Joe Joe (Oreo) Truffles

It is hard to believe that these rich delectable little treats have only three ingredients.  A warning comes with these that it is hard to just have one!  A friend made these at Christmas time and I fell in love with them then.  I am always looking for a delicious crowd pleaser and these fit the bill.  The original recipe calls for Oreos, but you can substitute with any brand of a filled sandwich cookie.  Newman's Own Organics has a great selection of Newman O's (six different flavors).  I used Trader Joe's Joe Joes (peppermint flavor).  I still had a box from Christmas that was staring at me everytime I opened the snack cabinet.  I thought the peppermint flavor would go very good with chocolate.

A few things to note about the recipe.  It calls for a little over 1 lb of cookies.  You do not need that many to get three cups.  I used about 2 sleeves.  You can use whatever you want for dipping chocolate.  I tried three variations.  I had candy cane flavor Hershey kisses from Christmas, milk chocolate, and semi sweet.  Each one provided it's own nice chocolate flavor with the cookie and cream cheese mixture.  At first I would say the milk chocolate was my favorite, but then upon trying the other two I really liked those also.  I just cannot pick a favorite.  They were all good!  I will say that the semi sweet chocolate does provide for a very rich treat.  Nothing wrong with that though!

I will leave you with a few things I learned while making these.  After you have mixed the cookies and cream cheese, chill the mixture for about a half hour.  It will be easier to work with  for shaping the truffles.  I did not create round little truffles.  I used my smallest cookie scoop and actually liked the look of when the mixture comes out of the scoop.  I just patted each one down a little so there were not jagged edges.  Once all of the truffles were created I placed them back in the fridge to chill as I melted my chocolate.  Depending upon the type of chocolate you use, you may need to thin it down a little.  You can use about one teaspoon of a neutral flavored oil and mix it in.  Do not use olive oil as it has too strong of a taste.  A canola is fine or if you would like to add a nutty flavor then use peanut oil.  The problem with chocolate that is too thick is that it will produce a truffle with a really thick layer of chocolate.  Is that really a bad thing??

I plan to make another batch of these along with some sugar cookies this weekend.  I am debating as to what treat I will make my husband and I for Valentine's Day.  Like this is not enough??!!  What are your plans for a Valentine's Day treat?

Here is an overview of the recipe.  Detailed and printable recipe below.

Start with your ingredients:  Cookies, cream cheese, and chocolate

Add the cookies to a food processor and pulse until they no longer resemble a cookie and look like crumbs.  You can also do this by putting them in a plastic ziploc bag and rolling over with a rolling pin or if you need to release some frustration you can squish them in the bag with your hand!

 

  

I took the crumbs out of the processor, added to a large bowl and then added the cream cheese.  To get the cream cheese soft, I removed it from all of it's packaging and put on a plate in the microwave for 10 seconds.  Your arm will get a little workout mixing the crumbs and cream cheese together, but it is in your best interest to burn a few extra calories before completing these as you may eat to many!  My picture of the combined mixture was blury, but you get the jist of it.  Once combined, I put the mixture in the refrigerator for about a half hour to chill.  This just makes the next step a little easier. 

Next, take a spoon or small cookie scoop and form 1" balls.  As I mentioned above, I chose to keep the form that the cookie scoop makes and just pat down the edges a little.  I then placed these in the fridge to firm up for about 15 minutes or so. 

  

Your chocolate choices are endless.  Be creative and have fun!   There is a helpful hint below for dipping the truffles in chocolate.  Using two forks is a great way to be able to let the excess chocolate drip off and then to be able to place on parchment paper.

  

Once you have dipped in chocolate you can add sprinkles if you like.  I suggest putting in the fridge again until they are no longer shiny.  This way, you know they are fully set and then you can add any other decorations.  I melted some white chocolate, put it in a sandwich size ziploc bag, cut off a small piece of the corner and drizzled over the truffles.  In my first attempt, the corner I cut off was a little too large so the lines were thicker.  Next round, I did not cut off as much.  You can see the differences below.

 

Oreo Truffles

Kraft Foods
Printable Recipe

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo (or any brand stuffed) Cookies, finely crushed, divided (you do not need to divide if you do not plan on sprinkling any on top)
1 pkg.  (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted or whatever chocolate you choose to use

MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs or sugar sprinkles.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.  (Note:  Once they have chilled for about a half hour you can add additional chocolate decorations on top should you choose to.)

How to Easily Dip Truffles:
To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Then use two forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove the truffles with forks and allow excess chocolate to drip back into bowl before placing truffles on prepared baking sheet.