There are so many reasons to love making truffles. They don’t require any baking time, they are excellent party finger food, they store well, there are enough variations to, at one point or another, please every single person in your life, and you can eat 12 in one sitting and play off the guilt because they’re itty bitty and so stinkin’ cute!
Kind of like those prepackaged Entenmann’s mini blueberry muffins. Try buying a box and eating just one package; you can’t do it. You just can’t. If you are some sort of freak of nature who can, well, then I applaud you and kindly ask you to go away. This is supposed to be a safe space for those of us who share a common love of all things sinfully over-the-top to give in to our greatest temptations, and your self-discipline is making us feel painfully self-conscious.
Miniature food items are always more enjoyable than their full-sized counterparts. Sliders, tiny cupcakes baked in ketchup cups, doughnut holes, Lunchables pizzas (complete with baby pepperonis), “fun sized” candy bars on Halloween, cocktail weenies (okay, those are fun to say AND eat)…
Part of the enjoyment is derived from the “cuteness factor” the tiny foods possess, while the remainder of the enjoyment comes from the inherent inverse relationship between a food’s size and it’s ability to make the person consuming it happy. The fact you can eat 20 [insert mini food item here] is just gravy.
Think about how many times your corners have turned up while eating chicken nugs shaped like tiny dinosaurs. Now think about how many times a plain old chicken breast has elicited that same reaction.
Right. Okay.
So I decided to turn frosted circus animal cookies into truffles (a tiny food within a tiny food) and it was MAGICAL.
Circus Animal Cookie Truffles
3 cups frosted circus animal cookies
1/2 can cream cheese frosting (one of the only times I condone canned frosting use!)
8 squares baking white chocolate (or almond bark if NOT using food coloring)
2 heaping tablespoons white cake mix
Rainbow sprinkles
4-5 drops pink food coloring
1. Blend cookies in a food processor until they are completely ground
2. Pour ground up cookies into a mixing bowl and add frosting
3. Mix thoroughly with your hands (it’s really messy!)
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil
5. Roll the “dough” into one-inch balls with palms
6. Chill the naked truffles in the freezer for about 20 minutes
7. Unwrap white chocolate (or almond bark), place in microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at 30 second increments, stirring after each, until fully melted
8. Stir cake mix and food dye into melted almond bark until fully mixed
9. Using a fork, dip each naked truffle into the pink coating, tapping the bottom of the fork on the edge of the bowl to remove excess coating
10. Place coated truffle back on baking sheet and top with sprinkles
11. Place in an airtight container and freeze ’em until you’re ready to serve them!
The last and most important step is to enjoy the fruits of your labor. It’s like poppin’ happy pills, except, you know, socially acceptable.
Kailley's Kitchen 