Vegan Dark Chocolate Chili Truffles 

My boyfriend Eric has a passion for hot peppers and spicy food. When I first met him, the first food item I ever gave him was some of my home made habanero hot sauce because I knew it would impress him. I too love spicy food, so we have that in common.  There was a point in time I would put hot sauce on pretty much every savory food item I was eating, and I would sit and sweat while I ate dinner.  He would do the same, because he made his own home made hot sauce too.  Recently, he had a shaker full of habanero flakes, and he would put them on everything.  He is originally from Arizona, so none of the Minnesota wimpy tastes for him.  I am not a wimp about spice, but people here in Minnesota are notorious for thinking black pepper and ketchup are spicy.  What Eric really seems to love is sweet and spicy together.  The first Birthday cake I made him was a vegan chipotle turtle cheesecake.  It was pretty amazing and chocolate and chilies are a match made in heaven.

So, this week, I decided to make some dark chocolate chili truffles to share with Eric.  Because they sounded really good to me, and I knew he would love them too.  He loves chocolate way more than I do.  I wanted this to be a simple recipe because I didn't have a lot of time, so lucky for you, they are easy to make and contain only 6 ingredients.  For the filling I used almond butter as the base because it is creamy, delicious and sort of a blank palate. But of course you can feel free to use your favorite nut butter.  I think peanut butter or cashew butter would be amazing as well.  I simply combined it with cacao powder, maple syrup, sea salt, and of course a good amount of chipotle powder to give these a kick.  It is actually slightly more than I have listed in the recipe, because I don't want to kill anyone, but if you like super spicy too, just add a tad more.  This mixture tastes like the most amazing fudge, and I could sit and eat it with a spoon.

But I rolled it into truffles, and dipped them in my favorite vegan dark chocolate melted. They turned out super delicious!  Almost like something you would pay a lot of money for if it were in say, a heart shaped box around Valentine's day.  This is why I like to make my own candy, because it can taste just as good as the store bought, you know that good ingredients have gone into it, and of course what better way to show your significant other that you care, than taking the time to make something for them.  So, if you love chocolate and spicy things, give these a go!

Vegan Dark Chocolate Chili Truffles 
Makes about 10

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup smooth almond butter
• 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder (or as needed)
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp chipotle powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups vegan dark chocolate chips, or chopped vegan dark chocolate

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix together the almond butter, cacao powder, maple syrup, chipotle powder and sea salt until smooth and well combined.  You want it to be the consistency of dough, if it is still too soft (since peanut butter may vary in how liquid it is), add a little more cacao powder.
2. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on a parchment lined tray.  Place in the freezer to chill for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, when you are ready to dip the truffles, melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler until smooth.
4. Dip each truffle into the chocolate (letting the excess drain off, I like to set mine on a fork to dip to make it easier) and place back onto the tray until they are all done.  Place in the freezer to set the chocolate until it is hard, which usually takes 5-10 minutes.  Enjoy!
5. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in a container with a lid for up to a few months.