Have you ever picked up the Thrive Magazine? It’s a plant-based magazine filled with the most beautiful pictures and recipes of all different kinds of foods. Even if you aren’t a plant-based eater, this magazine is definitely one to grab next time you are at Whole Foods. On Sunday, I skimmed through it and thought I would make the Pumpkin Pie Truffles. I like the word “Bites” better, than truffles, simply because it sounds healthier! Call me crazy!
So Simple To Make or So I Thought
With only ten ingredients, all of which I had, I was super excited to make these, I mean how hard could it be? When I make things like this, my hope is that Sasha will love them. She is my biggest food critic! I figured with these pumpkin bites being completely covered in dark chocolate, she would devour them, not realizing she is eating a hidden veggie.
Turns out that trying to roll these little suckers was nothing like rolling my Glo-Bites, that’s for sure! At least my Glo-Bites stay packed and firm and stay shaped. When I mixed all the ingredients for these Pumpkin Bites, it was almost impossible to firm perfect little circles. I had to rub coconut oil on my hands so the mixture wouldn’t stick. I must have rinsed my hands about twenty times, reapplied the coconut oil and rolled more bites until they are all as round as I could get them.
It got kind of messy on my counter but I managed to roll them all and place them in the freezer. My pumpkin bites looked a bit bigger then the picture in the Thrive Magazine. All I kept thinking was how I could have made this recipe a little different. I mean, that’s what I do. I take a recipe that is either really bad for you, or not healthy or clean enough and I make it my own.
Off To The Bookstore!
Once I set them, and placed them in the freezer, We took Sasha to the book store. The pumpkin bites had to sit for thirty minutes in the freezer or longer, so I decided I would finish them when we got back. We LOVE taking her to Barnes and Noble. For some reason the parking lot was jam packed, which normally we can pull right up and walk right in. To our surprise, Lidia Bastianich was there as a guest speaker promoting her new cookbook- Felidia. I LOVE Lidia. Mario and I used to watch her show on Friday nights (because we are such an exciting couple), and just drool over the meals she would make. I don’t own any of her cookbooks, I just don’t cook that way, but if you do, the new book looks amazing!
Sasha got some great books. I think I am pretty good at picking books for our daughter. She doesn’t have toys, I mean maybe five or six little things she plays with. She doesn’t ask for them and even when gifted with them, they just sit and collect dust. This kid is all about reading, art and crafts and doing her ballet and gymnastics.
Time To Dip The bites
Dipping the bites was the tricky part. The directions said to use a fork to dip the bites into the chocolate but when I did, I couldn’t get the fork out of the bites without pulling it off with my fingers which ended up being covered in chocolate. This is where things got messy! I ended up plopping the bites in the bowl of melted chocolate and rolling each one around until they were covered. Once I placed them on the baking sheet I sprinkled the ground up graham crackers and placed them all in the freezer to set. They ended up looking pretty good for my first attempt!
On the bottom of the recipe, the woman who’s recipe this belonged to wrote something and i agree with it 100%
“Be positive and think positive. That’s the one thing my mum has taught me and the one thing I really adopted the past few years. This is so cliche, but honestly, listen to you body! Eat natural whole foods and don’t over complicate it. Appreciate the signs your body is giving you and follow them. And my last but favorite is scheduling a day to spend quality time with yourself, doing things you love that help you relax and make you happy.”
Interestingly enough I had just posted about this very thing on my IG! Just a three second video of my legs in the bath, but telling the story of me giving myself a detoxing and relaxing bath twice a week to decompress and feel good.
The Verdict
After I cleaned up the dinner dishes and wiped down the counters, I prepared three little plates with some of the Pumpkin Bites on them. We all gathered around the counter and took our first bites together. Mario suggested they be kept in the fridge, but overall he liked the texture and how they were not over the top sweet. Sasha looked like she lost her favorite blankie, no joke. She actually looked bummed. When I asked her what was wrong, she basically looked at me like, “this is what you were so excited about?” They obviously weren’t sweet enough for her and she wished for Glow-Bites instead. Lucky for her I had to Glo-Bites in the freezer and told her to eat them instead. While they may be a perfect little treat for myself and Mario, Sasha will not eat these. I am going to play around with this recipe and make them again MY WAY, and see if she likes them.
If you aren’t crazy about super sweet tasting treats, but just a little hint of sweetness and decadent chocolate, Try to make these. I like them. I will definitely make them again, like I said but maybe do something a little different.
Pumpkin Pie Truffles
INGREDIENTS
- 2.5 C. Almond Flour (I used 3 Cups)
- 1 C. Pumpkin Puree
- 2/3 C. maple syrup
- 1/4 C. almond butter
- pumpkin pie spice
- vanilla extract
- 5-6 oz Lilly’s Dark chocolate 70% broken into pieces
- 1 tsp. coconut oil
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts of mashed graham crackers (I used)
DIRECTIONS
- in a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, almond butter, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla until mixture is thick and dough like.
- Roll your hands in a bit of coconut oil to prevent the mixture from sticking to your fingers, and start rolling mixture into small balls. Place balls on a tray or plate and place in fridge for 30 minutes and the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Once your truffles have set, start melting your chocolate by placing chopped chocolate + coconut oil in a bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until smooth.
- Remove truffles from the fridge and, using a fork, dip them in the chocolate bowl, tapping on the side to drain any excess chocolate. Place them on a tray and sprinkle the crackers or hazelnuts in refrigerate for an hour. Keep in the fridge for four days.
**NOTE. I keep mine in the Freezer like my Glo-Bites. I will try the fridge suggestion.
