Chocolate-Chestnut Truffles (Sugar-Free) (2024)

These chocolate chestnut truffles are an exquisite, delicious, healthy sweet treat for the holiday season.

They are made of a creamy, flavorful filling of chestnuts, spices, and nut butter, covered in dark chocolate, and sprinkled with ground pistachios. They are sugar-free, gluten-free, lectin-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

What kind of chestnuts to use

When chestnuts are in season, from October to December, I recommend boiling the chestnuts, peeling them, and using the white flesh. For more information about chestnuts, and an easy and quick way to boil chestnuts, check this post:

• Boiled Chestnuts, The Perfect Snack (In a Pressure Cooker)

If you can’t find fresh chestnuts or can’t be bothered with the above extra step, you can use cooked and peeled chestnuts that you find in stores, especially during the holiday season. They come vacuum-packed (Trader Joe’s has them) or in a jar.

The inspiration

I love chestnuts. Since I was a child, they have been my favorite treat during the cold season. My mom would boil a big pot of chestnuts, and my dad and I would devour them.

Now I am in Denmark, and I went hunting for chestnuts (in stores!). They are not as easy to find here as in Romania, but I did finally and boiled a big pot. I ate a few fresh, then decided to create something more special. And that’s how these chocolate-chestnut truffles were born.

I was inspired by the Turkish candy called “karyoka”, which is made of chestnut puree, sugar, and sometimes heavy cream, covered in chocolate, and sprinkled with pistachios.

My version mixes boiled chestnuts, nut butter, and spices wrapped in dark chocolate. They are sugar-free and vegan.

Ingredients for chocolate-chestnut truffles

• 150 grams of boiled and peeled chestnuts (or the prepared, jarred or vacuum-packed chestnuts you find in stores)
• 4 tablespoons pistachio butter (or you can use any pure nut butter you have)
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated or powdered sweetener (monk fruit, inulin powder, erythritol, or whatever sweetener you prefer) OR to taste
• 1 teaspoon MCT oil
• Zest from one organic orange OR pure orange extract (to taste)
• Spices: cinnamon, vanilla, a pinch of salt if the nut butter you used doesn’t have salt (or my Warming Spice Mix) – add to taste
• A little bit of warm water, about 1 tablespoon (just enough to bind everything together into a sticky, thick paste)
• 100 grams of 85% dark chocolate bar or chips
• a small handful of ground pistachios (raw, unsalted)

If you have already made my Holiday Warming Spice Blend, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of this mix. If not, use a mix of cinnamon and vanilla.

If the nut butter you are using doesn’t have salt, add a pinch of salt.

How to make chocolate-chestnut truffles

• Mix all the ingredients (except for the chocolate) in a food processor, adding a tiny bit of warm water until you get a sticky, very thick paste.
• Shape this paste into about 18 small balls.
• Melt the chocolate bar in a very small saucepan on very low heat.
• Coat each ball with the melted chocolate and place on parchment paper or a grill, and sprinkle with ground pistachios.
• Place in the fridge or freezer until the chocolate becomes solid again.
• Store them in the freezer.

How to serve these chocolate-chestnut truffles

I recommend storing these truffles in the freezer for a few hours before serving, as the flavors will develop further.

If you store them in the freezer for a few more days, take them out about 30 minutes before serving. They’ll have a perfect texture: crunchy, thin chocolate layer and creamy, cold filling, a little bit like ice cream.

Or you can just store them in the fridge for two or three days.

More chestnut recipes

• Chestnut Flour Crepes
• Chestnut Pie with Root Vegetables
• Parsnip and Chestnut Puree with Chives

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