Apple Cinnamon Truffles

This is it.  The grand finale to Apple Extravaganza week on my blog and coincidentally also all-time post #250! That's some pretty exciting stuff!  Who would have known that in just a few years I would have made so many new recipes (and honestly, what I post isn't even all of it!).  You all inspire me to do what I do!

Now back to this recipe.  My husband absolutely LOVES truffles.  At Valentine's Day one year I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles and our friend Jackie made Oreo Truffles.  He pretty much inhaled them both and we were baffled at how few truffles were leftover at the end of the night.  Anytime I make a dessert he practically begs me to make the cookie dough truffles so I thought I'd throw a truffle recipe into the baking mix.  Chris wasn't so keen on the idea of having fruit instead of chocolate in the mix but he went along with it anyway.

Scott was a little sad when he found out the oreos were going to be pulverized to be used in the recipe but once they were put together he changed his tune, too.  These were a hit with both of our guys!  They're very sweet and the small size makes them deadly because you feel justified in eating several at a time.  Not surprisingly Chris guarded his allotted truffles once we got home.  Sharing was not an option but that's okay because I happily ate the other treats that Emily and I produced.

To sum things up, Emily and I made six recipes between the two of us:

• Apple Pie Cookies
• Apple Cider Beignets with Butter-Rum Caramel Sauce
• Apple Cider Butter
• Shrimp with Green Apple Chipotle Salsa
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
• Apple Cinnamon Truffles

If you liked these posts, leave a comment to let us know because Emily and I (and/or any of my Dinner Club friends) would LOVE to do another marathon cooking/baking session sometime.  Any theme ideas or recipes that you have to share would be lovely!  If you want to be a taste-tester for one of our sessions, we might be able to arrange that, too ;).

Apple Cinnamon Truffles

Photo Credit: My wonderfully talented friend, Emily

Ingredients

• 1 package Golden Oreos
• 6 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup Apple Pie Filling, pureed
• 1 tsp Ginger, divided
• 2 packages White Chocolate Baking Bars
• 2 tsp Cinnamon 
• Crushed Pecans, for garnish

Directions

1. Add the Oreos to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl) and mix together with the pumpkin (or pureed apple pie filling), cream cheese and 1/2 tsp. ginger. Once combined, use a cookie scoop to form into small balls and place on a plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. 
2. Cover a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until fully melted. Stir in the cinnamon and remaining 1/2 tsp. ginger. 
3. Remove the balls from the fridge and dip into the chocolate, making sure they are coated evenly. Place on the wax paper and repeat until all balls are covered in chocolate. Sprinkle pecans on top and refrigerate until hardened.

Source: The Jey of Cooking as slightly adapted from Cooking with Christen

Buckeyes

Hello readers!  Have you missed me?

I'm sorry I've been so bad a blogging lately but a lot has been going on in our lives lately.  Chris and I went to Europe for a couple weeks and had a FABULOUS time in Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, and Greece.  I was blown away by the things we saw...

The Eiffel Tower (and no, I'm not talking about the one at the local theme park King's Island, either!)

Beautifully unique Venentian canals (AND St. Mark's Square flooding...it's so heartbreaking!)

 The Parthenon in Athens...I am bewildered at how old some of these ruins are!

And let's not forget the quintessential white house on blue water look of the Greek Islands such as Mykonos...

My stomach was also delighted by all the delicious things we ate.  I came back refreshed and ready to cook.  In fact, our travels home took us nearly a full 24 hours of being awake but once we got home, the first thing I said was "Oh kitchen, I love you and miss you!".  Imagine that...I MISSED COOKING!  Now, most normal people would probably dread the end of the vacation because that would mean back to cooking.  But me?  I was so inspired by all the foods that we ate that I just couldn't wait to get started.

Now, we got back two weeks ago as you'll see, I haven't posted in well over a month.  I also can't say I've done any real good big meals yet (thank goodness for my frozen stash of homemade meals!) because week 1 was spent re-adjusting to the Eastern time zone and week 2...well, that's the other part of our busy lives.  We are now unexpected first-time dog owners!

My sister's friend had found a little stray beagle at her work and decided to take him in.  They did everything they could to reunite the poor lost doggy with his owners but sadly, none could be found and her mom had had enough of him.  Enter my husband and me.  My sister knows that I love dogs and have wanted one for years now.  She also knows that we LOVE beagles.  Somehow, I convinced my husband to go visit the beagle, who was temporarily named by his foster family as "Richard".  We went and played with him for about an hour or hour and half and honestly, I did my best to stay distanced because I had a feeling my husband would just say no.  We slept on it and after some convincing from his mom and what I felt was a miracle, Chris agreed the next day that we could keep the dog!  So, we made arrangements to pick him up this past Friday and brought him home with us.  Needless to say he's kept us busy trying to acclimate him to us and our house.  Though, we're very fortunate because he is already house broken and quite a mellow little fella.  We have renamed him Toby and he's a happy little 24lb, ~2 year old beagle boy :).

