In a microwaveable safe bowl add in the cashew butter and maple syrup and stir. Microwave on high for 15 seconds at a time until it starts to bubble. Stir with each 15 second segment. We microwaved our cashew butter and maple syrup for a total of 1 minute and 15 seconds. However, each microwave is different so it may take you more or less time. Use hot pads to remove the bowl of cooked cashew butter and maple syrup from the microwave. It will be hot. Stove top instruction in the recipe notes below. Add in 2 teaspoons of Ceremonial Grade Organic Matcha to the cashew butter and maple syrup mixture and mix well. If you wish to add in vanilla extract or Jasmine essence, add it in now and stir well. The mixture will be thick and dark green.
Measure out 3 cups of rice crispy cereal and place in large bowl. Scoop the matcha cashew butter mixture and place over the crispy rice cereal.
Grease your fingers and hands with a little light oil to prevent sticking. Use your hands to mix the matcha cashew mixture into the crispy rice.
If your cereal is too dry, add 1 more teaspoon of maple syrup and mix well. On the other hand, if your cereal is to wet, add 1 tablespoon more of rice cereal as need to just bring the ingredients together when you press them together. As each brand of nut butter has a slight difference in the number of natural oils, you may need to adjust. The texture goal is for the cereal to hold together when squeezed together. There not be a lot of loose cereal left behind in the bowl. In addition, the cereal should feel tacky but not too wet.
Line a baking tray or large plate with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
At this point, you may wish to wash your hands or not. Either way, add a little more oil in your hands. Take about 1 tablespoon of prepared crispy rice mixture, squeeze together and then roll into approximately 1.5-inch balls. We ended up with about 22 matcha chocolate rice balls. However, we must admit there might have been some “quality testing” along the way. (smiling)
Now, you can decide how you want to garnish your dessert truffles. If you do not like sweet desserts, you might want to stop right there and/or just a very light dusting of matcha green tea powder on top. On the other hand, if you want a little sweet treat, maybe you want to drizzle just a little matcha white chocolate on top. If you want the full decadent experience, continue following the directions below.
Place white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 10 second segments until the white chocolate chips on the very top start to look wet and start to melt. For us, that took approximately 1 minute. Then, carefully remove bowl from microwave. It will be hot. Stir the white chocolate so the warmth of the bowl continues to melt the chocolate naturally the rest of the way. (If your chocolate starts to get hard, just pop it back in the microwave for 10 seconds or so to get it loosened back up again. Then, stir well.)
If you would like to make some of the truffles white and some green, pour ½ of melted white chocolate into a separate bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of matcha powder into one of the melted white chocolate bowls and mix well. (Add 2 teaspoons of matcha powder for every 16 ounces of chocolate. If you want all green chocolate truffles add 4 teaspoons of matcha into 32 ounces of melted chocolate.)
Dip the matcha crispy rice balls into the matcha and or plain white melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip off. If you would like to dust with a little extra matcha powder, do this BEFORE they dry. Place the chocolate covered matcha balls on the parchment paper to dry. Dry time is about 10 minutes. We like to place ours in the refrigerator to expedite this process.
If you are feeling creative, place a little of either the white or green matcha melted chocolate in a piping bag and drizzle over the balls. Enjoy!