Chocolate and Roasted Almond Pinecone truffles

Well I made it—I slid this recipe into home plate right before Christmas. So if you happen to be a last-minute kinda cook, then you still have time to make these fun little almond pinecone truffles before the holiday. And at the very least, it makes a very adorable New Year’s Eve treat, too. These truffles are based off another older Roasted Almond Chocolate Truffle recipe from years back on the blog, but I adjusted it a bit to make them a little more festive with sliced almonds as the garnish for their pinecone disguise.

It’s a very straightforward classic truffle base, just chocolate and heavy cream and ground roasted almonds mixed in, along with a dash of vanilla + honey, and a sprinkle of sea salt. The truffles themselves are quick to whip up, but it’s putting the little sliced almonds on each one that gets pretty time consuming, so if you have extra hands in the kitchen, they would be well-utilized on the assembly of these guys. Otherwise, feel free to throw on your favorite podcast or album, and let the hour-long assembly process of these pinecone truffles fly by.

We’re headed to Montana via car the day after Christmas to visit family, so wish us luck on the wintery road! It’s supposed to dump snow here for 3 days after Christmas, so I’m a bit nervous about the drive, but we got new snow tires on our AWD car so I’m hoping it won’t be too wild out there. (We did get some auto socks just in case, though, since our car can’t have chains. And no, that’s not an affiliate link or anything, they’re just a legitimately good option for folks who can’t have chains but need a little something extra on wintery roads)) Wishing you all the most wonderful Christmas + a very happy new year, and I’ll see you in 2022 with more seasonal wintery recipes (get ready for some savory ones!!) Sending you all lots of love + winter tidings 🙂 xoxo Eva

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Chocolate and Roasted Almond Pinecone Truffles

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword truffle

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 18 truffles

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole raw almonds
• 1 1/2 cups sliced raw almonds
• 10 ounces dark chocolate chips about 60% cacao
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Evenly spread out the whole raw almonds on one lipped baking sheet, and the sliced raw almonds on another. Roast until very lightly deepened in color and fragrant, about 6-8 minutes for the sliced almonds and 10-12 minutes for the whole almonds.
2. Grind the roasted WHOLE almonds in a blender or food processor until they reach a stage halfway between almond flour and almond butter. Set them aside.

3. In the top of a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and cream until smooth, stirring constantly. Then remove from heat and stir in the ground roasted almond mixture, honey, vanilla, and salt until combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 90 minutes.

4. Use a spoon to scoop out a roughly 2x1-inch cylinder of the truffle mixture. Form it into a egg shape that's slightly skinner than an actual egg (aka the shape of a pinecone). Lightly roll it in the cocoa powder to make the exterior less sticky. Insert the roasted sliced almonds into the truffle at a low angle to mimic the scales of a pinecone. Repeat until you've used all the truffles + sliced almonds. Makes about a 18 pinecone truffles.