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Luxurious homemade dairy-free truffles that everyone can enjoy. This recipe for vegan gingerbread chocolate truffles is really quite easy to make, if a bit on the messy side. It will certainly appeal to your inner child. Molasses and spices give a suggestion of gingerbread rather than using the actual biscuit itself. 
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Vegan Gingerbread Chocolate Truffles
With the festive season well underway, these vegan gingerbread truffles make excellent last minute gifts for any ginger lover. You don’t need a lot of hands-on time and virtually no cooking is required, just a bit of heating in a pan. The bit that takes time is getting the ganache to set and you’ll need a couple of hours for that.
In order to make truffles, you need to first make chocolate ganache. This involves melting chocolate in some sort of hot liquid and mixing it all together to form a smooth and shiny paste.
Ganache does have a tendency to split. Over the years I’ve learnt how to reduce the chances of this happening. Basically, a lot of it is in the stirring. Over mix ganache and it’s much more likely to split. Stir it quickly in small swirls and stop as soon as it comes together.
Depending on how runny or firm you make it, you can use chocolate ganache for a variety of purposes. It works well as a cake or biscuit filling, a dip, a spread or a topping, whether that be icing, drizzle or glaze. It’s also the main ingredient you need to make chocolate truffles.
Truffle making can be a messy business. It’s best to do it in a cool space and with cold hands. This isn’t always possible , of course, so if you have a mini ice cream type scoop, so much the better. I have yet to invest in one.
To Make Vegan Gingerbread Truffles You Will Need
vegan chocolatecoconut creammuscovado sugarmolasses or black treaclegingerbread spicescocoa powder
Vegan Chocolate
Vegan chocolate is getting a lot easier to buy here in the UK, so it shouldn’t be a problem getting hold of some. But beware, unless it’s specifically labeled as vegan, it probably won’t be.
Even dark chocolate that doesn’t list any dairy in its ingredients, may contain traces of it. Most chocolate is made in factories that produce both dark and milk chocolate, so it’s easy for the dark chocolate to get cross contaminated.
It really depends how strict you are. My cousin who’s been vegan for the last forty years, is happy to eat dark chocolate, even if it can’t be guaranteed one hundred percent vegan.
If you can find cook’s chocolate buttons, so much the better. They usually have a higher cocoa butter content than ordinary chocolate. This, combined with their size, makes them easier to melt but also gives a smoother mouthfeel.
I used Willie’s Cacao chef’s drops, San Agustin 70% dark chocolate*. These are from a single estate in Colombia and have delicious honey and nutty notes. They are vegan.
Coconut Cream
You can buy little tins of coconut cream now, though I haven’t yet tried one. I use the top of a tin of coconut milk instead. If you leave coconut tins upright, the solid cream rises to the top which makes it easy to scoop off.
I never have a problem using any of the milk or cream left in the tin. It’s a fantastic ingredient in many Thai and South Indian recipes. One of my favourite weeknight meals is this spinach and chickpea curry made with coconut milk. It also makes vegan soups, such as this squash and red pepper soup, deliciously creamy.
Muscovado Sugar
Muscovado sugar is a richly flavoured, unrefined sugar which contains natural molasses. It’s slightly moist and tastes almost caramelly. It’s the queen of brown sugars and you can get it in light or dark versions.
I’ve used light muscovado in this recipe for vegan gingerbread chocolate truffles. You can, of course use other brown sugars, but try for muscovado if you can.
What Is Molasses?
Molasses is a thick black syrup type substance which is a byproduct of refined sugar production. It’s called blackstrap molasses in America. The taste is both sweet and bitter. It contains various vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which makes it one of the healthier sweeteners. It still contains sugar though, so be wary.
In the UK many people use black treacle instead of molasses. It’s a more refined version which isn’t quite as strong or dark and is a bit sweeter. It’s also easier to get hold of.
What Are Gingerbread Spices?
The classic spices used in gingerbread are ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and grated nutmeg. These are the ones I’ve gone with, but some people add allspice too. Ginger is essential, but if you don’t have all of the other spices, you can substitute them with mixed spice or pumpkin spice mix instead. Just make sure ginger is the dominant flavour.
Top Tip
Ground ginger doesn’t keep very well. It loses both its flavour and heat quite quickly and can taste musty. So buy it in small quantities and if you know you’re going to need ground ginger for a recipe, it’s worth buying some fresh. Just make sure the sell-by-date is well in the future. Store it, well sealed, in a cool dark place and it will keep fresher for longer.
Cocoa Powder
Cocoa powder is easy to get hold of, but don’t confuse it with chocolate powder. It’s effectively a fine brown powder made from cocoa beans after the cocoa butter has been extracted. It’s not sweet, quite bitter in fact and it doesn’t contain any dairy.
Traditionally, cocoa is used to make a drink. Mix it with sugar and hot water or milk and you have hot chocolate. Most know it as an incredibly useful ingredient for baking, but it’s also perfect for coating truffles.
You can buy various grades of cocoa powder. Generally the cheaper it is, the less flavoursome it will be. Dutch-process cocoa powder is a more refined version. The process takes out some of the bitter notes associated with cocoa and also makes it darker in colour.
These days, it’s also fairly easy to get hold of raw cacao powder, which is a less refined version. This purportedly contains more of the beneficial antioxidants that cocoa is so well known for.
Vegan Gingerbread Truffles: Step-by-Step
Making truffles is really a two step process: creating the ganache and then forming the truffles. To make this recipe even easier, I’ve broken the ganache part down into three.
You can make these truffles as big or small as you like. I like to make them smaller than a walnut, but bigger than a large hazelnut. Don’t worry too much if they’re not a uniform shape either, it adds to their character.
