Vegan chocoholics don’t need to get their fix from mercury-laced, high-fructose corn syrupy Hershey’s stuff. Behold this beautiful box of nicobella vegan organic dark chocolate truffles!

 

 

Look at nicobella truffles’ ingredient list, and you’ll notice there are no strange, unpronounceable ingredients in there. In fact, the truffles are full of ingredients known for their antioxidant power — from blueberries to green tea to ginger!

 

Created by dietitian, nutritionist and yoga instructor Nichole Dandrea, nicobella truffles are made with 70 percent dark chocolate — fair trade, of course — and slightly sweetened with agave nectar and brown rice syrup. Open the package and you’ll be able to identify the flavor of each truffle by the decorative garnish. The Ginger Green Tea truffle, for example, is sprinkled with a green tea powder; the Blueberry Almond truffle has a piece of almond pressed onto a corner.

 

How do the truffles taste? My favorite of the six is the most crunchy-sounding of the bunch: Walnut Flaxseed Crunch. This decadent truffle had a perfect nutty creaminess — full of Omega-3s, to boot. I also loved the Pumpkin Chia truffle, which tasted like a rich, flavorful pie covered in chocolate, and the Ginger Green Tea truffle, which had a fierce ginger kick that made it the most intense of the six.

 

I did find the Pure Cocoa Bliss and Blueberry Almond truffles a tad bland — and I actually disliked the Sunflower Banana Butter truffle, which tasted oddly like a low-carb energy bar. But since I generally dislike most truffles in any given variety box, nicobella truffles box scored higher than most for me!

 

I’m hoping nicobella will start offering boxes with just one type of truffle — in which case I’d order boxes containing just the Walnut Flaxseed Crunch — or mix-and-match options — in which case I’d still order boxes containing just the Walnut Flaxseed Crunch (Yes, I often eat the same breakfast every day too — I’m a creature of habit).

 

Because nicobella truffles come in an attractive, plastic-free package — made from FSC-certified paper, no less — a box makes a fantastically pretty gift for your favorite eco-chocoholic, vegan or not! A box of six, sold through Theo Chocolates, costs $15.