Chocolate Oat Truffles: Even Better with Peanut Butter
Recipe for healthy vegan chocolate oat truffles which are just as good to eat for breakfast as they are after a meal. Add peanut butter and they notch another level or two. These simple to make organic bliss balls are also great energy boosting snacks.
When is an oat more than an oat? When it’s an oat that’s been transformed into a scrummy organic chocolate oat truffle of course! Oats are not only healthy but are highly versatile and can be used for all sorts of purposes besides porridge.
I’m a big fan of the humble oat, so I was delighted when White’s invited me to the Cotswolds to gen up on this sometimes underrated grain and tour the fields with a bunch of experts.
White’s Oats
White’s have serious vintage and they know their oats. They’ve been milling them in Tandragee, Co, Armagh, Northern Ireland for over 175 years. In fact they’ve got the process down to a fine art and their oats have won many Great Taste awards for their distinctive nutty creaminess.
They are Ireland’s largest oat miller and the only oat cereal producer in Northern Ireland. From porridge oats to granola, you’ll find a whole variety of oaty products to choose from, including organic ones. Their jumbo organic oats are available via Waitrose and pretty much anywhere in Northern Ireland.
There’s not been a great deal of research done on oats in recent years. White’ s, however, has stepped in to the breach and is on a quest to produce the perfect grain, one which is easy to grow and mill, nutritionally dense and tasty.
They work with a group of 30 (and growing) British organic oat growers trialing varieties and cultivation techniques. I was invited up to this year’s trial site at Abbey Home Farm in the Cotswolds to find out about the fabulous grain that provides us with our morning porridge, overnight oats and so much more.
You can #TasteTheJourney by following the White’s story on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Chocolate Oat Truffles for Breakfast
Abbey Home Farm is a large mixed farm and is Soil Association certified. It has a fabulous organic café which serves mostly vegetarian food, much of which comes from the farm. Lunch was provided for us after our trip around the fields and it was delicious.
We started the day, however, with introductions and a very oaty breakfast supplied by the team from White’s. We sat down to a beautifully decorated breakfast table alongside such dignitaries as: White’s General Manager, James Mathers; Andrew Trump from Organic Arable and the Farm Manager at Abbey Home Farm, John Newman. I was delighted to find that fellow blogger Dr Gemma was amongst the gathering.
We tucked into Whites’ granola with the farm’s own organic strawberries and yoghurt, which was an utter delight. This was followed by delicious fluffy pancakes served with maple syrup. The pancakes were made with oats of course. We rounded the meal off with organic chocolate oat truffles. What a treat!
Whilst we enjoyed the breakfast fare laid out before us, we found there was much to chat about. Questions and answers positively flew around the table and the passion that White’s and their partners have for all things oaty was very much in evidence.
Growing Oats
Oats (Avena saliva) grow well in the British climate, both as spring and winter crops. They are an excellent and versatile crop for an organic system and as we toured the fields, John waxed lyrical about them. They grow tall so they shade out most of the weeds, they are less susceptible to disease than other grains and the stalks make a nutritious animal feed.
Oats are also beautiful to look at. But goodness me, there is an awful lot more work that goes into oat production than I’d ever realised. Sowing, harvesting and milling is just a small part of it. Building up and maintaining the soil, checking for disease and shipping are just a few more of the processes involved. However, summer is drawing on and the elegant dancing golden oat heads will soon be harvested. Bring it on.
Creating the Perfect Oat
Earlier in the year, Abbey Home Farm sowed eight varieties of oats, each with different seed rates and different depths. There are 64 trial plots in total. The idea is to see which varieties perform best and at which seed rate and depth of planting. When we arrived at the trial site, a group of growers led by White’s agronomist, Raymond Hilman, were evaluating progress.
Oat husks contain three kernels. The problem is that two of the grains grow big and plump, but one remains small. White’s has a high quality control in place and is looking for well developed grains that are easier to mill and produce a better tasting product.
This means the smaller grains have to be removed from the process, preferably before they are shipped off to White’s. And guess what? It makes more work for both the growers and White’s as well as increasing costs. One of White’s aims is to produce a husk which either contains three plump grains or two even larger ones.
Oats as Superfood
In today’s superfood charged world, it’s great to know that the British oat is up there with the best of them. It’s a wholegrain and as such contains four times the amount of dietary fibre found in refined grains. This helps to maintain good gut health.
Oat groats are also an excellent source of protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which is why they are such a great way to start the day. They have the additional benefits of being low in saturated fat and helping to lower cholesterol. Organic oats have always been a staple in my kitchen.
