Happy Friday everyone! Here’s a Friday present for you:
4 ingredients.
4 steps.
1 of the most delicious tasting and easy desserts ever. EVER.
Peanut Butter Oreo Truffles
INGREDIENTS
*yields about 20 truffles
6oz of cream cheese (3/4 of an 8oz block)
1 regular sized package of Oreo cookies
1/2 cup of your favorite creamy peanut butter
12 oz. Milk Chocolate
(You could use a bag of Milk Chocolate chips, or, as I do most times when I use melted chocolate, about 3/4 of a Trader Joe’s 1lb Belgian Chocolate Bars)
*Peanut Butter Drizzle
(an optional step that can be achieved with either Wilton’s Peanut Butter Flavored Candy Melts or by melting about 1/2 cup of peanut butter over low heat in a saucepan)
1) In a food processor, pulse your Oreo cookies until they become a fine crumb texture.
2) In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and peanut butter on low speed until fully combined and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Slowly add in the Oreo crumbs until a dough like mixture forms.
3) Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Take about 2-3 tablespoons of the dough and roll between the palms of your hands to form a ball and place on the waxed paper. Once all the dough has been shaped into balls, chill them in the freezer for 1/2 hr – 1 hr. Cream cheese based dough can soften very quickly so this step is important!
4) While the dough is chilling, melt your chocolate in a double boiler. After the balls have chilled, dip each one in the melted chocolate and place on the waxed paper to allow the chocolate to dry.
5)*Optional Step: If you’re feeling adventurous and want to add some peanut butter drizzle, you can either melt about 1/2 of a 12oz bag of Peanut Butter flavored candy melts or you can simply melt 1/2 cup of Peanut Butter over low heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly. Then just dip the fork in the melted peanut butter and drizzle it over the truffles (these chocolate squeeze bottles also create a really nice drizzle effect – you can find them at any Michaels or A.C. Moore in the Cake decorating/candy making section).
Happy 1st Friday of 2013 everyone!
There’s a lot of great things about Boston – one of them being Flour Bakery. Joanne Chang, the owner and brains behind the operation, decided that her degree in Applied Mathematics & Economics from Harvard and thriving consulting career wasn’t making her jump out of bed with excitement every morning, so she decided to pursue her love of cooking. And after spending several years at several jobs as a pastry chef in Boston and NYC, Flour was born – and it’s now one of the best bakeries in Boston (in my opinion anyway!), with three locations throughout the city and it’s very own cookbook! Love inspirational stories of success such as that one!
My first Flour experience was a mixed box of treats – one of them resembling a whoopie pie, one of my all-time favorite desserts. But when I bit into it, it wasn’t in fact a whoopie pie – it was actually an Oreo! Tasting very similar to everyone’s favorite cream filled cookie, but softer and MUCH bigger – bonus!
I’ve been meaning to try these for years now so Christmas was the perfect opportunity to give them a whirl. They took a bit of time to make, primarily because of the chilling time required for the dough, but I’ve always been a firm believer that patience is a virtue 🙂
Homemade Oreo Cookies
*Adapted from Flour Bakery’s Recipe
INGREDIENTS
*yields about 16-18 large oreos
For the Cookie
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 egg
1 & 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
For the Filling
(this is actually doubled from the original recipe – I prefer Double Stuff if ya know what I mean)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 & 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk or cream
2 Pinches salt
1) In a medium bowl, whisk the butter and the sugar until combined. Whisk in the vanilla and melted chocolate. Add the egg and stir until well blended.
2) In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to blend them. Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. The finished dough should feel like Play-Doh. Cover the dough with plastic, and chill for 1 hour.
3) Place the dough on a long sheet of wax or parchment paper. Use your hands to shape it into a rough log, about 10 inches long and 2 & 1/2 inches in diameter. Place the log at the wide edge of the paper and roll it around the log. With your hands on the paper, roll the dough into a tighter log, keeping the diameter the same.
4) Refrigerate the log for at least 2 hours – after 2 hours it should be firm enough to slice without crumbling.
5) Set the oven at 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
6) Remove the dough from the paper. Cut the log into 32 slices, each about 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick. Set them on the baking sheets 1 inch apart.
7) Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, checking them often after 15 minutes, or until they are firm when touched in the center. Let them cool completely on the sheets.
8) In the meantime, prepare the filling – in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on low speed for half a minute. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.
9) Beat in the milk and salt. The filling will be somewhat stiff and spackle’ish.
10) Place 2 tablespoons of filling on the flat side of 16 cookies. Press the remaining 16 cookies on the filling, flat sides against the cream, to evenly distribute the filling. Be careful when pressing the top cookie down onto the filling. I found that the stiff texture of the filling caused the top cookie to crack a little when I was pressing it down so just be gentle with it.
11) Store finished cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Safe to say you’ll never go back to store bought after having these puppies 🙂
So I just got all the Saltine Toffee Brittle out of my system, so onto the next sweet treat!
Everyone has that one thing that indicates that the holiday season has begun – it could be black friday shopping – putting up your twinkle lights – hanging your stockings by the chimney with care or ornaments on your newly cut christmas tree.
For me, it’s when that one thing I’ve waited for all year dawns the shelves at Trader Joe’s – their Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe’s. And all of a sudden, I’m a kid again on christmas morning who just opened their brand new Nintendo Power Pad! (orrr um….iPad…right…iPad!)
There’s those special treats reserved for the holiday season that never taste quite as good at any other time of year as they do those few weeks leading up to Christmas. And Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe’s are no different – Trader Joe makes them specially (just for me) for the Christmas season, and that alone is what makes them taste soooo good. That and the fact that it’s a combination of 2 of my favorite things on earth – chocolate and cookies.
