snowball truffles party!

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It’s white chocolate & coconut! What more can I say besides DELICIOUS! These truffles would make a nice little gift & can easily be changed up with different flavors of extracts & coating. I’ve made them with almond extract instead of coconut extract & topped them with chopped almonds instead of coconut. Be daring & try lemon extract rolled in coconut. OR how about peppermint extract, topped with crushed candy canes! Use your imagination & make your wildest dreams come true with these!

They are super rich & tasty. The silky white chocolate center & the hard chocolate shell reminds me of Lindt Lindor Truffles. But guess what? Lindt doesn’t make coconut truffles, you do! Make some for Santa & I bet you will get something special in return!

You might be wondering what the difference is between white CHOCOLATE & white CANDY COATING. I use both for this recipe. I use white chocolate for the truffle center & candy coating for dipping the truffle in.

White chocolate contains cocoa butter, which is what qualifies it to be called chocolate. White chocolate also has sugar, milk fat & vanilla flavoring. White candy coating is usually sugar, oils, like partially hydrogenated stuff & more artificial flavors. White chocolate has a superior taste but the candy coating is so darn nice for dipping. Candy coating melts as smooth as butter & is much easier for dipping than chocolate. Definitely don't substitute candy coating for the white chocolate in the truffle mixture. It would probably taste good, unless you are a chocolate snob, but I think it would be too sweet. If you are a chocolate snob & don't want to use candy coating for the dipping, you can definitely use white chocolate for that too. Just add a tablespoon or 2 of shortening when melting the chocolate to smooth it out for dipping.

Snowball Truffles

ingredients:

1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon coconut extract
12 oz. Baker's premium white chocolate or any high quality white chocolate (not candy coating)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, for rolling truffles in
8 ounces white candy coating, melted for dipping

directions:

1. In a medium sized glass bowl, heat the cream, butter, extract & white chocolate in microwave at medium power for 1 minute intervals, stirring between each cooking time until chocolate is smooth & melted.

2. Stir in the powdered sugar. Refrigerate truffle mixture until firm for 1-2 hours.

3. I like my coconut shredded finer than it comes in the bag, so I pulse it a few times in the food processor. I like it even finer than I did today, but it's not even necessary at all. Place coconut in a small bowl & set aside.

4. Roll truffle mix into balls. I use my smallest cookie dough scoop to measure, which holds about 2 teaspoons. Place balls on wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate or freeze while you melt the white candy coating.

5. Melt candy coating in microwave on medium power, stirring often, until melted.

6. Take truffles out of fridge & dip into melted candy coating. I use a fork for dipping. Tap on side of bowl to remove excess candy coating & place dipped truffle into the bowl of coconut. Roll in coconut & sit on waxed paper until chocolate has dried.

peanut butter balls party!

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Don’t you just love how a recipe can recreate memories of the past . That is one of the things about cooking that brings me joy. Peanut butter balls are a Christmas tradition that I’m passing on to my daughter. Make these once & they will become a tradition at your house too.

Who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate? These have a smooth rich center and chocolate coating just like Reese’s peanut butter cup. They are no-bake so your little ones will love helping.

This delicious holiday treat will disappear fast! We like them best COLD from the fridge! Crank up the Christmas carols & go make these!


Peanut Butter Balls

makes 4 dozen

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, see * in step 1
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening

directions:

1. Using electric mixer, cream the peanut butter, butter & vanilla together. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time & mix well after each addition. * BEFORE adding the last half cup of powdered sugar, test the mixture. You want it to be stiff, not too sticky, and NOT CRUMBLY. It needs to hold together in a ball. You may need more or less powdered sugar depending on how creamy your peanut butter is.You may not need the last half cup of powdered sugar, depending on how creamy your peanut butter is.

2. Roll into balls. I use my smallest cookie dough scoop to measure, which holds about 2 teaspoons. Place balls on wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate or freeze for about 30 minutes to firm up.


3. Melt chocolate chips & shortening. I melt half the chocolate/shortening to start & melt the rest as needed . I use the microwave on medium power, cooking for 1 minute & stirring, repeating until melted and smooth. I use a small plastic bowl. You can use a doubler boiler instead of the microwave.


4. Take pb balls out of the fridge & dip into chocolate. I used to have THESE TOOLS, which I loved when I first started dipping chocolates. Now I've found that a fork is just as easy for me. I put a pb ball into the chocolate & scoop some chocolate over the top of it. Then lift the chocolate covered ball out with a fork, tap the fork on the side of the bowl to allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. You can also carefully scrape the bottom of the fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Then use a toothpick to carefully scoot the chocolate covered pb ball off the fork & onto the wax paper.

5. Allow to sit for an hour or pop them in the fridge to set up quicker.