Healthy Christmas Truffles Recipe

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Christmas is the season to overindulge, just so that we can make a New Year's resolution to lose 5 kilos! Save yourself some extra kilojoules this festive season and swap some of the traditional Christmas sweets for a healthier, but still yummy, alternative.

These super easy truffles make a great Christmas gift and can be used year round as a lunchbox treat or a quick energy snack. And be sure to get the kids involved, as this is a hands on recipe.



Ingredients

1 1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup nuts or seeds (I generally use sunflower seeds, pepitas and chia seeds. You can also use almonds or any other nut)
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup cocoa powder (for dusting)
Step 1
Combine the nuts or seeds and the rolled oats in a mini food chopper or processor. Blend until you have a coarse meal.


Step 2
Empty the seed mixture into a large bowl. Using your hands, combine the mixture, checking for any large pieces. This is perfect work for little hands!



Step 3
Combine the sultanas and vanilla essence in a mini food chopper or processor. Blend until you have a sticky, macerated consistency. If you are using a mini chopper you may need to blend the sultanas in batches. If your sultanas are a bit dry, you can add a tiny amount of water to blend.


Step 4
Add the sultana mixture to the bowl. Now it's time for the fun part- making the truffle balls! Wet your hands first, as this will help to stop the mixture from sticking to you.

Roll the truffles into small balls. You can be quite firm with the mixture to ensure it stays together. If your mixture is too crumbly, add some more sultanas. Too wet, add some more ground nuts. You will get approximately 24 truffles from this mixture.

Step 5
Put the cocoa powder into a small bowl. Roll the truffle balls into the cocoa powder. This helps to set the truffles and keeps them from being too sticky.


Step 6
Try to prevent sneaky little hands from eating all the truffles!


Store the truffles in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to serve or to wrap up as a guilt-free gift.



Variations
You can substitute the sultanas for other dried fruit. I have had success with adding dried cranberries and apricots to the mix. I did not have as much success with dates but I may have had a slightly dry batch.

You can also use different nuts or seeds. Or if you need a nut-free version, try using puffed rice cereal. This is also helpful when making a gluten-free version and omitting the oats.

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