But, another good thing about them is that they’re easy as pie to make! I mean no offense TJ, but I could whip these bad boys up in no time. And that my friends, is exactly what I’m gonna do.
Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Cookies
*Inspired by Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe’s
INGREDIENTS
*yields about 2 -1/2 dozen
30 (or so) Double Stuff Oreo Cookies or Trader Joe’s Joe Joes (their version of the Oreo)
1 lb. dark chocolate
(I used the Trader Joe’s 1lb Dark Chocolate Bar)
1 tsp. mint extract
6 or 7 large candy canes, crushed
1) Line a wire rack with wax paper and lay out your Oreo cookies.
2) In a double boiler (or in the microwave), temper your chocolate. To temper, take about 2/3 of the chocolate and place it in the double boiler (or microwave-safe dish).
3) When the chocolate starts to really melt, remove it from the heat and add the remaining unmelted chocolate to the pan, stirring constantly until it melts into the melted stuff. The tempering will provide a nice shiny looking chocolate and avoid those unsightly little white spots that can sometimes pop up on chocolate. When the chocolate is just about all melted, you can mix in the mint extract.
4) Place your candy canes in a ziplock bag and with a hammer or the butt of a large knife, crush them into tiny pieces/crumbs and set aside.
5) With a pair of metal tongs, give each cookie a ‘bath’ in the mint chocolate (best.bath.ever), covering it completely with chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip a bit, and then place them back on the wax paper. When all have been ‘bathed’, sprinkle the tops with peppermint crumbles.
For the cost of 1 package of TJ’s version, you could make almost THREE TIMES as many of these yourself in the comfort of your own kitchen!
And then, after you eat about a dozen yourself, making sure they’re just right, wrap them up and give them away – but, make sure you wipe the ‘evidence’ off your chin 🙂
I’m stuffed – wanna know why?
I was stressed last night – what a nail biter the election was! And I don’t know about you guys, but I am a stress eater. Instead of knitting, chewing gum or taking a brisk walk when I’m feeling anxious about something, I stuff my face with whatever is in arm’s length of me and not nailed to the table.
So, all in all, not the best night to make these Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake bites – we’ll leave it at that.
Lucky enough for you, I spared some to actually take pictures of so you could see:
1) how cute they are
2) how delicious they are
3) how ridiculously easy they are to make
A similar flavor to those Pumpkin Oreo Truffles from a couple months ago, but much more rich and dessert-like. And the best part is there’s no fork needed – you can pick them up with your hands and in 2 (maybe 3 for most normal humans) bites, down the hatch they go!
Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake Bites
*Adapted from Inside Bru Crew Life (clearly I tried to make them ‘healthier’ to justify eating a dozen of them)
INGREDIENTS
*yields 24 cheesecakes
2-8 oz pkgs. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. fat-free sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
48 Reduced-Fat Oreos
light whipped cream
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Spray a 12-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottoms with 1 Oreo cookie per slot.
3) Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the sugar and cream again. Add the eggs one at a time beating after each one. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat again.
4) Fill each muffin tin 3/4 full with the cheesecake batter (on top of the oreo at the bottom), then push another whole Oreo into the top of the batter.
5) Bake for 20-22 minutes. Cool in pan for 15-20 minutes and then take a knife around the edge of each cheesecake to loosen them from the pan. At this point, they should pop out easily. You can then place them on a wire rack to finish cooling.
6) Keep refrigerated. Top with whipped cream and crushed oreos before serving.
oh and, they were breakfast too…
These would be a great addition to any Thanksgiving dessert table! Easy to make and to eat 🙂
In the mean time, I’ll be doing 2 hours of cardio tonight to work off last night’s (and um, this mornings?) Pumpkin Oreo binge – in the middle of the nor’ easter we’re getting – DOH.
There’s this crazy little truffle movement going on out there – where creative combinations of cookies and cream cheese, food processed together into oblivion, rolled into balls, and covered in chocolate is making dessert the easiest it’s ever been, and the most delicious!
These Pumpkin Truffles are no different. I’m pretty sure you could blend oreos with dishwashing soap and it would still taste like heaven. But I thought “hmm, how can I get as much pumpkin into my diet as possible” – and this was the answer 🙂
Pumpkin Oreo Truffles
*Pumpkin Cream Cheese Recipe taken from Skinnytaste
INGREDIENTS
1 block (8 oz) 1/3 fat cream cheese
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. agave nectar
1 regular sized bag of oreo cookies
8 oz. milk/dark/or white chocolate
1) Combine the first 7 ingredients in a mixing bowl, beating until smooth.
2) Place oreo cookies in a large ziplock bag and crush lightly. Then place oreos and pumpkin cream cheese in a food processor or standing mixer and combine until a dough-like ball forms.
3) Chill the dough in the fridge for about 1/2 hour, to let it firm up a bit.
4) Roll tbsp. sized balls of the dough and place on wax paper.
5) In a double boiler, melt your chocolate.
6) Once the chocolate is melted, dip each ball of dough into the chocolate until fully covered and place back on the wax paper to dry. Sprinkle with oreo crumbs if you wish.
The pumpkin flavoring is slight, but you know it’s there. Of course, if you wanted a more pumpkin’y flavor, you could try using less oreos. But for me personally, it was a perfect ratio. And I used white chocolate vs. dark or milk for 2 reasons:
1) I had some in my cabinet
2) I honestly felt that the white chocolate would help the pumpkin flavor to come through vs. the milk or dark which might make them overpoweringly chocolatey (not that I think that’s a bad thing!).
So here’s an easy, poppable dessert for your next fall gathering – and they’re puppy approved 🙂
And They Cooked Happily Ever After 