Keto Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (Ferrero Rocher Knockoff)

I made my own chocolate hazelnut spread, this is totally optional, any keto chocolate hazelnut butter would work for this recipe, it may effect the texture of the truffle depending on the consistency of the butter used. I like the perfect keto brand and I know choc zero has one also and I'm sure there are others. But I found the best deal on Amazon for hazelnuts in a 3 LB bag for $28.99, which I was surprised to find were actually cheaper than macadamia nuts and the same amount of carbs. So needless to say, I had a lot of hazelnuts to use. I'm including my chocolate hazelnut spread I made along with macros for the whole batch. You only need 3 Tbs. for the truffles which is about 5.5 g of Net Carbs. Perfect Keto chocolate hazelnut butter is a little lower in carbs at 4.5 g for 3 Tbs. but in a batch of 18 like I got out of this recipe, it's not going to impact the carb per truffle much.

Keto Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

1 Cup Whole Blanched & Roasted Hazelnuts (If using skin on raw hazelnuts check out https://www.chefsouschef.com/chocolate-hazelnut-spread/ ) (5 oz.)

50 g Sugar Free Dark chocolate chips (I prefer Lily's) (approximately 1/3 Cup)

1/2 tsp. Coconut Oil (optional, makes it a little more spreadable at room temp.)

10 drops Liquid Stevia ( to taste )

1/2 Tbs. Powdered Alternative Sweetener (I prefer Lakanto) (to taste)

1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 Pinches Salt (to taste)

1. Using a blender or a small food processor, grind up the hazelnuts until a butter forms, will need to scrape down several times, it takes quite a bit to get it a smooth consistency

2. Melt the dark chocolate with the coconut oil until smooth and completely melted

3. Pour the chocolate mixture into the hazelnut butter and blend, scraping down several times

4. Add in the vanilla and salt and blend

5. Add in sweeteners a little at a time and blending, adjusting for your sweetness level desired

6. Store at room temp. for up to 2 weeks

Macros for Hazelnut Spread (makes about 5 oz.)

1114 Calories

105 g Fat

57 g Total Carbs

28 g Fiber

10 g Sugar Alcohols

19 g Net Carbs

25 g Protein

For step by step instruction to form truffles in person check out the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv5W-qgNPC4

There are many choices you have when making keto truffles. There are so many options out there for naturally sweetened chocolates. Any chocolate you choose will work for these, I just chose milk chocolate because that is what Ferrero Rocher are made out of. And I chose the semi-sweet chocolate sweetened with liquid stevia to coat the truffles because it is lower in carbs than the Lily's milk chocolate. You can also do any flavor combinations you'd like. You can use any flavored nut butter, any nuts you want and any flavored extracts, just add a little at a time to get the flavor desired.

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

3 oz. Heavy Cream (about 6 Tbs.)

4 oz. Keto Milk Chocolate Chips (I prefer Lily's, Can use any flavor or brand chocolate you would like but will change the macros)(a little less than 3/4 cup)

1 1/2 oz. Chocolate Hazelnut Butter (about 3 Tbs.)

1 Tbs. Butter (salted, room temp.)

1/4 Cup Chopped Hazelnuts

6-8 oz. Keto Chocolate to Coat (Lily's milk chocolate has the highest carb count so I prefer to use semi-sweet with no carbs and add liquid stevia to sweeten)

1/2 tsp. Coconut Oil

Liquid Stevia (optional to taste)

1. Measure out the chocolate chips and hazelnut butter into a glass bowl

2. Heat the cream in a pot on medium heat until bubbles start to form around the edges

3. Pour over the chocolate, trying to cover everything and put a lid to cover leaving a small space for steam to escape, let sit for 1 minute

4. Whisk mixture together until there is no chocolate chips left, if the chocolate is getting too cold to melt any further pop in the microwave at 50% power for 10 seconds to give a small blast of heat

5. Mix in the one tablespoon of room temperature butter then let chill in the refrigerator until completely set

6. Once set, using a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop, scoop truffle filling, but not filling all the way and concaving a decent size divot in the middle

7. Place a whole hazelnut in the middle, slide it out of the spoon and form the filling around the hazelnut and roll into a nice sphere and place on whatever you have on hand

8. Once all are rolled out, roll around in chopped hazelnuts then roll in hands again to press all the hazelnuts into the truffle

9. Melt the coating chocolate in a deep vessel with the coconut oil in the microwave on 50% power for 30 second intervals stirring often and don't overheat, you don't want to go above 90 degrees

10. When there is still quite a few chips not melted, stop heating and just keep stirring until all the chips are melted, you want to work with it when it's in the 80 degree range, this ensured you don't have to temper, which is a pain in the butt, tips below for tempering chocolate if you overheat

11. Once chocolate is ready, dip in each truffle with a fork to coat, tap off excess chocolate and place on a piece of parchment for easy removal

12. Can be store in the fridge or out at room temp. in a airtight container

Macros all depend on how much and what kind of chocolate and nut butter you end up using and how many you make out of the recipe.

These are the macros using Lily's milk chocolate in the filling, Lily's semi-sweet chocolate for coating and my homemade chocolate hazelnut butter. I got 18 truffles out of my batch.

Macros for one truffle:

144 Calories

11 g Fat

10.65 g Total Carbs

5.9 g Fiber

3.55 g Sugar Alcohols

1.2 g Net Carbs

1.5 g Protein

Tempering chocolate isn't crucial but it makes for a better bite and a pretty look. Unfortunately we can't use coverture chocolate which is already tempered. Tempering insures a nice hard and shiny shell for your truffles. You don't have to temper if the chocolate doesn't go above 88 degrees when it's fully melted. So when the chocolate isn't fully melted yet, stop heating because there is probably enough residual heat left in the chocolate to melt the rest and bring it down to the right working temperature in the 80s. If you over heat the chocolate it's not a big deal, just a little more time consuming, you just have to add a few chips at a time stirring until they are melted. Keep adding chips until they stop melting or it reaches around 88 degrees. Then you are ready to dip.