“Oh My God!” Oreo Truffles

People kept exclaiming “Oh my God!” as they popped these little divinities into their mouths at the party I attended. And oh what smiles that brought to my face, for I love to share my goodies. One guy dubbed these the “Foreplay” treat, which totally cracked me up. I think they are good, but I don’t know if I’d go so far as to describe them as that good! I’m sure the wine flowing at the party enhanced the reactions.

I came across this treasure of a recipe from a fellow contestant at a Chocolate Dessert contest a couple of years ago, and I believe he got it from the Classic Cake Decorations website. (Classic Cakes is a little shop near me that sells all kinds of cake and candy decorating supplies.) Anyhow, the guy told me how these always disappear very quickly at parties because they are so deliciously addictive. And how right he was. From the batch of 70, most of which made it to the party, they were gone in no time.

I love how few ingredients these require and how you can tailor them with color to match the holiday or occasion (mine were red and white for Valentine’s Day). And I love how the colored chocolate stripes take these over the top with decorating to make them look so professional, yet it is a super simple technique requiring only a Ziploc bag and some colored chocolate, which I believe Michaels sells…oh, and a microwave to melt the chocolate.

Other than the chocolate for dipping and decorating, these only call for Oreo cookies and cream cheese. When I described to the hostess how easy they were to make, she laughed at me and told me her version of easy is to open the package and pop the item into the oven. That made me laugh in turn, for I forget that not everyone loves to make things from scratch like I do! However, I’m happy and willing to bake and share.

Oreo Truffles

Printer-Friendly Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (16.6 -oz.) package Oreo cookies
• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• dark or milk chocolate for dipping
• colored chocolate for decorating
• Ziploc bags or cake decorating bags

DIRECTIONS

1. In food processor, crush cookies to fine crumb consistency.
2. Cut cream cheese into several chunks and add to food processor. Pulse until mixture forms a large clump.
3. Remove mixture from food processor, place in bowl. Use a spoon or a melon baller to scoop out 1-2 teaspoon of the mixture, roll between palms to form 1-inch balls. Chill for 30+ minutes.
4. Place chocolate in microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute. Stir, then continue to microwave in 15-second increments, stirring each time, until chocolate is melted.
5. Dip Oreo balls into chocolate, fishing out with a plastic fork. (TIP: Break off the inner tines of the fork, leaving only the outside tines. This makes maneuvering the balls much easier.) Gently tap the fork against the side of the bowl to release any extra chocolate before placing the balls on a cookie sheet to harden.
6. Now for the fun part: Place colored chocolate in the ziploc bag or the cake decorating bag. Microwave for 1 minute to start, followed by 15-second increments, massaging bag between nuking to help chocolate melt. When all melted, cut a teeny-tiny bit off the plastic bag and very gently squeeze chocolate using back and forth motion across the truffles to decorate with stripes.
7. When chocolate is hardened, I refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!

P.S. added June 26, 2012: For the first time last week, I used Wilton brand chocolates for dipping the truffles. Ugh! The chocolate doesn’t melt smoothly enough. It made the truffles have all kinds of lumps and bumps. Just thought I’d share. It’s worth finding a cake decorating place to buy the chocolate melting discs.