Dark chocolate, toasted almonds, and soaked dried cherries, basically make these chocolate cherry truffles the best! The toasted almonds add a welcome crunch and nuttiness, AND there is no baking necessary so it’s a win win.

White plate with chocolate cherry truffles with almonds and topped with flaky sea salt

Can these be made without alcohol?

Yes! I like to soak the dried cherries in rum or sour cherry liqueur, but cherry juice will work too!

How to make vegan and gluten free truffles?

These truffles can easily be made vegan by using vegan chocolate and they are naturally gluten free!

Substitutions

These truffles are perfect because the number of substitutions and combinations is endless. Don’t like cherries? Use dried cranberries, raisins, dried apricots, etc. Allergic to almonds or just don’t like them? Try any other nuts or seeds. And finally, if for some crazy reason, you don’t love dark chocolate, substitute in milk chocolate.

Tips for making Simple Chocolate Cherry truffles

Don’t skip soaking the cherries, I mean you can if you’re SUPER short on time, but trust me – it makes them chewy and plump which is everything you want in a cherry!
Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate. This means putting the chocolate into a traditional double boiler or a large metal or glass bowl, and setting it over a pot of simmering water. This will prevent the chocolate from burning.
Toasting the nuts is not 100% necessary but it brings out their flavor so much more than if you use them raw.
Sprinkle the salt on top of the truffles immediately after scooping them to give it the best chance of sticking.

Ingredients

Dried Tart cherries: Try to find dried fruit with no added ingredients, additives and extra sugar are unnecessary and can dampen the fruit flavor.
Rum/ Cherry Juice/ Cherry Liqueur: Any of these are great options to soak the cherries in. Although, I have to say that cherry liqueur is my favorite in this recipe.
Slivered Almonds: These are the blanched, almonds that have been cut into sticks/spears. Make sure to find them raw and unsalted.
Dark/Semi-sweet Chocolate: As mentioned before, you can use any type of chocolate but I recommend looking for responsibly made chocolate with limited ingredients.
Flaky Sea salt: This is optional; however, I find the salt helps to cut the richness of the chocolate while enhancing the other flavors of the truffles.

Chocolate cherry truffles with almonds and topped with sea salt in individual muffin liners.

How to make Chocolate Cherry Truffles

Prepare the Cherries

Roughly chop the dried cherries into approximately 1/4″ pieces and place them in a microwave safe bowl. Pour the cherry juice/rum over the cherries and stir together.
Microwave for 20-30 seconds until warm to the touch and then cover immediately. Let the cherries sit for at least 1 hour to soak up the liquid.

Chopped dried cherries with cherry liqueur for the chocolate cherry truffles.

Toast the Almonds

Pour the slivered almonds into a medium sized pan. Place over medium heat and toss/stir frequently until they become a light golden brown color. Do not let them burn, otherwise they will become bitter.

Make the truffles

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Then remove from the heat.
Pour in the cherries and any extra liquid as well as the toasted almonds.
Stir together until all ingredients are fully mixed.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop even truffles onto a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.
Chill the truffles for 1 hour to let them set before serving.

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5 from 1 vote