Easy Plant-based Chocolates - ginger/rum & cardamom/lemon

If you love the mix of sweet and salty, go for a pinch of salt on top before the chocolate has cooled.

These decadent chocolates start with 3 simple ingredients: nuts, dates and cocoa… from there it’s your heart’s desire.

There is a bit of a chocolate obsession in my family. I can trace this infatuation back to my Dutch Jewish Grandmother, hiding tablets (bars) of chocolate around her house to keep them from herself. My sister and I knew all her hiding spots and after our hello hugs and kisses, would take off, sneaking around to find the chocolates squirreled away in cabinets and jars. My mother, aunts and uncles always arrive to a family gathering with a box of chocolates from some special place for us all to gush over. We gather around like it’s newly found treasure, tasting, sharing, and talking endlessly about the flavors, textures and which ones are our favorites. My husband remembers us at one of his first family gatherings taking bites out of chocolates and putting them back into the ruffled papers for someone else to sample, to him disgusting, to us absolutely normal and wonderful... how else could we try them all?

So clearly my love of chocolate is deep and strong. But in truth, sometimes I want to dig into some cocoa treats that are a little less rich and don’t knock me out with refined sugar, especially around Valentines day candy season. I have two fav recipes to fill this need, one are these Secret Chocolates that use black beans as a fudgy base (sounds weird I know, but trust me, they are delicious). With beans as the base, these are much lower in sugar, but only last a few days. My other go-to recipe are these wonderful date, nut, and cocoa based chocolates. They are delicious, easy to make, plant-based, and super versatile.

Really all you need are dates, nuts, cocoa, and a pinch of salt. Blend it all together and roll them into little balls and you have some dang good power snacks. If you want to have a little fun and fancify these, try coating them in melted chocolate, shredded coconut, chopped nuts or cocoa, and place them in tiny ruffled papers. Flavor-wise, you can take these in any direction you like. Craving dark chocolate? Add a bit more cocoa. In the mood for spices? Add a little cinnamon, ancho chili, or allspice. Citrus zest, freeze dried raspberries, a splash of vanilla or liquor… all are perfect additions. If you are staying plant-based, check the ingredient label on your chocolate before melting, and look for one without dairy, refined sugar or additives. If you happen to run out of dates, other dried fruits like apricots, raisins or cherries can work well too.

I love making these as valentines or birthday gifts, or as a special pot-luck dessert. I often think of “treats” as something sugary, and it feels really good to show some love by making a treat that is better for the body. For this batch I was feeling the Lemon/Cardamom & Ginger/Rum combos. If you don’t do alcohol, the candied ginger alone is wonderful. A few tips: It’s easiest to make these using a food processor, but if you have a middle eastern market near by and can find a block of date paste (or order one online), you could mix these up by hand, adding a little hot water to loosen the dates, and mix in the finely chopped nuts and cocoa by hand. Also, the commercial chocolate industry is one of the most exploitative on earth, so if you can find some fair trade cocoa and chocolate, those companies are more likely to be treating their workers well and getting a fair(er) price for this brown gold.

Hope whoever gets to eat these feels all the love packed into them!

Make your mark: a ginger bit on top hints at what’s inside. A tiny pinch of cardamom or curl of lemon peal would also be nice. Powdered freeze dried raspberries can add a splash of color, and are delicious inside as well.

Easy Plant-based Chocolates
Ginger/Rum & Cardamom/Lemon Variation

Makes 30 chocolates

Base recipe:
1 1/2 cups dates* (I love using medjool dates)
2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (look for fair trade cocoa if you can)
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
pinch salt

Flavor additions:
Half batch mix in: Zest of 1 lemon + 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (can increase to 1/2 teaspoon if you really like cardamom)
Half batch mix in: 1/4 cup finely chopped candied ginger & 2 tablespoons rum

Coating options (choose one or split the batch):
10 oz chocolate, melted (if keeping it plant based, check the ingredient label)
or
1/2 cup cocoa
or
1 cup unsweetened grated coconut or finely chopped nuts

Extras: 30 mini muffin or candy papers

* 1 1/2 cups dates is approximately 12 ounces. You can also use a package of date paste which is usually 13oz.

1. Remove pits from dates. Put dates in a bowl and cover with warm water for 5 minutes.

2. Chop nuts in a food processor until fine with a little coarseness remaining. Place in a bowl.

3. Remove dates from bowl and reserve water. Place dates in the food processor with cocoa, vanilla(optional) and a pinch of salt. Pulse until mixture is smooth. Add a spoonful or two of reserved date water if the mixture is too thick to blend. Add walnuts and pulse once or twice to incorporate.

4. To make both flavors of chocolates out of one batch, remove half of the mixture from the food processor and set aside. Add lemon zest and cardamom to the mixture in the food processor and pulse/blend until combined. Scrape this half batch into a bowl, and add the unflavored batch back into the food processor together with the chopped candied ginger and rum. Pulse to combine. Taste to adjust flavor, adding more rum if you like, or more cocoa if the mixture is too sweet or wet.

5. Using a tablespoon or very small ice cream scoop (#70), portion the mixture into small balls on a piece of waxed or parchment paper. Roll the balls between your hands gently to form a smooth ball. (see photo below)

6. To coat with melted chocolate: Place chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of very hot water until melted, or melt in a microwave. Stick a toothpick or skewer in a date nut ball and dip it into the melted chocolate, coating all over. Tap the toothpick on the side of the bowl, letting the excess chocolate drip off back into the bowl. Using another toothpick, gently push the chocolate coated ball onto the paper, hiding the toothpick hole on the bottom of the chocolate. Garnish the top of the chocolate with a piece of ginger, curl of lemon zest, or a pinch of cardamom or salt, if desired before it cools. Let cool at room temperature until the chocolate is completely hardened.

   To coat with cocoa, coconut, or nuts: roll each cocoa/date ball in the cocoa, finely chopped nuts, or coconut, and place each in a mini muffin paper or in a pretty box/serving dish.

7. Store in an air tight container. Will keep for about a week.

This mixture is very forgiving. If it is too stiff to go round, don’t hesitate to add a spoon of water or rum. If you’d like your chocolate dark add a bit more cocoa, a little sweeter, add a few more dates.

An alternative to using whole dates. This block of date paste is cheaper than buying whole dates, and if you don’t have a food processor, this will help you make this recipe by hand.

Ginger/Rum (top) and Cardamom/Lemon cocoa date nut centers, freshly scooped and then hand rolled.

Hand dipped chocolates cooling. To keep the bottoms from becoming too thick with melted chocolate, you can use a toothpick to give the chocolates a little scoot from their original dropping spot, and easily break off the trailing chocolate when cooled.

And for the coconut or cocoa finishes… While these look the same as the date & nut version above, they are actually a much lower sugar version made using a secret ingredient… ( ok, I’ll tell, it’s black beans) and they’re also amazing!