Almond Coconut Cheesecake Truffles

About

This dessert tastes like someone chopped a candy bar up and put it straight in the filling! These cream cheese truffles taste just like a sweet cheesecake topped with pieces of almonds, coconut, and chocolate. If the recipe time concerns you, don’t worry! Most of the time spent on this recipe is just relaxing while your freezer chills your truffles. After you chill your truffle filling, each truffle is dipped in special Keto dark chocolate chips and rolled in a blend of almonds and shredded coconut. You can keep the truffles in your freezer for hot days when you want something cool to bite into. You can also keep the truffles in your refrigerator to grab after dinner or even as a fat bomb between meals. If you know how to temper chocolate, feel free to apply your skills to your final product. Real chocolate chips will harden to a beautiful shine with a crisp snap.

What Is Tempering Chocolate

Truffles that come in a shiny, smooth coating of chocolate that look almost too perfect to eat are made with tempered chocolate. Tempering chocolate is a process of melting chocolate at different precise heats to chemically alter the appearance of chocolate when it hardens. Whether your dessert uses tempered chocolate or not will not affect how your dessert tastes. It’s just for appearances!

Chocolate Substitutions

The closest you’ll come to enjoying pure chocolate on the Keto diet is with non-dairy, sugar-free, 100% dark chocolate. This type of chocolate can be found in grocery store aisles dedicated to special dietary needs or specialty baking products. If you can’t find this specific type of chocolate, look for 100% pure dark chocolate, unsweetened. Avoid semi-dark or 70%-80% dark chocolate.

Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese
2 tablespoon butter, unsalted
2 teaspoon the ultimate icing sugar replacement
⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon almond extract
⅓ cup vegan dark chocolate morsels
¾ oz almonds
½ oz coconut, dried, shredded or flaked, unsweetened

Instructions

To make the truffle filling, blend cream cheese in a stand mixer until the cream cheese is soft and spreadable. You can leave the cream cheese out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes prior to making the recipe so it is softened. Once the cream cheese is aerated, add butter cut into pieces. Continue mixing until both the butter and cream cheese are blended together free of lumps. Mix in Swerve, vanilla, and almond extracts until blended.
Transfer the truffle filling to a smaller container, cover it, and set it in your freezer to chill. Chill the truffle filling for a minimum of 2 hours until the filling is thick enough to scoop like ice cream. This may take up to 4 or more hours, depending on your freezer and how much you’re making. When the filling is firm enough, line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Scoop 1 ½ TB of filling and roll it into a ball between your palms. Repeat until all the truffles are formed.
Set the tray of truffles back in your freezer to chill overnight. Now, you want them completely frozen – 8 hours or more. The next day, you’ll need to prepare the chocolate for dipping. Create a double boiler by placing a heat-safe bowl over a pot filled with 1 inch of water. Heat the double boiler until the water is simmering but not creating rising steam. Place the chocolate chips in the bowl, and continually stir the chocolate until it melts.
Remove the bowl of chocolate off the heat, leaving the pot behind. Set the hot bowl on a potholder or cloth, and stir the chocolate as it cools. Continue stirring until the chocolate thickens for dipping. While the chocolate cools, add sliced almonds and unsweetened shredded natural coconut to a small plate and use your hands to crush the ingredients to make the truffle topping. Pull your tray of truffles out of the freezer. One by one, use a fork to dip a frozen truffle in the chocolate, let excess chocolate drip off, roll the truffle in the almond-coconut blend, and return the truffle to the parchment paper.
Repeat the dipping process until all the truffles are complete. Return your tray of truffles to the freezer one final time to set for 30 minutes. After setting, you can keep the truffles in the freezer for a cold treat or store them in the refrigerator for a softer, chilled truffle. The truffles will always be best stored in the refrigerator and should not be left out at room temperature.