When you have an eager little mind in your care, I think one of the best ways to have fun, bond and educate is when you’re making some delicious food!

Late this morning I received a call from Hayley to see if I was able to mind the daughter of one of our friends, who, after spending a couple of hours at school, wasn’t feeling all that crash hot. As luck would have it, I was working from home and welcomed the chance to hang out with Alissa, (who’s currently reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and doesn’t like her crusts, thank you very much).

After merely five minutes of reading, I think Alissa’s curiosity got the better of her and she decided it was time to investigate all those weird sounding words coming from the study. Alas, my French study session took twice as long today but it was lovely to have the company and share some of my new knowledge. Before long, I began to feel like she was catching up on my months of practice, so I quickly diverted her attention to save my ego from further collapse.

Dr. Greger’s Almond Chocolate Truffles.

The best aspect of bake-less whole-food vegan sweets is that the recipes are so malleable. I chopped and changed so much about this recipe that it really is virtually impossible to fail. There are three very basic rules to follow before I even move on to the recipe:

1. Too dry? Add a little water.
2. Too wet? Add some oats or a few more nuts.
3. Not sweet enough? Add some more date syrup.

As long as the balls stick together and taste amazing, that’s pretty much all you’re going to need to concern yourself with.

Ingredients.

1/3 cup chopped and pitted dates.

1/3 cup cashews (or whatever nuts you have on hand).

3 Tbs nut butter (Dr. Greger calls for almond butter. I used peanut butter. Unroasted and unsalted is best which is achievable with bulk peanuts and a high-speed blender).

½ cup cacao powder (I’d recommend ¼ cup to start with as it can become quite bitter).

2-3 Tbs date syrup (soaked and blended dates - more on this later).

1 tsp vanilla (if you have the cash to splurge on vanilla bean, go for it. If you’re of the same breed of pleb I am, crack open the imitation stuff).

¼ tsp cinnamon powder.

Ground almonds and desiccated coconut for coating.

The Mixings and the Makings (no oven required).

When cooking with children, it’s great if you can get creative in the kitchen without needing to use knives OR an oven so they can get super involved and build confidence in this learning space. I always explain what I’m doing, how else they can get involved and never get poopy when things aren’t measured correctly or if something is spilled. Getting cross doesn’t change the fact that something hasn’t gone to plan, but can impede a child’s willingness to take risks. The best environment for a child to take risks, make mistakes and learn is with people who make a concerted effort to become more patient and be able to have a laugh when something unexpected happens. I love all the questions and discoveries and found myself becoming more curious of the things I take for granted in Alissa's presence.

Making Date Syrup.

You can either buy it from the store or do it the whole-food way and make it yourself. Making a batch of date syrup is as easy as soaking a quantity (a cup or so) of dates in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain the water and blend the dates on high. Add a little water if it needs it to blend properly, but keep the liquid to a minimum. A pro tip here is that if you try to use too few dates with the intention of making a 'one-off' batch, it won't blend up properly and it'll come out lumpy. You can always add date syrup to your next oatmeal breakfast or banana smoothie. Trust me, there are so many ways you can use that extra date syrup!

Making the Truffles.

1. Throw the dates and cashews into a high-speed blender and whizz up.

2. Scoop the peanut butter out and plop it into the mix with the cacao, date syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Add a tablespoon of water to the mix as well. Start on a low setting and gradually increase until it’s a consistent dark mixture.
   During our foodie adventure, Alissa enjoyed the peanut butter so much that she was licking all the spoons. All I needed to do was explain that licking the spoons is okay, but to keep licked spoons out of the jar to keep germs away from the food. It was a quick comment that did not need to be dwelled upon. She’s a fast learner!

3. Using a teaspoon, try a little of the mix. If it isn’t sweet enough, add some more date syrup then re-blend. Scoop out the mix and roll into balls as big or small as you please. They’re pretty rich so I’d suggest small-ish balls. When Alissa and I were rolling the balls she noticed immediately how slimy they were! The oils from the nuts becomes very evident when the mixture is blended but is perfect to get all the coconut and ground nuts to stick later.

4. If you would like separate coconut covered truffles and ground nut covered truffles, use two separate bowls for each coating and roll the balls separately. Just do what pleases you!

Dr. Greger recommends using the fridge to set the balls if they’re a little soft. Mine didn’t need it.

It was hard to snap a shot without eager little fingers finding their way into the picture!

This recipe was the easiest thing ever! The fact I’ve published this ‘How-to’ betrays its simplicity. You will need a high-speed blender, though. This is a must. If you try with a small “magic-bullet-style” blender, let me know how it goes. It might just be chunkier which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!

As it turned out, our batch was a bit too bitter for Alissa. She commented on how good they tasted when she started chewing (probably because of the texture!) but as the cacao set in, she quickly changed her mind. My failure was not tasting it as we went and this is the reason I've added these recommendations in the recipe. Kids will be far more responsive to something a little sweeter, so more date syrup and less cacao to begin with!

Your Friend in Food,

Nick.

All content is original and belongs to @nickmorphew. [16 March 2019]

Disclosure: This article was not a paid promotion and was not self-upvoted. Nor were there any affiliate links.

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I’m currently working on my debut fantasy novel based on my early work, Adventures in Elowyn Glade. Please contact me if you would be interested in supporting the project to secure a high quality publication.

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You didn’t think you’d leave here without me shamelessly plugging my other work, right?

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