Is that a Christmas dessert posted on November 15th? It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. I know I know. Two things…one, I’ve been listening to Christmas music since early October. Yep, I’m one of “those” people. What can I say, it’s happy music and I’ve had a love for Christmas for as long as I can remember. You should have seen my childhood bedroom growing up. I used to spend an afternoon decorating and invite my family up that evening to see the finished project; lights were lit and music was playing in the background. Oh and during my piano lesson days I’d play Christmas songs for everyone on Christmas morning…I’m pretty sure it was the best part of their holiday 🙂 Two, our Hailey has a friend with her this weekend who has a love for Oreos. She’s the most polite little house guest so I wanted to make her a treat with her favorite cookies and it worked out to be a perfect trial run for a fun addition to our annual Christmas cookie plates!

These are the first truffles I’ve attempted making and with the little effort required I will definitely be adding them under the Desserts category of my recipe box! Even though everything you could ever need is online now, I still like be “old fashioned” in some ways. I love my recipe box and handwritten recipe cards, I prefer actual books over Kindles and I still print photos to frame and/or add to albums. I once saw the sentimental idea of taking a handwritten recipe from a family member, like Mom or Grandma, framing it and displaying it somewhere in the kitchen. This is still on my to-do list so I think I’ll add it to the Christmas list my Grandma has recently requested 😉

If you haven’t tried the chocolate/peppermint combination yet, I really recommend it. The two go together perfectly as I discovered last year while making these easy candy cane marshmallows! The truffles have a delicious rich and creamy center under the candy cane topped chocolate. Cute and bite sized make them an ideal addition to party table spreads. And as a no bake dessert, they are incredibly simple to whip up ahead of time allowing you to have them ready to go the day before your party! I plan to freeze a few of ours and expect them to be just fine; I’ll be sure to check back and let you know the results. Until then, happy ‘no-baking’!

Peppermint Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

• 39 Oreo cookies
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 tsp peppermint extract
• 16 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (optional)
• 2 regular size candy canes, finely crushed

Instructions:

1. Add Oreo cookies to a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
2. Add cream cheese and peppermint extract and pulse again until all ingredients are well mixed.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the Oreo mixture into balls and place on baking sheet. (A cookie scoop would be ideal for consistency; I suggest keeping them small due to their richness)
4. Place cookie balls in your freezer for at least one hour to chill.
5. Once chilled, prepare coating and toppings. Add candy canes to a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin or flat side of a meat tenderizer – what I used.
6. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and vegetable oil (if using). Microwave in 30 second intervals with a power of 80% until chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir between each interval.
7. Drop each cookie ball into the melted chocolate; use a fork to evenly coat and remove from the bowl, tapping off excess chocolate. Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy cane before the chocolate begins to set.
8. Allow to set completely in the fridge before storing in an airtight container. Keep the container of truffles in the fridge for up to 5 days.

As always, thanks for reading!!