Samoa Truffles (Inspired By & Veganized From PaleOMG.com)

I love scouring my favorite food blogs for inspiration to make new vegan goodies! PaleOMG is one of my favorite sites (no, it's not vegan, that's the whole concept behind "Veganizing").  And Juli is just plain awesome and silly as a person, so I love to follow her snapchat too (you get to see her cute little puppy, Jackson, too!).

I saw Juli post some Samoa Truffles this week and I was definitely saying O...M...G...!!!

I knew instantly this would be my "Veganizer Of The Week"!

Now, I have no idea how close this is to Juli's actual recipe because I don't have her cookbook, and therefore I have no idea how she makes her caramel sauce.  But anywho...I made a vegan caramel (since most of them aren't) and I took a little liberty and added some chopped pecans to this recipe too - because well, pecans are delicious and I have an overstock right now because I forgot I had some and then bought more for another recipe I had made...you know how it goes.

These were as DEEEELICIOUS as they looked, if not more so. 

So good in fact, that Fraser has already requested that I make a cake version of this for his birthday (which is still 2 months away).

I'm pretty sure we'll be making these for some Christmas parties this year too!

Samoa Truffles

Makes 10-12 Truffles.

Ingredients:

• 1 batch of Easy Vegan Caramel Sauce
• 1.5 cups Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
• 1.5 cups Enjoy Life Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate (chips or chunks will work)
• 1/4 cup chopped Pecans
• 1 Tbsp coarse Sea Salt

Instructions:

1. Make caramel sauce. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 315 degrees Fahrenheit. Place shredded coconut on a baking sheet then bake for about 5 minutes, until browned. - watch this closely; the pieces at the bottom and edges burn quickly! (yes, I burned it the first time LOL!)
3. Set aside 1-2 Tbsp of coconut and 2-3 Tbsp caramel for garnishing first.  Then place remaining coconut in a bowl with chopped pecans, and pour caramel sauce over the top. Mix together coconut, pecans, and caramel until completely combined. Place in freezer for 20-30 minutes until firm and cool.
4. Line a cooled baking sheet (that will fit in your freezer - I made that mistake) with wax or parchment paper.
5. Melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave or double boiler. (If your chocolate is too thick, stir a teaspoon of coconut oil into the melted chocolate) Scoop out about 1-2 tablespoons of the coconut caramel mixture and shape into a ball in your hands. Place the ball into the melted chocolate and roll around until covered then use a fork to pull the truffle from the chocolate and tap off the excess chocolate. Slide the truffle onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt before the chocolate hardens. Repeat with the rest of the mixture, it should make 10-12 truffles.
6. When all the truffles have been formed, scoop the extra caramel sauce into a spoon and drizzle a little caramel over each truffle and sprinkle with a little extra toasted coconut.
7. Place back in the freezer for 10 minutes before serving. Store in the fridge or freezer.

(Ths recipe is clearly a "treat" food. If you want to get ALL of our recipes, including those designed for fueling your fit & trim Alpha Bod, then sign up for our Evolving Alpha Nutrition & Recipes Site!)