Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

I'll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate 'butter' icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaster! But, I'm very glad of that disaster, because as chocolate hazelnut truffles, they are fantastic. In fact, fantastic isn't a positive enough word to describe how I feel about them. I'm going to upgrade to stupendous.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Did I mention that they are also dairy free? Yep - stupendous and dairy free at once - something that is hard to achieve!

So if you have a dairy free fried, make these, and they will love you forever. I guarantee it. Since I made them for myself, it doesn't quite work, but it does make me quite proud to have concocted such a tasty recipe.

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (Makes 12)

• 4tsp hazelnut butter
• 2 tsp coconut oil (which is solid at room temperature)
• 50g dark chocolate (dairy free, of course)
• 1 tbsp dairy free margarine (I used 'Pure' sunflower)
• 5 tbsp icing sugar
• 1tbsp cocoa powder for coating

Cream together the hazelnut butter, dairy free margarine and coconut oil until well mixed. Depending on how cold your kitchen is, you might need to soften the coconut oil a little first , but be careful as it melts very easily, and you don't want it runny!
Sieve in the icing sugar and mix - it will be quite stiff, and may even stay a bit powdery. Don't worry! It will all come together in the end!
Melt the chocolate gently in the microwave, and once it has all melted, stir it into the other ingredients. You will end up with a fairly stiff paste.
Allow to cool. If need be, you can stick the mixture in the fridge where it will keep happily for a few days until you're ready to roll them. Just take it out an hour or so before you want to use it to let it soften slightly.
Take teaspoons of the mixture, and gently roll into small balls. Once you've formed them all, roll each one in the cocoa powder to stop them sticking together.

Ready to be rolled in cocoa powder. Where is truffle no. 12 I hear you ask... I ate it! What can I say - I am impatient!

Then take a bite, and marvel in the chocolate hazelnut nirvana you have just created!

Pretty quickly, this is all you will have left!