White Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles are a 5-ingredient sweet dessert that is allergy friendly! The melt-in-your-mouth white chocolate is paired with a crunchy nutty hazelnut center.
Every year for Christmas, my mom asks for one and one thing only: White Chocolate Ferrero Rochers, and each year we dutifully and lovingly fill every spare inch of her stocking with these white bites of hazelnut joy.
These candies are sweet, crunchy, nutty, melt-in-your-mouth, coconut perfection. The only snag in this years stocking stuffer plan, my mom no longer eats gluten or dairy - both of which run rampant in these innocent looking sweet morsels.
Instead of gifting her a giant stomach ache and sinus headache, I decided to try whipping up a batch of homemade these truffles, aka a gluten-free and dairy-free white chocolate Ferrero Rocher copycat.
I thought long and hard about calling these White Chocolate Coconut Hazelnut Truffles, because, hello coconut that gets stirred into the white chocolate and then pressed onto the outside of the truffle for a pretty lovely snow-like finish. BUT, then I realized that that title was annoyingly long and complicated. So these truffles lost a middle name and became White Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles instead.
But please know this, these also contain coconut. And it is GOOD.
But if you are one of the coconut adverse, thats okay. We got your back. You can omit the coconut from the white chocolate completely and then roll the truffles in chopped and roasted hazelnuts instead. Voila! Delicious coconut-free truffles.
If you can manage to roll all of the truffles without eating them on the spot, these make an excellent take-to-a-party gift. They work well as a stocking stuffer for mom (just don't leave them too close to the fire or you'll have a puddle of chocolate. They are also great for neighbors, coworkers, and spreading general holiday cheer.
Can't go wrong with these White Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles.
White Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 260 minutes
- Total Time: 270 minutes
- Yield: 20 truffles 1x
- Category: Candy
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
White Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles are a 5-ingredient sweet dessert that is allergy friendly! The melt-in-your-mouth white chocolate is paired with a crunchy nutty hazelnut center. The perfect addition to your Christmas cookie tray.
Ingredients
- 10 oz. dairy-free white chocolate
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (plus more for rolling)
- 3 tablespoons full-fat canned coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 20 hazelnuts
Instructions
- Add the chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Heat, in the microwave, at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir and microwave until melted, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. Once the chocolate is melted smooth, stir in the coconut, coconut milk, and vanilla extract. Place the mixture in the fridge to set for 4 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the hazelnut out on a baking tray. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the hazelnuts are fragrant and golden brown. Set aside to cool slightly.
- When the hazelnuts are cool enough to touch, but still warm, rub them with a clean kitchen towel to remove and loose skins. If you don’t get all the skin removed, don't worry about it. You just want to take off the loose stuff and throw it away. Set the hazelnuts aside until the chocolate has set.
- Once the chocolate has set, remove it from the fridge. Use a spoon to scoop out about a tablespoon of the white chocolate. Roll it into a ball and then press a hazelnut into the center. Close off the open end and re-roll it into a ball. Roll the truffle in coconut to coat. Repeat until all the chocolate has been rolled and coated.
Would pure cacao butter work in place of the 10 oz. dairy-free white chocolate?
Hi Monika! Yes, I think that would work really well. It might take some experimenting since cacao butter is harder than white chocolate. I would add in an extra 3 tablespoons of coconut milk before chilling. If the mixture is still too hard to scoop and roll, you can melt the mixture back down and add more coconut milk, probably 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the perfect consistency. Happy holidays!
Won’t the chocolate seize up when you add the coconut milk or vanilla extract?
Hi Liz, that hasn't been the case for me. It is common in truffle making to add a high fat dairy product (usually cream) to create truffles with a soft, bitable consistancy. Without it they would be like hard chocolate bars in round form! Just make sure to add room temperature coconut cream. Happy baking!