Hi, everyone! Happy holidays! I hope you’re all enjoying this holiday season and getting to spend time with lots of friends and family! Per usual, our calendar is filling up quickly with Christmas parties and work potlucks galore, and I find myself baking more and more treats to bring to each event! This week, I have three different events that require treats- so I knew I needed a good recipe that made a ton of whatever I chose so that I could just make one batch and get it over with for all the parties! I found this recipe for chocolate truffles and decided to give it a try, and was pleasantly surprised with the results! Be warned, it makes about 100 truffles, so I would recommend recruiting help for all the rolling (fun family activity, anyone?).

Ingredients:

• 8oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted- DO NOT SKIP THE SIFTING!!
• 3 cups melted semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Toppings of choice- cocoa powder, powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs, melted chocolate of all varieties, Oreo crumbs, sprinkles….

First, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer just to get some air into it. Then, gradually add in the powdered sugar and beat with a hand mixer until fully combined. I usually turn the speed up on the mixer for a few seconds to get the mixture a bit more aerated and light.

Next, melt the chocolate. I always put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth. Pour the melted chocolate and the vanilla into the cream cheese mixture and beat with the mixer until fully mixed. The mixture does tend to stiffen up quite a bit, so if needed, feel free to stir by hand if the mixer isn’t strong enough.

Chill the mixture for a maximum of 1 hour. Definitely set a timer or something- I lost track of time watching The Great British Baking Show and left the mix in for more like an hour and a half, and I had to then wait for the mix to soften so that I could roll the truffles! The goal is to get the mixture firm enough to roll into balls without it sticking to your hands.

Next, roll out truffle after truffle! I used a 1/2 tbsp measure to scoop the mixture so that I had fairly uniform truffles. I then rolled them into balls and put them on a cookie sheet to await toppings. All told, I ended up with 103 truffles.

Now for toppings! I tried toffee bits, sweetened shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and chocolate sprinkles. The toffee, coconut, and chocolate chips didn’t stick very well, so I went with the other four ingredients and had much better luck. You could definitely also try melted chocolate or Oreo crumbs.

Now all that’s left is to package them up for each holiday party, and eat the few that I saved for me! Happy holidays, and happy baking!