I made thirty gingerbread truffles with the quantities I’ve given in the recipe at the bottom of this post.
Step 1. Prepare Chocolate
If you’re using a block of chocolate rather than drops, chop it into small pieces. The smaller the pieces the quicker the chocolate will melt.
Pour the chocolate drops or pieces into a a heatproof bowl and set aside.
Top Tip
Use cook’s chocolate buttons rather than bars. There’s no need to chop and as they generally have a higher cocoa content than ordinary chocolate, they tend to melt better too.
Step 2. Heat Cream
In a small pan, heat the remaining ganache ingredients over a gentle heat until everything has melted and dissolved. Give it a good stir, then bring the mixture to the boil.
Step 3. Make Ganache
Pour the hot contents of the pan over the chocolate. Leave for a couple of minutes so that the chocolate has a chance to melt.
Stir from the inside out in small swirls until everything is smooth, shiny and just combined. Over stirring can sometimes cause the ganache to split.
Leave in a cool place to set. It will take one to two hours depending on how cold it is. If you have space, the fridge is fine.
Top Tips
For extra gingerness and texture, add some finely chopped crystallised ginger or stem ginger before you start stirring. Alternatively use a bar of ginger chocolate.
If your ganache splits, suspend the bowl over a pan of hot water and whisk vigourously. If this doesn’t work, stir in a small amount of room temperature water.
Step 4. Form Truffles
Sieve the coating ingredients into a wide bottomed bowl and mix well.
Take teaspoonfuls of the set ganache and use your hands to roll them into balls. This is the bit that can get quite messy. Toss them in the spiced cocoa powder, rolling them around the bowl until they’re well covered all over.
It’s best to do this bit in small batches. I found six at a time worked quite well. Remove the gingerbread truffles onto a cold plate and repeat with the next lot until the ganache has gone.
Top Tip
To avoid the ganache melting too much, try to keep your hands as cold as you can. Running them under a cold water tap helps. Alternatively use a mini scoop if you have one.
Step 5. Presentation
Pack into air tight boxes, small tins, pretty jars or cellophane bags. Label and decorate as desired.
Top Tips
Save sturdy small boxes for future truffle gift giving. Buy some paper cases to put the truffles in and you’re good to go.
Look out for pretty plates and bowls in charity shops. These can make a wonderful presentation container for truffles. Just cover in clear cellophane to keep the truffles fresh.
Homemade truffles will keep in an air tight container, if kept in a cool place, for about a month.
Other Recipes Using Ginger You Might Like
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these vegan gingerbread chocolate truffles, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #nanorecetas, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more recipes for homemade chocolates, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Vegan Gingerbread Truffles. PIN IT.
Vegan Gingerbread Chocolate Truffles – The Recipe
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Vegan Gingerbread Chocolate Truffles
Luxurious dairy-free truffles that everyone can enjoy. They’re really quite easy to make, if a bit on the messy side. It will certainly appeal to your inner child. Molasses and spices give a suggestion of gingerbread rather than using the actual biscuit itself. Prep Time25 minsCook Time0 minsSetting Time2 hrsTotal Time2 hrs 25 minsCourse: After Dinner, SnackCuisine: BritishKeyword: chocolate, chocolates, gifts, ginger, trufflesServings: 30 trufflesCalories: 53kcalAuthor: Choclette @ Tin and ThymeIngredientsGanache200 g vegan dark chocolate (I used 150g dark chocolate and 50g dark chocolate with ginger)100 ml coconut cream (I used the top from a can of coconut milk)25 ml water2 tsp molasses or treacle25 g light muscovado sugar½ tsp ground ginger1 pinch ground cinnamon1 pinch ground nutmeg1 pinch ground cloves20 g crystallised ginger or stem ginger finely chopped (optional)Coating2 tbsp cocoa powder1 pinch ground ginger1 pinch ground cinnamonInstructionsIf not using buttons, chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heat proof bowl.200 g vegan dark chocolatePlace the coconut cream, water, molasses. sugar and spices into a small pan and leave over a gentle heat until everything is melted and dissolved. Give a good stir.100 ml coconut cream, 25 ml water, 2 tsp molasses or treacle, 25 g light muscovado sugar, ½ tsp ground ginger, 1 pinch ground cinnamon, 1 pinch ground nutmeg, 1 pinch ground clovesBring the pan to the boil, then pour over the chocolate.Leave for a couple of minutes so that the chocolate has time to melt. Add the crystallised ginger at this point if using. Then stir just enough so that everything is mixed, but be careful not to over stir or the ganache might split. Leave in a cool place for a couple of hours to set.20 g crystallised ginger or stem gingerMeanwhile sieve the coating ingredients into a wide bottomed bowl.2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 pinch ground ginger, 1 pinch ground cinnamonTake a teaspoonful at a time and roll into a ball with your hands. This can get very messy. Try to keep your hands as cold as you can. Running them under a cold water tap helps. Alternatively use a mini scoop if you have one.Place a few of the ganache balls into the bowl of spiced cocoa powder and swirl them around until they’re covered. Remove to a cold plate and repeat until all of the ganache is used up.Pack into air tight boxes, tins, jars or cellophane bags. Label and decorate as desired.NotesIf you want unctuous smooth and creamy truffles, omit the crystallised ginger. But if you like a bit of texture to your truffles, add it. It will also give a bit of additional ginger warmth and flavour.Homemade truffles will keep in an air tight container, if kept in a cool place, for about a month.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.NutritionCalories: 53kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg Tried this recipe?Please take a photo and mention @choclette8 or tag #nanorecetas on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
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I’m sharing this recipe for vegan gingerbread chocolate truffles with Sew White for #CookBlogShare.
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