Luxardo Cherry Truffles

Imagine two scenarios with me for a second. First, you have friends over for dinner. You do want them to feel like they can stick around, but you don’t want them to feel like you cooked for days before they showed up. You know, you’re trying to play it cool, but you actually want to impress. I call this the accidental-5-star-chef syndrome. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s just like if you clean all afternoon and put out fresh flowers and placed your throw blankets just so, and then when guests arrive to your house you’re all like, “Oh, sorry for the mess, I barely had time to clean up…” We’ve all done this right?

No? Just me? OK well, anyway, you’re having guests over, but you don’t really want to have a three layer cake in the refrigerator waiting for them because you’re trying to make the night feel casual. Well, I suggest you make these the night before and have them in the freezer. They are cute, delicious, but pretty unassuming. You can just set them out at the end of the meal and casually ask if anyone wants another drink or a coffee (like a fancy restaurant, but oh, it’s just natural…)

So that’s the first scenario where I would recommend these truffles.

Scenario #2: It’s a weeknight and you’ve had a long day. You just finished dinner and decide to leave the dirty dishes in the sink because “they need to soak” (aka, you’re over it for the night). You’re about to sit down to catch up on a favorite show, like Better Call Saul (are you guys watching that?! I LOVE it), and you’re in the mood for something sweet, but you are definitely not going to go to the effort to make anything. And then you remember you have a few of these truffles wrapped and sitting in the freezer. You grab two and some milk and all is well in the universe.

Maybe I made these scenarios a bit too specific? I mean, I’m totally not describing myself or anything here…

Friends, even if my scenarios haven’t convinced you, I still think you should totally make these. They are SO delicious! What are we talking about? If you’ve never tried Luxardo cherries before, I highly recommend you treat yourself to a jar. They are my absolute favorite maraschino cherry for cocktails, like an Old Fashioned, on top of ice cream or in recipes—like this one. Each of these truffles has a Luxardo cherry in the center, surrounded by the best edible cookie dough, and then coated in chocolate. Yum! They are extremely easy to make and even easier to eat. 🙂

Luxardo Cherry Truffles, makes 15

1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
15 Luxardo cherries
1 package (12 oz.) dark chocolate chips
2 teaspoons oil
sprinkles, chopped nuts, sea salt, or other toppings

In a bowl combine the softened butter and sugars. Cream together well, then stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Then stir in the almond and coconut flour until a soft dough forms.

At this point you have delicious, edible cookie dough. So if you want to add chocolate chips and just eat that, I won’t judge you. 😉

Cover and freeze the dough for 15-20 minutes until firm but not frozen solid. Divide into 15 pieces and roll a cherry inside each truffle. Cover and freeze again while you prepare the chocolate.

In a small, microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate and oil. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then stir. Repeat until the chocolate is completely melted (usually just 1 to 1 1/2 minutes). You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler on the stove top if you don’t have or don’t like microwaves.

Dip each truffle in the chocolate, and then place on a cutting board or plate lined with wax paper. Top with whatever toppings you prefer. I used sesame seeds, pistachio dust (ground pistachios), bee pollen, sea salt, and a few white sprinkles. Basically I just raided my pantry for random items that I thought would add a little flavor or crunch to these. You can use any number of things or nothing at all if you prefer.

Once the chocolate sets and becomes solid, these are ready to eat. If you want to speed up that process, you can pop these in the refrigerator and the chocolate will set a little quicker.

You can enjoy these right away or wrap in plastic wrap (again, once the chocolate has already set) and refrigerate or freeze. If you freeze them, keep in mind that they will become quite solid, so you’ll want to let them sit out a bit before trying to bite into one.

Notes:
-You can use any nondairy butter if you want to keep these dairy free.

-You’re looking for super-fine almond flour for these, not almond meal, just FYI. I usually have this and coconut flour on hand, but if you don’t normally bake with these, you can use all almond flour and skip buying the coconut flour. But I do like the flavor that the coconut flour adds.

-I used dark chocolate, but you could totally use milk or even white chocolate for the coating.

Happy truffle making + eating friends! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with the NEW A Beautiful Mess actions.