Mint Oreo Truffles

I like to think I’m Irish.  I look enough like one, (red hair, fair skin, and freckles), that I don’t think anyone would question me if I said my ancestors were from Ireland.  I even participated in the Shamrock Run last weekend (although it wasn’t to support the Irish).  It’s the only time of the year that my red hair and pale-ness is truly appreciated.  So in honor of my possible, maybe probable, roots, I made something green and something chocolate–Mint Oreo Truffles.  Green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and chocolate because I love chocolate.  Plus today was such a windy, stormy, and rainy day, I needed something to cheer me up.  (I shoot in natural morning light, but since it was hardly light out with this storm, some of the pictures appear a bit dark.)

It’s a super easy recipe to make.  The hardest part is not to eat all the Oreos before you make the truffles.  (I am proud of Eric and myself–we only ate two total!)  And it’s not really truffles, so don’t let the title scare you.  The only things that these treats and truffles have in common are that they are circular, made with chocolate, and have a soft center.

Alrighty, here we go.  You need the following ingredients:

In a food processor or blender, crush the Oreos.  It’s best to use about 6 at a time.  If you put too many in, you’ll end up with chunks.  You want it fine.

Let it whirl in the food processor for a minute or so.

When it’s ready, it’ll look like this:

See that small green chunk in the right-hand side of the picture?  It wasn’t fully chopped, so I left it in with a new set of cookies to be pulsed.  Dump the crushed Oreos into a large bowl.

You want the cookies super-fine.

Dump the whole block of cream cheese into the crushed Oreos.  Make sure that your block of cream cheese is softened to room temperature.  I put mine out the night before I want to make it.  DO NOT soften in the microwave.  You want it soft, not melted.

Blend the cream cheese into the cookies.

You don’t want any streaks of cream cheese or crumbs leftover.  All should be incorporated.

Now the messy part.  Take out a little bit of the mixture and form balls.  Place them on a cookies sheet covered with wax paper.  I ran out, so I had to use aluminum foil.  Only use this if you’re in a pinch.  (It’s a bit harder to “peel” the truffles off after they harden.)

If your hands begin to be covered in the truffles, just rinse them off with warm water.  It’ll be easier to roll the truffles because they won’t stick to your palms.  Once you’ve rolled out all the truffles, put the cookie sheet in the fridge for a while.  You want them hard so they don’t melt in the chocolate.

While the truffles are hardening, I am going to tell you a story.  It’s a bit of a sad story, but it has a happy ending, I promise.  The story starts with a great idea.  The idea being making mint Oreo truffles, and dipping them in white chocolate and gently coating green stripes across each one.  Brilliant, I say, brilliant!  Alas, when I tried melting the white chocolate, something happened that had never happened to me before.  My chocolate became hard!  I don’t want to give you all the graphic details, but let’s just say that you could stick a spoon in the bowl and it would come out in one big block.  So, I had to go to plan B.  Plan B was using green melting candies and white stripes.  It actually wasn’t a bad plan B. See–happy ending.

Melt green candies in a microwavable safe bowl at 50% power for 3 minutes.  If it’s too thick, use some shortening.  A couple of tablespoons mixed in does the trick of thinning it out.

Take the truffles out of the fridge and dip into the melted candies.  Place the truffles back onto the cookie tray. 

It’ll look a little messy, but that’s okay.  It’s easy to clean them up once they’re cold.  Do this for all of them and then return back to the fridge.

While the truffles are hardening, melt some white candy melts and then transfer to a squeeze bottle.

Gently squeeze the bottle over the truffles, making a small sweeping motion.

Once the candy melts have cooled, gently peel the truffles from the wax paper (or in my case today, the aluminum foil), break off any “extra” candy melts, and place in a mini cupcake liner.  You’re “leftovers” will look the this.  Oh, the carnage!

Super easy clean-up.  All you have to do is roll the wax paper (foil) in a ball and throw away.  Keep the truffles in the fridge until ready to serve and they will last about 3 days.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Mint Oreo Truffles

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature

1 package (16.6 oz.) mint Oreos

1 package each of green and white candy melts

Place Oreos in the food processor or blender and blend until fine.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the cream cheese.  Mix the cream cheese, by hand, in the crushed Oreos until fully incorporated.  Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet covered with wax paper.  Place in the fridge until hard, 1-2 hours.

Melt either color of candy melts and dip the truffle balls into the melts.  Place the truffles back on the cookie sheet.  Melt the other color candy melts and place in a squeeze bottle.  Gently squeeze the bottle over the truffles in a small, sweeping motion.  Put truffles back in the fridge until ready to serve.  Makes about 40 balls and keeps for 3 days.