Oh man...who could resist this sweet little guy's cute face with his big brown eyes, floppy ears, and wagging white tipped tail.  *Sigh* I'm a sucker for cute animals!

Anyway.  I do hope to get some recipes on here EVENTUALLY about my European traveling inspirations but given that I'm backlogged on recipes still in March and haven't gotten much cooking in lately it may be awhile.  Add to that our new furbaby Toby and cooking...and even more so, blogging about cooking...may be less frequent than in the past.  Bare with me though, I promise it will be worth it!!

For now, I leave you with a recipe that comes to you from my homestate of Ohio: The Buckeye State.  Buckeyes are nuts that come from the Buckeye tree.  The buckeye is named as such because it looks like the eye of a buck deer, from what I read.  I have no idea what a buckeye nut tastes like but apparently you roast them before you eat them.  The recipe that I am sharing with you is for a Buckeye Candy which mimics the look (though I highly doubt the taste) of a Buckeye nut. 

If you like peanut butter and chocolate, this recipe is for you!

One Year Ago: Garlic Cheddar Chicken

Buckeyes

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Prep Time: 15 Min

Cook Time: 5 Min
Ready In: 50 Min

Yields: 30 Buckeyes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 
  
  1 cup butter, softened
• 
  
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
  
  4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 
  
  4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. 
   
   In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar. The dough will look dry. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.
2. Press a toothpick into the top of each ball (to be used later as the handle for dipping) and chill in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth.
4. Dip frozen peanut butter balls in chocolate holding onto the toothpick. Leave a small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make them look like Buckeyes. If desired, use finger to cover the toothpick hole and smooth out the surface of the peanut butter.  Put back on the cookie sheet and refrigerate until serving.

Source: Modified from All Recipes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Mmmm...well, my Dinner Club friends all know that Chris loved these truffles (as evidenced by Emily's photo on facebook and the fact that he ate like half a dozen on his own in just a few hours) but I'm pretty sure that others loved them too because I only came home with about 10 of them and started with at least 30.  I could eat the cookie dough batter straight up with a spoon, too.  And, the best part about this recipe is that there's no eggs in it so you can eat the cookie dough to your hearts content without worrying about contracting samonella or other nasties! 

This is a really easy recipe to make.  I'd also consider using this cookie dough to use as part of homemade chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  Chris is requesting that I make a peanut butter version sometime...but...I think that's called a Buckeye (which, I do have a separate recipe for that one!) lol.

I added some shortening to the chocolate coating.  This change is reflected in the recipe below and learned from a different recipe that I use.  I find that the shortening allows for a shinier coating and makes for a thinner and softer chocolate coating.  I hate it when the chocolate snaps off when you bite into it...this helps with that!

Combined with the Heart-Shaped Red Velvet Whoopie Pies, they made a very cute Valentine's Day Love at First Bite Dinner Club dessert presentation (Hey, I think I'm getting better at taking pictures! See above and below!).  Beware though, the small size makes it deceiving and you can snack your way through quite a few in a short time!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
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Ingredients:

• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 1½ lb. semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, coarsely chopped or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or vegetable oil
• Mini chocolate chips (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the salt, flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up enough to form balls.
2. Shape the chilled cookie dough mixture into 1-1½ inch balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Cover loosely, transfer the pan to the freezer and chill for 1-2 hours.
3. When ready to dip the truffles, melt the chopped chocolate and shortening or oil in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Dip each chilled truffle, one at a time, coating in chocolate and shaking gently to remove the excess. (If at any point during dipping, the cookie dough balls become too soft, return to the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.) Transfer to a wax-paper lined surface. If using mini chocolate chips for garnish, sprinkle on top quickly after dipping each truffle before the chocolate sets. Once all the truffles have been dipped, store them in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Source: Modified from as seen on Annie's Eats and originally from Taste of Home

Assorted Truffles

Oh.my.god.  These are DELICIOUS!  Rich and melt-in-your-mouth...look and taste like the pros made them...and probably a bazillion calories (so good thing you can only eat a little before the richness is too much!).  But here's the kicker...truffles are actually really EASY to make!  I was pleasantly surprised :).  I'm pretty sure that these and cakeballs will be staple desserts year round.  The beauty of it is that the possibilities are endless and can be changed to match the season.  I considered doing egg nog truffles (substitute the heavy cream with egg nog and spike it with rum) and strawberry (add strawberry preserves) but those got the axe because I don't like egg nog and strawberry felt to Spring for me.  Perhaps Strawberry for Valentine's Day ;).

