I wasn't planning on posting Christmas recipes, let alone creating them - maybe that's why it happened. These easy, yet oh so delightfully yummy, raw truffels will become my go-to recipe, I'm sure, for when I want something sweet fast. They do not call for a lot of ingredients and you will most likely have them in store (I always have dried fruits in my pantry in case of things like this..) Make a few batches for Christmas; and I'm sure your friends wouldn't mind little presents either!

RAW COCOA TRUFFELS

250g dried dates (soaked for a few hours)
250ml shredded coconut
50ml raw cacao powder
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
shredded coconut or raw cacao powder for coating


Soak the dates in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in cacao powder or shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.

Notes:
You can use regular dark cacao powder instead of raw cacao powder; I've stuck to raw since it's less processed and has got a lot more of its valuable nutrients left.

 

RAW FIG TRUFFELS

200g dried figs and/or apricots (soaked for a few hours)
150ml shredded coconut
50ml coarse almond flour
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
0,25-0,5tsp cinnamon
shredded coconut for coating


Cut off the hard stems from the figs. Soak the figs and/or apricots in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients one by one and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.


Notes:
I prefer organic on most products and apricot is definitely one of them. They’re not treated with any sulfur or artificial color and so are very different from the non-organic ones. You can go for either figs or apricots or a mix or really any dried fruits! For almond flour I pulsed almond flakes in the food processor because I had them at hand, but you can of course use ready almond flour, and preferably coarse. You can also use fine almond flour, your truffels will just become a little more dense. You can, all in all, play with this recipe a lot; substitute almond flour with more shredded coconut or oatmeal. Leave out cinnamon or use more! Taste after adding each ingredient to get just the truffels you'll love!

Slow mornings are one my favorite things in life. This morning I enjoyed luscious coffee from Kenia (Tekangu Karogoto), bread fresh from the oven and the sun shining in. This fruit & nut bread just might beat the one it was inspired by (second photo on this post). I am so pleased with this recipe, oh my.

FRUIT & NUT BREAD

300ml water
25g fresh yeast
1tsp salt
1tbsp cane sugar
200ml coarse spelt flour
450ml wheat flour
50ml olive oil
120g dried figs
100g soft dried dates
70g hazelnuts


Warm the water in a large bowl up to 42 celsius. Mix in yeast and after that salt, sugar, flour in parts and olive oil. Lastly mix in figs, dates and hazelnuts (throw them in whole to have beautiful big clumps in the bread). Cover the bowl with cling film (the bowl should be more at least double the size of the dough for it will rise alot) and place in the fridge overnight. In the morning knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes; this is important as the dough warms up and the yeast awakens. Grease a bread tin and have the dough rise in it for 45 minutes in a warm place under a kitchen towel. Bake the bread in 175 celsius for about 45 minutes and to get crispier edges take the bread out of the tin and bake for another 5 minutes without it. Tap the bottom of the bread and if you hear a hollow sound the bread is ready. This bread is really best with just butter on but it goes awfully well with good ham and goat cheese gouda, or the like, as well.