Head over to oats: the ten types you need to know about to find out more about this fabulous grain.
Organic Chocolate Oat Truffles
Energy balls, or bliss balls as I like to call them, are one of my go to treats. They’re easy to make, tasty and so much better for us than a chocolate bar, biscuit or slice of cake. Unless the latter are some of my creations of course. They often include oats.
This recipe for organic chocolate oat truffles from White’s is super simple to make, not overly sweet and only contains four ingredients: oats, dates, cocoa and salt. I may occasionally add a little cinnamon to mine – I just can’t resist. More often than not though, I add peanut butter. This turns a good chocolate oat truffle into something truly blissful.
The mixture varies in terms of dryness, depending on how soft the dates are and whether you use peanut butter. You may not need to add any water, but you most likely will. Just add a little at a time and pulse until you have something that holds together, but isn’t sticky or wet.
If not using peanut butter, you can roll these bliss balls in desiccated coconut for extra pizzaz.
Other Oat Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate & coconut flapjacks
- Chocolate granola
- Cocoa nibbed muesli
- Cranberry, walnut & white chocolate cookies
- Overnight oats with raisins, apple and pumpkin seeds
- Prune porridge with toasted walnuts & cinnamon
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this organic chocolate truffle recipe, with or without the peanut butter, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more energy ball recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Recipe for Organic Chocolate Oat Truffles. PIN IT.
Organic Chocolate Oat Truffles
Equipment
- power blender
Ingredients
- 100 g rolled oats (porridge oats) (I use organic oats)
- 125 g soft dates pitted (I use Deglet Nour or 8 mejool dates)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder (I use raw cacao powder)
- pinch sea or rock salt (I use Himalayan pink rock salt)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter (optional) crunchy is good but use smooth if you prefer
Instructions
- Blend the oats in a food processor or blender until they've become almost flour.100 g rolled oats (porridge oats)
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend until the mixture comes together. You may need a little water if the mixture is too dry – see note below.125 g soft dates, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, pinch sea or rock salt, 2 tbsp peanut butter
- Take heaped teaspoonfuls and roll into balls between the palms of your hands.
- Eat straight away or place in a sealed container and keep in a cool spot for up to a week.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
This recipe for organic chocolate oat truffles is my share for this month’s #WeShouldCocoa.
This post was commissioned by White’s. I was not expected to write a positive review and all opinions are, as always, my own. This post contains an affiliate link. Buying through a link will not cost you any more, but I will get a small commission. Thank you for your support of the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
Ki ora Choclette (what a name! would suit me too;-)
I just found you by looking for ‘wholemeal baking blogs’. No doubt I will try plenty of your recipes! They all sound yum. And while looking I saw this recipe and made it immediately, as I just ran out of my usual treats. Easiest recipe ever and very nice too, thank you.
It’s hard to find cookbooks with recipes using 100% wholemeal for sweet baking, especially local ones. Recipes from other parts of the world don’t work necessarily if it’s about wholemeal I found out when I immigrated to New Zealand from Germany, where it was widely practised even in the eighties. Recently I got better results and am more motivated to find more. Blogs seems to be a better option. So, I’m looking forward to my next findings. I’ll let you know how I go.
Ngā mihi
Kia ora Sigi. We spent many happy months in Aotearoa a long time ago. So pleased you found my blog and glad you liked the recipe. You’ll find some of my older recipes use half wholemeal and half plain flour as I didn’t think people were ready for 100% wholemeal in cakes. But these days I rarely use any plain flour. We seem to have gone backwards in the UK too, whole foods were a big thing here back in the seventies and eighties, but sadly not so much now.
I loved this recipe, and it’s simplicity. I tried it with a little concentrated cherry juice to moisten the mix, which was a good compliment to the cocoa, but probably better for the version without the strong tasting peanut butter. I’m not a fan of overly sweet flavours- so just having the medjoul dates to give sweetness a d texture and bonding was perfect.
Ooh yes, good idea re the cherry juice Kathleen. But as you say, perhaps not with the peanut butter version. Of all the energy bites I have on the blog, these are the ones I make the most.
What a great treat! Oats are just so versatile, I’d never thought of using them to make truffles, but I definitely will now.
They’re really good in these sort of energy balls. It gives them a nice chewy texture. And you get to eat chocolate truffles for breakfast without feeling guilty.
Oooh yum! These would be a delicious present, if I didn’t eat them all myself…
Eat them all yourself, they’re actually quite healthy. Although maybe not all at the same time.
I have oats, cacao and dates in the cupboard – I’m off to plug in my blender!
