Slightly Raw Cacao and Peanut Butter Truffles + iHerb Shopping Spree Giveaway

As you might have noticed, I’ve talked a lot about iHerb.com here on the site. I buy many of my supplements and healthy food products from their online store. I’m the type of person who, when I have a good shopping experience or find a product I love, I want to tell everyone I know about it. I can’t help it!

My experience buying products through iHerb has always been stellar. Their prices are lower than if you were to buy the same product at Whole Foods (for example), you get free shipping over $40 (so I just stock up on lots of things at once), and their customer service is great. I buy everything from stevia, to hand soap, shampoo, and conditioner, to Navitas nuts, dried fruit, and cacao powder, to coconut oil, to multi-vitamins and fish oil, to Larabars… you name it. The items also ship really fast too. Since I am in California (and they are too) I usually get my order the next business day.

Recently iHerb contacted me to find out if we would be interested in offering a $50 shopping spree giveaway, to give Live Well 360 readers an opportunity to check them out for free. Umm… yeah!! Psshh.

I decided it might be neat to create a recipe where I use some of my favorite iHerb items as ingredients. Since Valentine’s Day is this weekend, I thought hmm… what better than a decadent, yet healthy, recipe for….. truffles!

Ingredients

• 25g butter, melted *
• 256g (1/2 cup) peanut butter
• 4 tbsp cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder)
• 6-8 drops of vanilla stevia **
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp Scottish oats
• 1 tbsp rolled oats
• 1-1/2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp Kahlua coffee flavored liqueur
• pinch of salt

Toppings/Coatings

• cashews, ground
• cacao powder

*  Could use coconut oil instead of butter.
** Could use agave syrup, on any other type of sweetener you would like to sub in, to taste.

Forgot to include the peanut butter in the group pic.

Directions

1. Put all of the ingredients into the food processor and blend.

2. Put toppings/coatings of choice (I am using ground cashews and cacao powder) in small bowls, so that you can roll the truffles in them to coat them.

3. Using a teaspoon, scoop out portions of the mixture, and roll them into balls.

Note: I like using the teaspoon because it’s so small. It allows you to keep your portions tiny, because with truffles, you really don’t need a giant ball anyway since they are so rich.

4. Drop the ball into the topping/coating bowl, and scoop the toppings over it, turning it, until all sides are covered.

5. Place on decorative plate.

6. Store in refrigerator for up to a week.

Makes 3 dozen.

Nutritional Info
1 servings = 1 truffle

Calories: 29
Fat: 2 g
Carbs: 1.5 g
Protein: 1 g

You could also use other toppings (coatings) like: toasted coconut, cinnamon, other types of grounds nuts like macadamia nuts, pecans, peanuts, almonds, flaxmeal, etc.

Also, Ryan decided to put some cacao nibs in the center of a few, for a little added crunch – He loved it. Not my fav (too bitter for me).

iHerb Shopping Spree

And now for the $50 shopping spree giveaway!

To enter leave a comment below either about this recipe, about iHerb, about what your plans are for Valentine’s Day… or anything else that you feel like sharing.

We will randomly select a winner and announce the winner the day after the contest closes.

Gain one extra entry by doing one of the following:

1. link to this post on your blog
2. tweet about this givaway (and include @LiveWell360 in your tweet)
3. post your picture to our Facebook fan page

The giveaway is open to US residents and international residents, however, please note that iHerb will not be responsible for paying any customs fees, if there are any. The giveaway closes Friday, February 12, 2010 at 5 PM PST.

And, even if you aren’t the lucky winner, you can still receive $5 off your first order with iHerb by using the code: KEK380