Bean Truffles

@Cecilia Antoni, beanbeat.de

If you’d rather cook than bake, but still want a healthy treat, look no further. These bean truffles can be rolled up in a minute and are ready to go at any time of the year: for Christmas with spices, for summer with berries and fruit, or to get you tipsy with rum balls. The basic recipe is here, and you can add your touches according to taste and occasion. Beans like to take on the flavours of spices, fruit or cocoa, so it’s hard to guess that they’re made from beans unless you know. Beans that are a little creamier, such as small white beans, borlotti, fava or black beans, are perfect for the truffles.

Ingredients

For approx. 20 balls:

• 250 g cooked beans (white, black, fava or bolotti beans) (approx. 130 dried/ or use canned beans)
• 2 tbsp oat flakes
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 3-4 tbsp sweetener of your preference (e.g. soaked dates, maple syrup)
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil (or coconut oil)
• cocoa powder for rolling

Optional: ground Christmas spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, desiccated coconut, and a little rum for tipsy balls. Also nut butter (e.g. almond, peanut) is fine to add.

Instructions

1. If you don’t have cooked beans or canned beans on hand, soak the dried beans 24 hours beforehand, discard the soaking water and rinse the soaked beans. Bring the beans to boil with fresh water and then simmer until the inside is soft and creamy.
2. Finely chop the cooked and cooled beans together with the oat flakes, cocoa, sweetener and possibly orange zest and/or spices/nut butter in the blender.
3. Add the rapeseed oil (note: warm the coconut oil slightly beforehand so that it becomes liquid) and form small balls from the mixture.
4. Place the bean truffles in the fridge for at least 30 min before rolling them in cocoa powder.
5. Best to be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Will keep up to 5 days.