7 Days of Christmas Cookies: Cookie (Candy) #6
The thing about December is… all I eat is Christmas Cookies.
I’m just not very hungry for any other foods this month. Everything in the cafeteria looks very… mehhhh. Everything at home… well, there’s nothing at home. I have no substantial food at home. And I don’t have any substantial food because I just can’t think of any appropriate breakfast, lunch, or dinner foods that I would really like to eat.
But set a plate of Christmas Cookies in front of me and I’ll have one of each, please!
[The dietitian in me wants you to know that not all of that is true. I have been eating my proteins and fibers and vegetables. I’m telling the truth about not really feeling like it, but, ya know, health is a priority and all that. ]
The bright side of Christmas Cookie Week coming to an end is that, uhhh, I’ll maybe stop eating cut back on eating cookies for a… uhmm… a day? or two? maybe two. I could totally do two. I think.
These sparkly white chocolate lemon truffles caught my eye on Pinterest and I knew that I was a goner. My kitchen dessert life was going to be overtaken by pretty sparkly decorating sprinkles. This is only the start, friends. Why make anything else when you can made desserts that remind you of diamonds?
Then I got crazy with holiday flavors and different chocolates and all these delightfully party-worthy chocolate truffles were born.
- White Chocolate Peppermint
- White Chocolate Lemon
- Dark Chocolate Orange
- Dark Chocolate Raspberry
I’ll let you in on a little secret — these LOOK like they would be hard to make, but they were SO EASY. I’m tasting them for the first time right now. (Had to wait until after pictures.) I was worried they would taste artificial or lose their shape at room temperature. I was wrong!
The dark chocolate is thick and velvety and the white is buttery and sweet. The citrus truffles have such an authentic flavor from the zest — definitely take the extra 15 seconds to add that. The peppermint tastes exactly like those little pastel mints with the white nonpareils (does anyone know what I’m talking about?), but bigger x10 and better x10 (better also because look at that sparkly sugar.)
White Chocolate Peppermint Truffles
Don’t be afraid to play with the flavors like I did! Mix and match your chocolates and your extracts (coconut! hazelnut! rum!), zest some fruit when you can. Roll in sprinkles, crushed peppermint candy, coconut, crushed walnuts — the sky is the limit. Have fun!
White and Dark Chocolate Holiday Truffles
Ingredients
- 10 ounces high-quality white milk, or dark chocolate, chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon corn syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon extract lemon, peppermint, etc.
- the zest of half a lemon or orange optionalIdeas for decorating
- White or colored sanding sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
-
Add chocolate and butter to a bowl, then microwave on medium power for 30 seconds. Stir a few times, then microwave for 20 more seconds.
-
Add heavy cream and corn syrup to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat just until bubbles appear on the edges. This will happen quickly! Immediately pour the cream over the melted chocolate and butter, stirring well for a few minutes until combined. Stir in the extract and citrus zest if desired, mixing to combine. Chill for 1-2 hours.
-
When chilled and easy to work with, scoop out teaspoon-size balls of chocolate with a melon scooper or small spoon. I weighed them and each of my truffles weighs 0.5 ounces. Roll them into balls then roll in your coating of choice. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
