I’ve been meaning to write this post for the past several days but things keeping coming up! For starters, today has been hectic: my computer has been “sick” along with Chris. Tending to a sick husband with a stomach bug has been my first priority. Second was fixing my MAC – the drive is partitioned so that I can run both Windows and MAC on my laptop through a dual boot (I’m not sure how much I like this anymore). In an attempt to reformat and add more space to the Windows drive, my computer put up a fight and decide to boycott this move…frustrating (and that’s a nice word for it)!!!!
No resolution was made except for losing more space on my MAC partition and the Windows side not recognizing the added memory…now that I vented, let’s move on to the good stuff…
On a positive note, we had a great weekend catching up with some friends and family! On Friday, we spent a wonderful evening hangin’ with my godparents, their two kids and their grandkids – their youngest daughter and her husband were even in town from New York with their 3-year old and 6 month old baby! The whole gang is super fun and absolutely adorable – Chris and I always looking forward to an evening with their family! We had some delicious BBQ (pulled pork, sausage, and chicken with all the fixin’s) from a local joint called Jabo’s — this was a first for me, it was really yummy! I’ll be going back there for sure 🙂 I brought these to share and they were huge hits with the kids and the adults – Cookies N’ Cream Truffles 🙂
We also had friends from Austin (TX) stop by on Sunday afternoon with their precious 3 1/2 year old on their drive up to Estes Park. Although it was a busy weekend, it was FUN and was time well spent 🙂 After munching on pizza, we dug into a second batch of the cookies n’ cream truffles!
I decided to make two batches of this bad boys – they go REAL quick even though they are quite filling! I thought I’d celebrate my 100th post with something a little more decadent…there was no trying to “healthify” this recipe…and it was totally worth it! These would make great gifts for the holidays coming up because they are easy and look really pretty!
So I can’t believe I’ve already written 100 posts – where have the past five months gone? Time is flying! I want to give a HUGE shout out to all my readers and family – thank you for your sweet comments and encouragement and of course, coming back to read what I have to say…especially to see what crazy experiments recipes I have to offer! Without you, my blog would be nothing and I’ve loved every second of sharing my passion with you. Thank you, Chris, for your patience, tasting new dishes including “fails”, allowing me to serve lukewarm/cold dinners (due to photos) and for putting up with the messes I’ve made/am making in the kitchen!
I used milk chocolate for the coating since I was also serving this to kiddos but I would LOVE to try these with 85% + chocolate for a more adult treat. I completely forgot to sprinkle these with a tiny pinch of sea salt for that WOW factor…my omission might have been best for a young palate too but I really think it would take these over the top. Next time!
I tried to make a Halloween-inspired truffle and piped a bunch of chocolate in the shape of spider legs…this was really time-consuming (and I didn’t have enough time to perfect this little creature) and he caved in a little bit after inserting the “legs” 😦 I think gluten free pretzels would be a much easier, faster and sturdier way to make a spider for my next attempt.
Cookies N’ Cream Truffles (adapted from Kraft Recipes)
Ingredients
16 oz gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies* (I used two 8 0z packages of Kinnikinnick KinniToos Chocolate Vanilla Cookies)
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature (I used full fat)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (or other flavorings/extracts – if you use peppermint, use 1/4 tsp), optional
12 oz of your favorite chocolate bar, chips/chunks or bark (white, dark, milk or a mixture)
2 oz white chocolate chips, optional for drizzling
Optional:
coarse sea salt for sprinkling (or sprinkles, crushed cookies, etc)
Directions
1. Add cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely crumbled OR finely crush cookies in a blender or by hand.
2. Add cream cheese and vanilla, turn on food processor again and pulse until well combine.
3. Roll into walnut size balls and refrigerate for one hour until chilled and firm.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Melt chocolate using a double boiler over low heat or in the microwave until chocolate is smooth.
5. Using a fork or a toothpick, dip chilled balls into chocolate and place onto baking sheet. Optional: Melt white chocolate (if using) and drizzle over chocolate truffles. Before chocolate hardens, sprinkle with sea salt or other toppings if desired.
6. Refrigerate for one hour and enjoy!
Tips:
How to Melt Chocolate
Place unwrapped chocolate squares in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 30 sec.
Look at that filling…you know you want one!
Natural Noshing 
Happy 100th post!!! To celebrate, I will eat a spider truffle…made by you 🙂 hehe. And just so you know, your blog is fantastic so it is OUR honor to get a little peak into your mind and kitchen. What a joy it is to keep coming back. Oh, and by the way, I so wanted to tell you earlier that I was thinking about you while I was eating the bean chips and guacamole 🙂
AWWW what a sweetheart you are! THANK YOU! I feel the same about your blog too, just so ya know!
Yay for bean chips and guac! I am making tacos tonight and will think of you when I eat (my fair share of) chips and guac too!! 🙂
WOOOHOOOO! 100 posts! Way to go girl. And what a gorgeous recipe for that 100th post. I will not look at those yummy looking little balls of chocolate for too long, as I am already craving something sweet big time, and if I take one more look, I will run to the nearest cupboard and wolf down half the carob chips, the rest of my baklava walnut butter, probably have some of that home made nutella too… well, you get the drift. Sugar craving at its best.
Thank goodness I don’t have that plate right there in front of me. I would have a very hard time not eating the entire thing. And did I read right, there’s cream cheese in those? Oh, evil!
Congrats on more gorgeous, mouth watering pictures. You got me drooling all over my keyboard again. SUPERB! Well done, girlfriend! 🙂
Thanks so much Sonia! If I am craving something sweet, I would do the same exact thing – we are so alike! I can go overboard on sweets when cravings hit, especially with these little chocolate balls…thank goodness I had other people to help share the two large batches!
The cream cheese makes the filling so velvety and creamy, it really is divine! Your recent recipe for cheesecake has ME drooling all over the keyboard – AHH! I’ll save you some truffles and how about you save a large slice?!? : )