To celebrate the year’s end, a bit of chocolate is nice with champagne. Truffles and bubbly make a great pairing, along with a touch of raspberry. It makes me look forward to popping the cork on a bottle of sparkling wine.

To keep the truffles from causing too much of a sugar rush while sipping champagne, I borrowed the idea of using dates as the sweetener and adding nuts for a protein hit. That may sound too healthy but, trust me, these truffles are also decadent. They are the perfect way to welcome the New Year.

New Year’s Eve Raspberry Brownie Truffles inspired by Raspberry Chocolate Truffles

1 cup raw cashew pieces
pinch fine sea salt
1/2 cup date paste
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-2 teaspoons non-dairy milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces
raspberry-flavored vegan jello mix (I used Simply Delish raspberry gel dessert)

Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the cashews in a food processor and pulse until they have a fine crumb, similar to almond meal.

Add the processed cashews to a large bowl along with the salt, date paste, raspberry jam, and cocoa powder. Stir until a thick dough forms, adding non-dairy milk as needed. Place the dough in the fridge while you melt the chocolate.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. When the chocolate has almost fully melted, turn the burner off and stir the chocolate until smooth. If your kitchen is cold, leave the double boiler on the stove to keep the chocolate warm.

Remove the bowl of chocolate dough from the fridge. Scoop out small balls of dough and place them on the parchment lined pan. Place a truffle ball on a fork and dip it into the melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip off then place the coated truffle back on the lined pan. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle a bit of jello mix overtop the truffle. Repeat until you have no more chocolate balls.

Until next time, happy non-baking and a Happy New Year!