Haha Cathy. You mean your blender is not permanently plugged in?
The look amazing! Thank you for sharing This great recipe.
It’s an excellent recipe and very quick to make.
What a lovely chocolate truffle!
Oats for me as a celiac need to be certified gluten-free (a hard thing to find “truthfully” over here in the states!)
Yes of course they do Rebecca. White’s oats aren’t certified, but there are quite a few here in the UK that are. And at least you can generally trust British certifying bodies.
And I’d say you know your oats too! These look absolutely delicious Choclette, I think I may be trying these out with my kids this summer…
Aw, thanks Vanesther. I can honestly say I know more about oats now than I did before the farm visit. Nice to hear from you. Hope the kids like them, they’re not particularly sweet, but you could always add a bit of maple syrup if they don’t pass muster.
Ooh what a great idea to use oats in truffles! Will have to try that out. Thanks for sharing!
I often use oats to make energy balls, but usually in smaller quantities along with nuts. This no-nut recipe works surprisingly well.
Love the sound of these Choclette! So easy to make and ideal for a quick snack.
Thanks Caroline. They are an all round winner 🙂
YUM! These look amazing and easy to make! I am going to pin to try them later. 🙂
They are super easy to make Kate. Energising and delicious.
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing so much info on oats. It sounds like you had a great day out.
These are the simplest energy bites I’ve ever made, but so good. We had a fab day out – really interesting.
Funnily enough, I never eat oats but give some as porridge to my kids. These energy balls look like a fab healthy snack, a great alternative to all the sweet junk out there.
You don’t like oats Michelle? Try these energy balls on your kids and see what they think.
What a brilliant visit, it looks so fun, but then I am a farmer! Your oaty bites look amazing and would be a real treat for breakfast or a snack.
Haha, yes you would have liked it Janice. I think most people interested in their food would have enjoyed the visit, but the fabulous weather certainly helped.
Love your account of the day Choclette. I also really enjoy making energy balls like this for a quick snack. Oat make them really filling, yum!
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and good to see you there too. As for energy balls, I find they make a great substitute for sugary snacks, which is all to the good.
Such an interesting post! It is fantastic to read about the care, research and passion that goes into this British grown staple food. I will appreciate my porridge a bit more now! As for your bliss balls I make a similar little healthy treat for my nutrition and cancer classes and it always goes down so well. As I’m sure yours do 🙂
Yes, I really enjoyed finding out about our humble oat and seeing the dedication that goes into producing it. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Bliss balls sound like a lovely treat to take to your classes. No wonder they are appreciated.
So, you were very near us. How did I miss that you were travelling in our direction, I would have invited you for lunch/dinner/tea. These healthy truffles sound lovely.
Oh, are you close to Abbey Home Farm? It would have been lovely to see you.
What a great and tasty treat! Love the pics from your trip to Abbey Home Farm!
Yes, interesting and tasty. And oats are one of my favourite foods, so it was an all round good day.
Sounds like a wonderful experience and such a treat! Your truffles look amazing. They’d make a great holiday hostess gift!
Thanks Ellen. It was a wonderful day with lots of good food and interesting information.
Love the post! I couldn’t live without oats, that’s for sure. The truffles look amazing too!
Thanks Jovita. I’d find it very hard to live without oats. I go through quite a lot of them 🙂
It certainly sounds as though you had a great visit – really informative. I absolutely love oats too and I too use them everyday usually in a porridge. Love the idea of including them in a truffle though Choclette. Thank you too for including my cranberry & oat cookies 🙂
Angela x
Yes oats are very much at the heart of my kitchen. Porridge maybe humble, but it sure is good. The truffles are super quick to make and healthy enough to eat for breakfast 🙂
I am a HUGE oat lover and add it to all my cooking and baking as much as possible! I love the look of these truffles and also love the fact that they contain oats too! Karen
Yes, I’d be completely lost without oats in my life. The flavour of the oats in these truffles really shines through and they are so easy to whip up too.
We love oats, the great thing about oats is that you can conjure up so many delicious recipes with oats. These truffles look so delicious!
Thanks Jagruti. It’s true oats are very versatile and truly delicious.
This is a fantastic post with lots of interesting and useful information plus a recipe that’s healthy, simple and delicious! Thank you for bringing it to #CookBlogShare:)
Thanks Monika. It was a really interesting and enjoyable day out.
I LOVE oats! I can snack on plain toasted oats all day long…I think they are already very delicious without anything else. These truffles look very healthy and delicious, Choclette.
It’s true Angie, oats have a lovely flavour, though I’ve not tried snacking on plain toasted oats before.