Mama Pea strikes again!
I ever so slightly altered her recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls Light, (by subbing in peanuts for the almonds), and am quite smitten with the end result.
If ever there was a doubt in your mind that a dessert comprised merely of nuts, dates, vanilla extract, salt, and a few non-refined chocolate chips could fully satisfy a craving for cookies, then let this recipe serve as your wake-up call…
… because these are damn good! I’m fairly certain that I’ve never used the word “damn” on this blog before, (and now I’ve written it twice in one post – oops), but it is completely necessary in order to get across how amazingly delicious these babies are.
Think about peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough for a moment (I’m sure I don’t have to twist your arm on this one). Now take away the refined flour, copious amounts of butter and sugar, and eggs. Keep the rich peanut butter flavor dotted with lightly sweetened chocolate chips, and you have these truffles.
Oh, and the tiny bit of Kosher salt added into the dough is completely necessary! It imparts not only a kiss of salty flavor, but also an unexpected crunch.
And so, Mama Pea, I raise my glass now-empty paper muffin liners to you in appreciation for an awesome recipe that I know I will be using over and over again!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “Truffles”
slightly adapted from Mama Pea’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls Light
yield: 10 “truffles”
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup raw (or dry-roasted) unsalted peanuts
- 1/2 cup raw (or dry-roasted) unsalted cashews
- 6 large soft Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp grain sweetened chocolate chips, such as Sunspire, coarsely chopped
Directions:
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the peanuts and cashews. Process until finely crumbled – mixture will resemble coarsely ground flour. Remove from food processor bowl and set aside.
- Place dates, vanilla extract, and salt into the food processor bowl, and blend until a thick paste forms. Add the ground nuts to the date paste and process until the mixture comes together to form a crumbly “dough”. Remove mixture from food processor.
- Knead the chopped chocolate chips into the dough by hand, until well-incorporated. Form mixture into a large ball and refrigerate for about 5-10 minutes.
- When the dough has chilled for a bit, take it out of the fridge and roll into 10 balls.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
