These decadent 5-ingredient mocha truffles are the perfect sweet treat for Valentine's Day. A heavy cream, coffee, and vanilla mixture is poured over semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate before being chilled and then scooped into perfectly creamy and rich chocolate truffles. Who needs a store-bought box of chocolates when you have these velvety chocolate-coffee flavored truffles?
These mocha chocolate truffles are the perfect Valentine’s Day treat! Semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate combines with rich heavy cream and just the right amount of coffee flavor to make decadent mocha-flavored truffles. Who needs store-bought chocolates? Not you if you use this recipe.
As a bonus, these truffles are quite easy to make, requiring only 5 ingredients—chocolate chips, a bar of bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, instant coffee, and vanilla extract.
Ingredient Notes
- Chocolate: You can easily substitute your favorite chocolate variety for the semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate called for below. This recipe is also quite flexible in that you can use baking bars or chocolate chips—they both work just fine. However, I would not recommend using white chocolate.
- Heavy Cream: Do not use milk, half-and-half, or a dairy substitute in place of heavy cream in this recipe. The fat content in the heavy cream is what allows it to melt and mix so smoothly with the chocolate. The higher water content in other dairy options, like milk, may cause the chocolate to seize up and turn grainy. That’s a problem you just don’t want to deal with when making these truffles.
- Instant Coffee: Not to be confused with regular ground coffee, instant coffee has a concentrated flavor and will dissolve quickly as you stir it into the heavy cream. I like using decaf instant coffee in this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract: While technically optional, vanilla extract adds great flavor to the truffles. You can shop my favorite vanilla extract ever on Amazon here.
- Toppings: I love to roll these truffles in chocolate sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. You can also mix powdered sugar and cocoa powder if straight cocoa powder is a bit too bitter for your taste. If dipping the truffles, I use Ghirardelli melting wafers (I talk more about this later).
Check out the last section of the recipe card below for more notes, tips, and tricks for making these truffles perfectly every time.
Make these mocha truffles for your Valentine!
Or yourself—no judgment here! Not only are these truffles a lovely sweet treat for Valentine’s Day, they are also a perfect dessert to make during the holiday season (along with these peanut butter truffles). Both are always a hit in our house around Christmastime.
Read on for the recipe, and make sure you leave a rating and review once you’ve tried these super easy truffles for yourself.
Homemade Mocha Chocolate Truffles
These decadent 5-ingredient mocha truffles are the perfect sweet treat for Valentine's Day. A heavy cream, coffee, and vanilla mixture is poured over semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate before being chilled and then scooped into perfectly creamy and rich chocolate truffles. Who needs a store-bought box of chocolates when you have these velvety chocolate-coffee flavored truffles?
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Servings: 48 truffles (2 tsp. each)
Equipment (Shop on Amazon)
- Staub Rectangular Baking Dishes (I use the larger one in the set for this recipe)
Ingredients
- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 oz Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar (60% cacao)
- 8 oz heavy cream
- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (shop my favorite on Amazon)
- Optional- sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar, or other toppings
- Optional- chocolate or melting wafers for dipping
Instructions
- Place the semi-sweet chocolate chips into a large heat-safe bowl. Finely chop the bar of bittersweet chocolate and add to the bowl. Set aside.12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, 4 oz Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar (60% cacao)
- Add the heavy cream, instant coffee, and vanilla extract to a small saucepan. Heat on medium until the cream mixture reaches a simmer, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Do NOT let the cream reach a boil. (See Note 2 below)8 oz heavy cream, 1 tsp instant coffee, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Once the cream mixture has reached a simmer, turn off the heat and immediately pour the cream over the chocolate in your heat-safe bowl. Let the chocolate and cream sit for 2-3 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Then, whisk the cream and melted chocolate together until the mixture is smooth with no lumps.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into a rectangular dish or baker and spread it into an even layer. I use a medium baking dish (about 7.5" x 10.5"). Cover the dish with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to chill for 30-40 minutes. The exact chill time required will depend on the dish you use. A smaller dish with a thicker layer of chocolate may require more time to chill than the rectangular baker I used. The goal is to chill the chocolate to the point that it is scoopable and will hold its shape. However, you want it to be slightly soft so it can be shaped into a perfect ball with a slightly tacky exterior that toppings will stick to easily.
- Once the chocolate has cooled, scoop it using a #100 (2 tsp) cookie scoop. Gently roll each truffle between your palms to shape it into a perfect ball. Now, you'll either roll your truffles in toppings or prep them to be dipped—read more on each option below.
- Optional—Roll Your Truffles! Roll the truffles in toppings of your choosing. My favorites are chocolate sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder. The truffles should be slightly tacky on the outside when you scoop and shape them, which will make any toppings stick quite easily.
- Optional—Dip Your Truffles in Tempered Chocolate or Melting Wafers!To prep the truffles for dipping—place them on a sheet pan covered with parchment. Put the sheet pan in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes to chill the truffles. If you leave them in the freezer for a longer period, allow the truffles to sit out on the counter for anywhere between 5-15 minutes (depending on how long they were in the freezer) before dipping them in chocolate.Prep your chocolate. I use Ghirardelli melting wafers for dipping, and I love them! I add a bit of shortening to them (2 tsp for a 10 oz package) to create a smoother consistency that is less prone to cracking. To melt them, I microwave the wafers in 20-second increments at 50% power until completely melted and smooth, stirring in between each heating increment. Dip your truffles in chocolate and allow them to set on a parchment-covered sheet pan. Once the dipped truffles have set, you can also drizzle some extra chocolate over the top if you so choose.
- Once all of your truffles are completely set, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge. If stored correctly they should last a few weeks in the fridge. However, if I'm being honest, we've never had any last that long!
Notes from the Happy To Be Here Kitchen
Note 1. Chocolate: While I opted for a mix of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate for this recipe, you can use just about any combination of your favorite chocolate varieties in either bar or chip form for this recipe. However, I do not recommend using white chocolate in this recipe.
Note 2. Heating the Heavy Cream: You can use the microwave to heat your heavy cream mixture, but I would recommend heating it in small increments at 50-60% power to maintain control over the heating process. Keep a close on eye it and stir it very frequently to prevent scorching.
Personally, I prefer the stovetop method. You can stir the cream almost constantly as it reaches a simmer and easily keep an eye on it to prevent scorching.
Note 3. Scooping the Truffles: You do not want the chocolate to be completely hard/set when you scoop the truffles because it needs to be pliable enough to shape into a perfect ball and slightly tacky so toppings will stick to the outside. Fair warning—you will get some chocolate on your hands while rolling the truffles. However, if the truffles are overly sticky or won't hold their shape, you should put the chocolate back in the fridge to chill for another 5-10 minutes.
Other Notes & Tips for Success:
- Make sure you finely chop any chocolate bars. I aim for the largest pieces of the chopped chocolate to be about the same size as the chocolate chips.
- Allow enough time for the heavy cream mixture to melt the chocolate. Patience is pretty much the key for this recipe to work properly. If you start whisking the cream and chocolate together right away it will speed up the cooling process and you may end up with a chunky or grainy mixture. You must give the heavy cream about 3 minutes to melt the chocolate before you begin whisking.
- Not a fan of coffee flavor? Just leave out the instant coffee and you'll have perfect plain chocolate truffles. The vanilla extract is also technically optional, but it adds great flavor.
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