Healthy Pecan Pie Bites
Naturally sweetened truffles that taste like the inside of pecan pie!
Ingredients
- 10 large pitted Medjool dates about 2/3 of a packed cup
- 3/4 cup pecan halves roasted, unsalted
- 1/4 cup pecan butter unsalted* see notes for other options
- 2 tsp refined coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Optional Chocolate Coating
- 10oz vegan chocolate chips I recommend Enjoy Life Semi Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips
- 1 tbsp refined coconut oil
- vegan sprinkles, chopped pecans, or Madlon sea salt for garnishing
Instructions
Soak
- In a large bowl, pour boiling hot water over the dates to soften them. Set aside until cool, then drain the water completely.
Prep
- In the meantime, add the pecans to a food processor or high powered belnder and pulse several times until a fine meal is formed. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed.
Assemble
- Then add the drained dates, pecan butter, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt to the food processor and mix until a thick paste forms. Tip: Chill for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to roll the dough into balls.
Shape
- With clean, damp hands roll a spoonful of dough into balls and place on a lined cookie sheet or plate. Continue with the remaining dough. This should yeild roughly 16 truffles depending on how large you like them. Bigger or smaller is fine.
Chill
- Chill for at least 30 minutes (overnight is great too) and serve as is or melt 10oz of vegan chocolate chips with 1 tbsp of refined coconut oil. Dip the chilled truffles into the chocolate, then sprinkle with flakey salt or chopped pecans if desired, and place on a lined cookie sheet and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days. Enjoy!
Notes
NOTE: These are not very sweet and pecan pie is very sweet, so taste some of the mixture and see if you'd like to add some maple syrup to make it a little sweeter.
You can use raw pecans if that's what you have on hand but I recommend toasting them lightly to bring out the nutty flavor. This will make the truffles taste more like a pecan pie that's been baking in the oven.
If you don't have pecan butter, almond butter or cashew butter will work too! It will taste a little different...maybe not as much like pecan pie but it should still taste delicious anyway. Use what you have :) Enjoy!