Peppermint Oreo Truffles (With Chocolate Vodka. Duh.)

Hello again!  THANK GOODNESS it's finally winter break.  I am SO ready for the holidays this year.  I need a break from all of the real-life stuff, so I can focus on present wrapping and making things that taste good.  First up from my list is an easy-peasy dessert recipe that you could definitely make the night before you go to a holiday party or to your family's house.

I love a good truffle... or oreo/cake ball... whatever you want to call it; they taste super good.  And, these particular ones don't require any baking, which generally is a plus.  The steps are quick, with some down time in between so that you can go wrap some presents or do laundry or whatever.  Another plus, you can decorate them however you want and make them super cute!  This recipe is also extremely versatile, so with a little tweaking, you can make several variations to bring and impress everyone!

This recipe yields approximately 3 dozen truffles!

INGREDIENTS

• Oreos - I bought the peppermint ones!  You could go for a different flavor if you choose.  I used approximately 40 oreos, which is most of a family size package.
• 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• shot of 360 chocolate vodka (you could also use peppermint something if you wanted it to be really minty)
• 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1/4 c dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. mint extract (if you want it to be minty and you don't have peppermint oreos, or you just want it to be mintier than the oreos can provide)
• melting chocolate

PROCEDURE

First, you'll need to crumble your oreos.  Put half of them in a food processor, and blend them until they're all in fine pieces.  Add the rest in as your processor can handle them.  When all the oreos are thoroughly crumbled, add the cream cheese and mix until completely incorporated.  Add the powdered sugar, cocoa, and vodka, and extract and mix again.  You want it to be a thick paste.

Roll the mixture into 1" balls and put in the freezer to chill.  Prepare a surface to put the finished truffles on.  We used tin foil, but wax paper is good too.

Melt the chocolate (I used Wilton's red wafers) and coat your frozen truffles.  Be sure the whole truffle is covered in the chocolate.  Before the chocolate has cooled and set, you can decorate with sprinkles or whatever strikes your fancy that you think would be good and/or tasty.  I used crushed candy canes and sprinkles.

YUM.

Now,  if you didn't want mint, you would just swap the mint extract for vanilla and use regular oreos.  Another variety I think would be good is Birthday Cake!  I'll definitely be trying that out for the hub's birthday (or my own...), so check back for that some other time.  If you make some variation of this, please share!  I'd love to hear about it.  Maybe I can start a list of other people's awesome ideas!  Yes!

P.S.

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In Honor of Chocolate Day: Quadruple Chocolate Cupcakes

Woo!  So,  I found out that it was Chocolate Day just a few hours ago...  How I didn't know there was a whole day dedicated to one of my favorite things, I still don't know.  Anyway, I decided to whip up a new cupcake recipe in honor of this day, and I've decided to dub them the "Quadruple Chocolate Cupcakes" henceforth.  There really are four ways of chocolate in these things...  Plus a little bit of vanilla in the icing, just because.  But I'll get to that in a moment.



DISCLAIMER!
So there are two parts to this cupcake recipe:  the batter, and the icing.  And, good news for everybody, there is booze in both parts!  Now, the alcohol bakes out of the batter... but it is still fully present in the icing, so beware!  If you wanted these to be sober cupcakes, you would just need to substitute the alchohol there for regular vanilla!

Continuing on...

INGREDIENTS
Batter:

• 1 3/4 c. flour
• 2 c. granulated sugar
• 3/4 cocoa (the darker the better)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1 c. milk
• 1 c. chocolate vodka (we use 360)
• 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips (optional)

ICING

• 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. milk
• white chocolate syrup (can usually be found near the coffee creamers)
• vanilla moonshine to taste (we LOVE Ozark Distillery!!)
• chocolate syrup (for decoration)

PROCEDURE

The batter portion of this recipe is adapted from the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" recipe found here.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.  Add the egg, milk, oil, and milk to the mixture and mix on a medium setting for about a minute or so.  Next, add the vodka!  It will seem kind of runny compared to most batters, but it's okay!  If you'd like, you may add some extra chocolate chips at the end.

Distribute the batter into cupcake liners (about 2/3 full or so) and bake for about 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking, it's time to start the icing!  Yay!  Now...  Ever since I worked at a bakery, my recipes for making buttercream types of icings has gone out the window, since I mostly learned to make icing by consistency and taste.  The measurements listed are approximate, and may need to be adjusted...  But here goes!

Mix the powdered sugar, butter, salt, white chocolate syrup, and milk together at a medium-high speed.  You want the icing to be thick enough to keep its shape after the mixer has stopped.  If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar.  If it seems too stiff, add more milk.  If you want the white chocolate flavor to be stronger, add some more syrup!  Once you've got an icing you're satisfied with, add the booze!  I think I ended up with about a teaspoon and a half or so.  Since we added more liquid, you might need to add more powdered sugar, depending on just how much liquid you added!

I used a vanilla flavor in the icing with the white chocolate, just to lighten up the flavor a bit (and I really love that vanilla moonshine, AND I really like the whole chocolate-vanilla-swirl thing... There might be a whole recipe for that another day), but if you really wanted to be gung-ho about the chocolate, you could absolutely substitute it for more of the chocolate vodka, and even add some cocoa instead of some of the powdered sugar.  That felt like a wee bit too much to me, and Aaron doesn't love chocolate, but if that's what floats your boat, go for it, my friend!

So, to count up the chocolates:  cocoa, chocolate chips, chocolate vodka, and white chocolate icing!  Too much...?  Maaaaayyybe.  But we can all indulge every now and then, right?