What follows is a picture of my finished truffles and rough estimates of the flavorings and toppings that I added to create each. 

Family - Be prepared for these delicious morsels to rock your world on Christmas Day.  PS:  Stephen I took special care to make sure that the flavors stayed separated during the making process and there was minimal chance of nut contamination!

Assorted Truffles
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Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar

For the Chocolate: cocoa powder for topping

For the Peppermint Crunch: 1/2 tsp peppermint extract for ganache; 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes for topping

For the French Vanilla Coffee: 1 1/2 tsp powdered Folgers French Vanilla Cappucino mix OR 3/4 tsp instant coffee + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract for ganache; powdered sugar for topping

For the Peanut Butter Chocolate: 1 Tbsp peanut butter for ganache; 1/2 cup crushed peanuts for topping

Directions

1. Bring the cream and sugar to a boil over low heat, pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth.
2. Separated mine into different bowls; one for each flavor.
3. Add respective flavoring to ganache and then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight)
4. Use melon ball scoop or spoon to scoop out some ganache.  Roll (using fingertips) into walnut size balls.  (You don't want to handle  the ganache too much because it will melt and make your hands a mess.  It's okay at this point to be a bit misshapen because you can reshape it after it's rolled in the topping.)
5. Optional: If desired, freeze balls at this point and then prepare chocolate coating in double broiler.  To coat, dip ball in chocolate using a fork.  Sprinkle desired topping over tuffle and then place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and put in fridge to set.
6. Roll in desired topping and chill until ready to serve.

Source: A Christine's Kitchen Chronicles Original inspired by Sing For Your Supper

Cake Balls (Truffles)

These little puppies have received rave reviews all around lately (so much so that our friends want to make them for their wedding favors!). This recipe is very versatile...think of all the combinations of cake, icing, chocolate, and decorations you could do! They are the perfectly portioned little treats to satisfy your sweet tooth...but watch out or you may just end up eating the whole batch yourself!

So far I have made this recipe using strawberry cake/vanilla frosting/white and milk chocolate coating for Valentine's Day and carrot cake/cream cheese frosting/white candy bark for Easter. My next adventure? I'm thinking possibly chocolate cake/chocolate frosting/mint chocolate coating...mmm...just like a thin mint!

Cake Balls(Source: Modified from All Recipes)

PREP TIME 40 Min
COOK TIME 1 Hr 20 Min
READY IN 2 Hrs
~60 servings (1" balls)

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate (or preferred variety) cake mix
• Up to 1 (16 ounce) container prepared chocolate (or preferred variety) frosting
• 1/2 package candy bark coating OR bag of chocolate chips (of preferred variety)
• Sprinkles to decorate (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
2. Place wax paper on a cookie sheet and place into freezer to chill.
3. Put cake into a large bowl and blend in the frosting (start with 1/2 container and add more as needed; Use less for a more cake-like texture - it will still look a bit crumbly which I find ideal) using a mixer. Mix until well-blended.
4. Melt chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.
5. Remove cookie sheet from freezer. Use a melon baller, small scoop, or hands to form ~1" balls of the cake mixture. Roll balls to desired shape and place on cookie sheet. Place balls in freezer for ~30 minutes. If using toothpicks to dip, insert one toothpick per ball before placing into freezer.
6. Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or use spoon to get balls out of chocolate. Place on waxed paper and put in refridgerator to set. Referigerate until ready to serve.

Tips:

• I have made the recipe with both a full can of frosting (per directions) and ~1/2 can. I prefer the more cake-like texture of the lesser amount of frosting. Suggest you start with 1/2 can and add more as needed to suit your tastes.
• Make sure cake has cooled a bit before mixing with frosting or it gets too gooey. Refridgerating mixture and/or adding less frosting helps with rolling if your mixture is too sticky.
• I put a wax paper lined baking sheet into the freezer ahead of time and pull it out when I'm ready to roll the balls. If you prefer to use toothpicks to dip (method similar to buckeyes), put them in now. Then put the tray of balls into the freezer for ~20-30 minutes.
• I use a glass measuring cup in a pot of water on the stove to melt my chocolate and keep it warm throughout the dipping process. If I had a double broiler, I'd use that :).If using chocolate chips you may want to thin it with oil. No need to thin the candy bark (coating) if you use that.
• When balls are sufficiently frozen, put into chocolate mixture. If using toothpick method, dip and remove using toothpick. Otherwise use spoon to get them out. Tap the spoon to remove excess chocolate and then let ball slide back down onto the chilled baking sheet. If you want to decorate with sprinkles, do it now while the chocolate is wet. Put balls in fridge until chocolate hardens. Keep refridgerated until ready to serve.
• If it doesn't turn out too pretty, no worries, it'll still taste delicious! Keep practicing and you'll get the hang of things :)