Peanut Butter Truffles

Now, I know I JUST made a post about Oreo truffles a few days ago but I made them both for Easter. I promise my posts will not be this much alike in the future. They were just so tasty that I felt the need to post them both. Personally, I prefer the Oreo truffles over the peanut butter ones, but these were a big hit - everyone loved 'em. I have a lot of peanut butter lovers in my family so I'm not really surprised!

Ingredients:
  16 oz. Creamy style peanut butter
  16 oz. Confectioner's sugar (you might need a bit more to get the right consistency)
  1 Cup (2 sticks) of butter (slightly melted)
  2 pkg. Baker's semi-sweet chocolate (melted)

Start off by melting your butter. I cut the sticks into smaller blocks, just so it's easier to mix around. I popped it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. You don't want it to completely melt, you just want to soften it. In a bowl combine the peanut butter, confectioner's sugar and the butter.

Your mix should look like this. You might need to add more confectioner's sugar to get the right texture in order to form balls. For me, I probably had to add an extra 1/2 cup.

Prepare two trays with wax paper.

Next, melt your chocolate. You can use a double boiler, or do what I did and pop it in the microwave! I melted one package of chocolate at a time. I started it out at 1 minute, then gave it a stir. Make sure there's a smooth consistency to it. I had to put mine back in the microwave for another 15-20 seconds to make sure all the chocolate was completely melted.

Form the mixture into (approximately) 1 inch balls and set them on a tray. I had some problems with the balls not forming correctly when I was trying to roll them in my hand. I found out that if you get too much peanut butter stuck to your palms (which is bound to happen), it will just turn into mush. It's best to have a paper towel nearby to just wipe your hands off now and then if you start having problems.

Drop the peanut butter balls into your melted chocolate. I used two forks to roll them around. Make sure you have an even coat of chocolate covering them!

Doesn't that look yummy?

You don't have to do this part, but I put sprinkles on top of them before the chocolate hardened. If you make more than one kind of truffle like I did, this is a good way to tell them apart..and it just makes them look cute. ;-) 

Once you're done that, place the trays in the refrigerator. Let them sit for about an hour. After the chocolate has completely hardened, place the truffles in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

I love these things! A couple years ago a family member had made them and given us a few to try. I was amazed at how good they tasted. I had never even thought of the possibility of an Oreo being a type of truffle before but now I think they're my favorite kind!

Ingredients:

  1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese
  1 pkg. (16.6 oz) Oreo cookies (finley crushed)
  2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate (melted)

First what you want to do is crush up your Oreo cookies. I used a food processor to do this. In the past I had always done this by hand but this way is much faster and works just as good, if not better.

It will look something like coffee grounds by the time you're finished!

In a medium sized bowl mix together 3 cups of the ground up Oreo cookies and the package of cream cheese.

It should turn out something like this. A little mushy-looking, but it still needs to be firm enough to form into balls.

Which is your next step! I formed all the batter into little balls and had them ready to be dipped in chocolate. It's easier to have them laid out like this because you don't want to coat a few of them in chocolate and then have to stop to form more balls. It takes up more time and it can get messy! They should be about an inch in size. Some of mine came out bigger and/or smaller than I intended to make them but that's okay - the truffles can be any size.

Next you want to have two trays ready for after you coat them in chocolate. Lay a piece of wax paper on each tray.

Now unwrap your chocolate pieces and put them in a microwave safe bowl. You can melt the chocolates using a double boiler (or improvise by placing it in a glass bowl, over a pot of simmering water). Or you can use the microwave - which is what I did. I melted one box at a time..Heating it up for 1 minute, then checking on it to see if it needed more time. Usually it took about 1 minute 20 seconds total for the chocolate to be completely melted.

Once all the chocolate is melted, start coating the balls. I dropped one in at a time and used two forks to roll it around, making sure there was a coating of chocolate completely covering them.

Like so!

It looks a bit messy on the tray, but that's okay. They'll look nicer once they're completely finished.

Since you only used 3 cups of Oreo cookie crumbs to make the truffle mixture, take some of the left over crumbs and sprinkle them on top of the chocolate covered balls. Make sure to do it before the chocolate starts to harden! Then place them in the refrigerator and let them sit for about an hour. After they have completely hardened, place them in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!