks here), though keep in mind that your truffles will be lighter in color and more reddish in hue. Both are well and good, as long as they’re unsweetened.
How dark? Talking dark chocolate versus milk is a sure way to divide a crowd! But know that you can make these to your taste buds’ desire.
p.s. a lightly sprinkle of flakey sea salt works wonders to cut through the dark chocolate variation!
The Sweetener
Xylitol and allulose work equally well for these keto chocolate truffles. They help to retain the creamy texture throughout. Erythritol can be a bit tricky after melting, as in some cases it can become grainy again once cool.
The wonderful thing about these guys though, is that you don’t need a sugar alcohol to make them work! I would suggest sticking to monk fruit extract though, as stevia can give a rather unpleasant bitter aftertaste when mixed with chocolate for some peeps.
And if using allulose, just keep in mind that it’s about 70% the sweetness of sugar and xylitol (i.e. you’ll have to add 30% more).
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 🐕
Paleo & Keto Chocolate Truffles
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
Ingredients
For the keto chocolate truffles
- 1 cup coconut cream *
- 2-4 tablespoons xylitol or allulose, to taste
- 2-4 tablespoons cocoa powder use the smaller amount for milk chocolate and the larger for dark
- 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder optional
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum ***
- extra cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions
- Add coconut cream, sweetener, cocoa, espresso powder (optional) and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Mix using an immersion blender or whisk until all the solids from the coconut milk have the dissolved and the mixture is fully blended.
- Sprinkle xanthan gum little by little and blend until fully combined. You'll likely have some air bubbles, but be sure to check there are no lumps. Any lumps will be resolved by mixing with an immersion blender (or in an actual blender). If the mixture is too thick to mix, add 1 teaspoon of water at a time (being mindful that you want it thick for the truffles to hold their shape!). Remove from heat, allow the mixture to cool completely, cover and refrigerate until set.
- Scoop (or spoon!) out enough chocolate to form 1-inch rounds. Dust your palms with cocoa powder and roll until smooth. Work quickly to avoid melting them, and if they become too soft just pop them in the freezer for 10 minutes before carrying on.
- Keep in the fridge in an airtight container for about a week, dusting with fresh cocoa right before serving (you can also do toasted almonds, coconut etc!). And note that these also freeze surprisingly well, just thaw them out before indulging!
How long do these need to set in the fridge for?
I’m going to try melting in about 1/4 cup of cocoa butter and reducing the coconut cream to 3/4 cup.
BTW – as an experiment I tried refrigerating a can of coconut cream – to see if it would stratify (like coconut milk) and it did not – it just solidified. This is why I was surprised that it was so soft when the other ingredients were added.
What do you think about powdered erythritol? Do you think it might help with the grainy texture of erythritol?
I used probably 1.25 cups of coconut cream, and while these came out really good, they didn’t quite hold their shape. Would using more xanthan gum help this?
I followed instructions and refrigerated the coconut cream (not milk) overnight and just used the solid cream that rose to the top. I also used an immersion blender as described in the recipe. Unfortunately, as others have mentioned the mixture is to thin (more like mousse). My search will continue!
Hola Paola
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes! So far made your “Best Bread” and it was great! I love your attention to details and all your keto explanations.
Am about to make the truffles and you mentioned using monk fruit instead of Erythritol due to graininess. Am I right in assuming that would be the liquid variety? If so, how many drops? I know I could calculate it with ratios and equivalents but sometimes that does not work at all! I bow to your knowledge and experience, what would you recommend?
Made these today with coconut cream (not milk) however the fat content must be too low, as the coconut cream here in Australia isn’t a solid, it’s still a liquid. It’s more like a loose pudding than a nice ganache. Will try melting down again and add some butter or heavy cream to increase fat content to help it set.
Hi Christian! What happens if you chill your full fat coconut milk/cream in the fridge overnight? Over here the solids float to the top and you can just scoop them out?
I made these yesterday afternoon, and I must have done something wrong! The mixture has been in the fridge for over 12 hours now and it hasn’t set. It’s just a sort of very thick chocolate pudding still. I checked and I did all the steps as written. Any idea what could have gone wrong? Should I have left it cooking on the stove to reduce? I simmered it for about 5-10 mins I think.
Oh no! What did you use for the coconut cream Jenni? Once in the fridge it goes pretty solid (particularly with the cocoa and xanthan?). This is all I can think of?
Is there any way to salvage my thin mixture? Cream cheese? More xanthan gum? Anything?
I would melt some butter in and hopefully once solid it will work again. Sherry what did you use for coconut cream? It should be solid in the fridge, otherwise you used milk and that’s why its not solid xo!
I trashed the first batch.
Round 2…I changed brands and the coconut cream was nice and thick (Thai Kitchen). After it set, the filling was just a little too soft (but delicious) so I made the truffles and stuck them in the freezer. I’m sure to eat the whole batch…
Should I use less coconut cream or more cocoa powder to stiffen up the next batch?
I followed your recipe to the letter, and it became the best pudding that I ever ate. Mine did not solidify either.
Clearly I need to revisit this recipe guys…!! Thanks so much for always letting me know
When you say expresso powder, do you mean expresso instant coffee?
There’s such a thing as espresso powder (baking ingredient), but you can use instant coffee too 😉 xo!
Hi Paola, made these today! 😍 have you tried adding a small amount of alcohol (rum or baileys etc)? Might try it for Christmas to make them even more indulgent….
Yay Lisa! I haven’t tried myself but sounds like a terrific idea! The one consideration would be the final texture, and this will depend a bunch on your how thick your coconut cream is (and if you needed to add a little water to thin it out). For instance, I had to add a couple tablespoons to mine so I would take the mixture off the heat and then stir in those two tablespoons of booze (remember to not cook the alcohol or it will evaporate!) xo!
oh mgeeee these look amazing!
😉