Easy Sugarplum Candy Truffles

Chewy, crunchy, and packed full of spice- these sugarplum candy truffles are definitely worth a try!

Sugarplum Candy Truffles decorated with Christmas candy and served on a plate

The holidays are all about experimenting in the kitchen and whipping up delicious sweet treats. These sugarplum candy truffles are just that- made with just a few simple (and delicious) ingredients, they pack in all those holiday flavors in a bite!

You can enjoy them with your afternoon tea or even pass them as a healthy dessert of sorts.

Tempted already? Here’s all you need to know about making them the right way.

Ingredients For the Recipe

Dates, nuts, and spices make up the major chunk of ingredients for this recipe.

½ cup pitted dates (chopped)
½ cup walnuts (chopped)
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup prunes
¼ cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
2 tablespoon cherry preserves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup sugar

How to Make the Sugarplum Candy Truffles

Once you have all your ingredients ready, here’s the step-by-step process of making the truffles.

add dates, walnuts, cranberries, prunes and hazelnuts in a food processor and process it

Put in a food processor the dates, walnuts, cranberries, prunes, and hazelnuts and process them until you get small pieces but be careful to not overprocess the food because you still want that texture.

add cinnamon and cloves to it and process it until you get a dough

Add the cinnamon and cloves and process a little more until you get a dough.

make balls out it the dough and sugar coat it

Make the balls with your hands and roll them in the sugar.

Sugarplum Candy Truffles served with fresh cranberries

Store them in a fridge.

What Other Spices Can I Add?

These sugarplum candy truffles call for the use of cinnamon and cloves are the two-star spice ingredients, but you don’t necessarily need to stick to just those. Infact, you can experiment and try adding some more spices too.
For instance, cardamom powder, nutmeg, fennel seeds, and star anise powder are all great spices that you can throw into the mix, based on what your taste buds prefer.
Resist the temptation to add them all in and just pick a couple of spices that you feel will taste great together, and will elevate the flavors of the truffle.

What Kind of Sugar Should I Use?

To cover the finished-up truffle balls, you can use practically any kind of sugar you prefer. If you don’t mind a bit of texture, you can roll the balls in coarse sugar crystals. If you want a bit more polished, classy look, you can roll them in confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar.
Even better, you could roll them in turbinado sugar, which will lend the truffles that nice subtle caramel taste.

What Other Nuts Can I Add to the Sugarplum Candy Truffles?

This recipe calls for the use of walnuts, but you don’t necessarily have to stick to just those. You can use practically any kind of nut you prefer- almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans, and macadamia nuts are all great choices.
If you don’t want to go through the time-consuming process of chopping or blitzing the nuts and then using them, you could use almond meal or hazelnut meal instead.
Using slightly toasted nuts will lend your truffles a better flavor, so if you have a few extra minutes to spare, definitely do that!

What Can I Use Instead of Dates?

Dates and prunes make up the major bulk of these truffles, and that’s simply because they work so well together in terms of flavor and taste. Plus, they are super healthy too! If you are really looking for an alternative, you could opt for other ingredients that have a similar subtle taste and get your truffles to have the texture you want them to.
Soaked raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, and dried figs are all excellent options.

How to Store the Sugarplum Candy Truffles?

The best part about these truffles is the fact that they don’t need to be refrigerated if you plan to consume them within a week. Just transfer them to a parchment paper-lined airtight container and leave them on the countertop- super easy!

If you want to store them for longer than that, you can move them into the refrigerator, where they can chill for up to 3 weeks. Just remember to get them out for a few minutes before you dig into them because they taste best at room temperature when they are still slightly soft.

If you really want to make them in a big batch for months in advance, you can do that too. Just freeze them (separately) until they are solid, transfer them to a freezer-safe container and then freeze them back again. Then, when you want to serve, get them out and allow them to thaw before you roll them in the sugar.

Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe

Ready to get started with the recipe? Wait up! Keep these little tips and tricks in mind to make sure you get those little sugarplum candy truffles to hit perfection!

To lend a little extra flavor and holiday vibes to the sugarplum candy truffles, you can add some orange zest into the mix.
If you’re not fond of overly sweet candy and are looking to make this candy more balanced, you can add some salt (preferably sea salt) into the mix. This will also help enhance the flavors of the other ingredients.
To lend these sugarplum candy truffles that original holiday flavor, add a drop or two of vanilla essence into the mix. Or even better, you could use some fresh vanilla bean extract.
Trying to control your sugar intake? You can opt for a natural sweetener like stevia or honey instead of white sugar for this recipe. Just remember that the proportions of the other ingredients need to be tweaked accordingly so that the truffle mixture has the right consistency and texture.
If you really don’t want to coat the truffles in sugar, you could use desiccated coconut instead. It is much healthier and has a nice texture too!
Remember to use an ice-cream scoop or a spoon to get the perfect amount of the truffle mixture to roll out equal sized balls.

Loved making these little truffles? On the hunt for some more interesting and easy no-bake recipes, you can put together? Here are a few you wouldn’t want to miss out on.

Recipe

Yield: 24 Servings