How good are these light chocolate balls, or shall we call them cocoa truffles? Well, I called them balls! They’re chocolaty but I didn’t use Nutella and they’re ready in a few minutes without baking anything.
Actually the three main ingredients are: cookies, ricotta and cocoa. I first made them with Pavesini and I liked them, but my Dutch partner wasn’t convinced by the texture. So I tried again with Digestive biscuits and a bit of rum extract and finally got the green light. He’s pickier with sweets than with savory foods, but that’s fine — I’m not picky when it comes to desserts.
These light chocolate balls are very cute to serve at parties; Christmas is over but New Year’s is still coming. They are ideal for making a quick dessert to offer friends with a good tea. Here’s how to make them.
Other light treats for the holidays are here:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 18 balls
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Healthy
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup digestive biscuits (or 4 packets of cocoa Pavesini)
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (if using cocoa Pavesini you'll only need 2 tbsp)
- 2/3 cup ricotta (well drained)
- 1/2 tbsp honey
- drops rum extract (optional, other extracts work well too)
- Points per ball = 1 WW point
Tools
- Hand blender
- Ice cream scoop
Preparation
Crumble the biscuits in a food processor or simply place them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin until powdered.
Mix the crushed biscuits with 2 tbsp of cocoa, the ricotta, and the honey. If you use cocoa Pavesini in this step you’ll only need 1 tbsp of cocoa.
Add a few drops of rum extract or another flavoring of your choice; orange extract works great in my opinion.
If the mixture is very soft, put it in the fridge for about half an hour. I made the balls immediately — wetting the palms of your hands made it easy.
To make them all the same size, weigh the mixture and divide it into 18 portions — they should be about 0.5 oz each. Or you can use a small ice cream scoop.
As you form the balls, roll them in the remaining unsweetened cocoa to coat them well. Place them on a plate and chill them in the fridge for a few hours.
Our light chocolate balls are ready. They are very light both in terms of Weight Watchers points and calories. With Pavesini they come in at under 1 point each by a few decimals; with digestive biscuits they’re a few decimals higher but still around there…
They’re pretty served in paper cups and can also be rolled in powdered sugar, desiccated coconut or chopped hazelnuts. There are many ideas but please always check the points: powdered sugar doesn’t change the points much but coconut or hazelnuts might.
They’re perfect to serve after lunch with coffee — guests will love them, guaranteed!
Just a couple are enough to leave a lasting chocolate taste in the mouth. If you make them, please be good and don’t eat them all yourself. Try them and leave me a comment below or on Facebook.
Enjoy!
by Giovanna Buono
Storage
These chocolate balls keep in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. A reader of mine, Lucy, also froze them; she then let them thaw for 5 minutes and enjoyed them. She said they remained excellent!
