Tuesday, December 16, 2014

To Die for Oreo Truffles - Kitchen Fail

Only nine more days until Christmas! Can you believe it? Seems this month has just whizzed by in a flurry. Makes me wish it would slow down or last longer. Obviously, I need to plan better next year.

As you may or may not know, we are a big Boy Scout family. This weekend we hosted the annual adult Christmas party for our troop. Everyone brought a dessert or hors d'oeuvre to share so there wasn't a lot I needed to do in the way of food. 

But there was one thing I wanted to make.

Oreo Truffles.

Oreos are one of those simple things in life that bring joy to so many. 
Like a recipe with only three ingredients. 

Yep, to make these Oreo Truffles all you need are 40 Oreos (I show a package of double-stuf ones here, but I decided to use the regular ones for fear that too much "stuf" would make the balls too soft), an 8 oz. package of cream cheese and some white chocolate or almond bark.

First, put your cookies into the bowl of a food processor. I broke mine in half, thinking it might be easier on the machine. Don't know why, but that's just how this blond brain works.

Now if you do not have a food processor, do not fear. Simply put the cookies into a large zip-top bag, then use a rolling pin or your hands to take out your frustrations.

I pulsed until the cookies looked like this...

Then added the cream cheese...

And let the machine do the rest of the work.

If you're crushing the cookies by hand, you'll want to have them pretty much pulverized before mixing in your cream cheese. Once you add the cream cheese, you can use an electric mixer, a spoon or even your hands.

For ease of grabbing the mixture to roll into balls, I transferred it to a bowl.

This is where things really get rolling. Literally. 
Grab enough cookie/cream cheese mixture to roll into 1-inch balls.

(Sorry, y'all, I got preoccupied and forgot to take pictures)

Lay the balls on waxed or parchment paper and continue until mixture is gone.

Melt your chocolate slowly over a double boiler then dip your balls.

For me, this is where the trouble started. The balls are pretty soft, though they did retain their shape on the paper. That is, until I dipped them.

Dipping didn't seem like viable option with the balls being so soft, so I would set a ball on the tines of a fork over the melted chocolate and drizzle the chocolate over them until they were coated. Then I'd tap the fork on the sides of the bowl to  get rid of the excess.

Here are a couple examples of what they should look like.


These are mine.

This is one of my worst fails ever. I tried every which way to coat them, including dipping, but to no avail. They still came out more flat than round and definitely not attractive.

The taste, though, was AMAZING!!!!!

Well, I decided that they were not fit to be served at the party, which was okay with everyone else in the house, because they loved them and by not serving them, the fam could eat them all.

So imagine my surprise when I glanced at the dessert table later that night and saw my Tupperware container of ugly Oreo Truffles sitting there.

Who? Why?

Seems my husband and son decided they were too good not to share.
And our guests devoured them!

Go figure.

 Now I need your help. What can I do next time to make dipping these a success?

I contemplated refrigerating them for a bit to make them firmer, but it said to refrigerate them for an hour AFTER they were dipped. 

On this project, I am at a loss. I want to make them again, but I also want them to look appealing, not like deflated snowballs.

So what are your thoughts?

18 comments:

  1. Add less cream cheese and do refrigerate. They actually don't look bad to me. Someone gave me a few at work and they look just like yours. I think the picture one is photo altered.

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    1. You could be right, Tina. And they do have those food stylists.

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  2. well I'm for sure never gonna make something and bring to your house! they look fine to me - I don't see anything wrong wtih them :-( I can just imagine what you'd say about my attempt! :( I remember trying the chocolate dipped strawberries earlir this year- the ones that I actually let cool (the others I guess were fondue style eaten by the stove) - but the ones I let cool I forgot a very important detail about not letting them touch each other..sigh..

    Susanna

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    1. You know, Susanna, I'm harder on myself than I am on other people. So feel free to bring food no matter what it looks like. :)

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  3. I wish I could fail at recipes as well as you do! I am getting ready to make a ginger snap that is GF. Apparently the original recipe said to refrigerate two hours and I scratched it out and wrote one. My recipe had the reverse problem...the dough was hard as a rock after two.

    And good on your husband and son!

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    1. Doesn't that just annoy you to no end, Julie, when you've spent time, not to mention money on ingredients, only to have something fail? Just drives me crazy. Especially when it's something I have to throw out. Grr...

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  4. I think they look fine too. And definitely yummy. I bet refrigerating them for a while before dipping them would make it easier. I have a recipe for chocolate truffles and these would be a great compliment -- light and dark in a pretty Christmas container. I'm thinking hostess gifts. Might just have to squeeze these into my holiday baking.

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    1. Feel free to bring some to café, Kav. We love to sample things. ;)

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  5. Definitely refrigerate beforehand to harden the cream cheese back up!

    But they didn't look bad to me at all. So I don't consider that a fail!

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  6. Ha! It looks as if everyone agrees with me. Mindy, I do believe you're more of a perfectionist than I am!

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    1. But like I told Susanna, Missy, I'm always harder on myself. Especially when it's something I've serving people outside of my family. And I am far from being a perfectionist. I'm simply a perfectionist wannabe. ;)

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  7. These look super yummy. I just texted my daughter and asked her to pick up the ingredients while she's out running errands!

    I'd refrigerate the mixture first, for maybe 30 minutes. Then form the balls. Then refrigerate again for another 30 minutes to an hour. And then try dipping them.

    I'd also make sure the white chocolate is fairly cool before I dip the balls in. Just cool enough to be liquid. Then more will stick to the balls.

    Actually, I'm going to use the bar of "white almond bark" stuff - just because I have some on hand. :)

    Thanks for the recipe, Mindy!

    I miss our scouting days. Our boys loved every aspect of it, especially the years they worked at scout camp for the summer :) But when we moved (right after they both earned their Eagles), they didn't get involved again. College life took over. But I'm sure they'll be Scout dads some day!

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    1. There are parts of their younger days we do miss, aren't there Jan?

      I don't know that I'd refrigerate it before forming into balls. The mixture was relatively easy to work with. But I will be chilling them next time. Why don't we all have those blast chillers/freezers they have on the cooking shows? Wouldn't that be awesome? Five minutes... Boom.

      Be sure to let me know how yours turn out, Jan.

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  8. I always freeze or chill mine because they get too crumbly. First, I don't want a bajillion crumbs in my dipping chocolate, and second I'm always hurrying... so cold balls are easier!!! :)

    What a fun idea, I'm in love with this!!!

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  9. The photo ones are probably double dipped. That makes a big difference when working with white chocolate. The first dip clings... the second dip covers.

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    1. While they weren't crumbly, Ruthy, they did leave the occasional black dregs in the white chocolate. Nobody wants that.

      And I bet you're right about double dipping. Great idea, as a matter of fact. And they'd be so much easier to do the second time around.

      Lessons learned: chill and double dip.

      The grandkids are coming in this weekend, so I might make them again. If I do, I'll be sure to post pix next week. Along with the grands. IF I can get them to cooperate. With a rambunctious toddler and moody teenagers, one never knows what to expect. I know... I'll bribe them. No opening gifts until Grammy gets so nice pix. :D

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  10. Ok, I;m glad you hubby and son decided to put them out because 1) they look fine and 2) they sound delicious!

    Maybe freezing?? I don't know... I want to make these and I really don't care how they look, hahahaha. I can just tell they'll be yummy

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