Mint Chocolate Truffles

Oh boy, these are the easiest to make. And they are scrum-diddly-umpcious. What, you don't think that's a word? Too bad. It's my blog, and I can make up words if I want to :)

So, yes, while these are easy to make, I do have (of course) a story involving trial and error with these beauties. There are only 5 ingredients in these truffles, you would think it would be a fool-proof recipe. Enter Jessica. I can make even the simplest recipe (although this really goes for everything in life) crazy difficult. I did learn something new however, and I successfully problem solved in the process.

Here's what happened. These truffles are dipped in melted candy coating, which hardens soon after dipping. The local grocery store sells candy coating in white (vanilla) or brown (chocolate). You have to color the white coating if you want a different color. What I didn't know is that you can't color the coating with regular food coloring. I was nearing the end of my day, I only had to dip and decorate these. I melted the white coating, added my food color, and suddenly I was in possession of a giant bowl of frosting instead of green melted coating. I put the bowl back over heat, and tried in vain to melt it again. No such luck. Upon Googling my problem, I learned you never ever add water based food color to candy coating. You get frosting. And there's no turning back. Your only option is to start over. This was news to me. I was forced to jet back to the grocery store to look for oil-based food color. Laughable, I tell you. That's a specialty item you aren't finding at a small town Kroger on the Ohio-Kentucky border. After half an hour of wandering the grocery store, desperately trying to come up with an alternative solution, I found myself standing back in front of the food color. As I was standing there, dumb-founded, I noticed these little packets for making frosting.

These little packets add color and flavor to plain frosting. The wheels in my head started turning. I looked at the ingredients. No water. Hmmm, I thought. Next thought: What color is the green? Holy crap on a cracker, green is chocolate mint! It was like fate. I picked up some vanilla candy coating and a green packet. Next, I grabbed some chocolate coating and green icing (my backup plan). 

Well guess freakin' what? It worked. It worked beautifully. Adding the frosting packet to the candy made the vanilla candy coating taste like mint nonpareils. Yes, you know what mint nonpareils are. I think everyone does.

In conclusion, these rock! These truffles are moist, decadent, and rich. One truffle was plenty for me. I think these will be a Christmas tradition in our house for years to come. You can't beat the simplicity and deliciousness.

Ingredients:

(1 package) mint Oreos
4 ounces cream cheese
(1 package) vanilla candy coating
(1 packet) Duncan Hines Frosting Creations in Mint Chocolate
White decorating icing

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse Oreo's until the texture resembles a coarse crumb.
2. Add cream cheese, pulse until mixture resembles a moist ball of cookie dough.
3. Using a 1-tbsp cookie scoop, scoop balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Melt candy coating according to package directions. Add flavor packet, whisk until combined. Using a skewer, dip balls into candy coating. Place dipped balls on parchment paper and allow to harden.
5. Drizzle white decorating icing on truffles and allow to dry. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from 52 Ways to Cook.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck