12 Days of Holiday Treats: Cranberry, Almond and Pistachio Chocolate “Truffles”

Categories 12 Days of Holiday Treats, chocolate, recipes | by
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Scroll to the bottom of the post to get ALL the “12 Days” recipes from 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022!

Welcome to Day 11 of

The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats!

Once again, this year, from December 1st-12th I’ll post a new holiday treat recipe every day – inspiration for your holiday entertaining!

The recipes I’m sharing are small-er batch – each recipe makes 1-dozen or a few more smaller-sized treats that are simple to prepare and that use everyday ingredients and equipment so hopefully you’ll be able to whip up any of these on a whim. Check out the treats from 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 at the bottom of this post too for more inspiration!

Today’s treat is inspired by a craving for something sweet but somewhat healthy in this season where you might over-indulge from time to time… I made a version of a no-bake fruit and nut truffle a few years ago and this is a riff on that with more nuts and less fruit. These are very easy to make and come together in no time – then they take a rest in the fridge for an hour before you dip them so they are a perfect project to punctuate other cooking or baking you might be doing. The dipping can be a bit tricky so if it’s too much, simply spoon the chocolate over – it won’t cover it completely but it will be fine, trust me!

Even if you do dip them, it’s hard to get the chocolate SUPER smooth on top because the nut and fruit mixture is rough itself but hey, I don’t think anyone will notice!

Yield: 12

Cranberry, Almond and Pistachio Chocolate "Truffles"

Easy no-bake fruit and nut truffles for the holidays - great to give and to serve!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Dipping Time 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

For the "truffles":

  • 60g (1/2 cup) slivered almonds
  • 30g (1/4 cup) raw, shelled pistachios
  • 40g (1/2 cup) unsweetened coconut
  • 65 (1/2 cup) dried cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder

For the coating:

  • Approx. 100g good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped, melted and slightly cooled

Instructions

    1. Line a small baking tray (a quarter sheet pan is a good size here) with parchment paper.
    2. Place the almonds and pistachios in a mini food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse until you have some larger and some smaller chunks of nuts. Remove from the bowl and set aside.
    3. Place the coconut and cranberries in the food processor and pulse until the fruit is well chopped (if your cranberries are plump and moist, the mixture might start to form a paste here; otherwise, the cranberry pieces should be chopped very small).
    4. Add the coconut oil and cocoa and continue to pulse until the mix starts to form a sticky, smooth paste.
    5. Add the nuts back to the fruit paste and pulse until just combined.
    6. Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop and press the mixture in tightly, forming approximately 12 small balls.
    7. Place on the parchment-lined baking tray and refrigerate for 1 hour.
    8. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a simmering pot of water until 3/4 of the chocolate is melted. You can also do this on a microwave (at 50 or 60% power for bursts of 30 seconds, stirring after each 30 seconds).
    9. Remove the chocolate bowl from the hot water pot and stir to melt the rest of the chocolate.
    10. Use a bamboo skewer to pierce the bottom of a fruit ball and, working quickly, dip it into the chocolate. Hold it upside down and carefully shake it to remove excess chocolate.
    11. Place back on the parchment-lined baking tray (you might need another bamboo skewer to help slide it off the other one).
    12. Continue until all truffles are coated.
    13. Place tray in fridge until chocolate is set and store in an airtight container in the fridge, with parchment between layers, for up to a week (if they last that long).

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did you make this recipe?

please leave a comment or review on the blog or share a photo and tag me on Instagram @eatlivtravwrite !

© Mardi Michels
Category: candy
I really enjoyed making these and they were gobbled up by neighbours as I was taking photos on the porch the day I made them. I wondered if they might taste too “healthy” but they got lots of thumbs up! They are not too sweet – indeed the only sweetness comes from the chocolate and cranberries, so, you know you can have 2! Because they have lots of nuts in them, they are satisfying – one of these with your morning coffee will set you on your way to getting that “to do” list done!

Come back tomorrow for Day 12 (the final day!) of the 12 Days of Holiday Treats and in the meantime…

Baking up a storm this holiday season?

Buy bulk nuts, snack mixes, dried fruits, candies & sweets by the pound at Nuts.com!
(this is an affiliate link, but I genuinely use Nuts.com products and love them. Highly recommended if you are in the US/ Canada where they currently ship)

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Please note: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!

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Check out 2022’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Day 1: Chocolate Peppermint Creme Cups

Day 2: Chocolate-Dipped Wafer Cookies

Day 3: Gingerbread madeleines

Day 4: Funfetti Cookies

Day 5: Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Day 6: Coffee Financiers

Day 7: No-Bake Strawbery Cheesecake Cups

Day 8: Holiday Joys

Day 9: Holiday Spice Marmalade

Day 10: Soft Molasses Cookies

Day 11: Coconut Roughs

Day 12: Holiday Lights Jam Sandwich Cookies

Check out 2021’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Day 1: Speculoos financiers

Day 2: Chocolate Dipped Orange Sugar Cookies

Day 3: Madeleines à la Clémentine

Day 4: Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies

Day 5: Sunbutter and Jam Chocolate Cups

Day 6: Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Cookies

Day 7: Linzer Cookies

Day 8: Chocolate-Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies

Day 9: Choc-Mint Thumbprint Cookies

Day 10: Pailles (Puff Pastry and Jam Cookies)

Day 11: Strawberry Santa Hats

Day 12: Mulled Wine Jam

Check out 2020’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Day 1: Rice Krispie Wreaths

Day 2: Cranberry Cheesecake Bars

Day 3: Peppermint Bark

Day 4: Orangettes

Day 5: Rocky Road Chocolate Crackle Slice

Day 6: Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

Day 7: Orange Pim’s

Day 8: Mendiants

Day 9: Chewy Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies

Day 10: Apricot, Coconut and Cranberry “truffles”

Day 11: Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Brownies

Day 12: Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Check out 2019’s 12 Days of Holiday Cookies:

Day 1: Easy Three Ingredient Shortbread

Day 2: Jam Drops

Day 3: Chocolate Caramel Slice

Day 4: Melting Moments

Day 5: White Christmas

Day 6: Langues de Chat

Day 7: Chocolate Coconut Slice

Day 8: Cornflake Biscuits

Day 9: Rocky Road

Day 10: Honey Joys

Day 11: Rum Ball Truffles

Day 12: Giant Florentine Cookie (to share)

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