Christmas Yum: Mint Oreo Truffles

My sister-in-law introduced me to Oreo Truffles a year or two ago.They were SO good, and super easy.

All you need is 3 ingredients: 1) a package of Oreos, 2) 8 oz. cream cheese, and 3) dipping chocolate. *This year I decided to try making them with Mint Oreos. I found the mixture not quite minty enough for my taste, so I also added about 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract.

Here's what you do:

First, place Oreos in a plastic bag. Then don your "Bob the Builder" hard hat and get to hammering! The cookies need to be crushed pretty finely. (After hammering, Cooper also did some T-Rex style stompin' on the bag to finish the job. Alas, I don't have a pic of that, but I did get it on video! If I were tech-y enough to know how, I'd load it up. But...)

Next, dump your crushed cookies into a bowl and stir (a lot!) to mix evenly with the softened cream cheese.

It will look kind of muddy when it's well blended. At this point, I placed the bowl in the fridge for awhile (30 min. to an hour) to get it good and chilled.

It makes the next step a little easier.

After chilling, line a cookie sheet w/wax paper and scoop the Oreo mixture into balls. I used a small scoop (top right); you can also use a spoon or roll by hand.

You might want to chill again at this point. I did not, but I think it would help them hold together better during the dipping step.

I used Baker's Dipping Chocolate. The bowls are microwavable, which means less clean up! It starts out like this. Follow package directions to melt. I dipped each ball using a spoon at first, then switched to a fork, and just rolled them around in the chocolate. I think it would work even better (hindsight!) to hold one above the bowl on the fork, then pour the chocolate over it using the spoon. *I used 2 full bowls of chocolate for this batch; I was scraping for enough to cover at the end.

To make them a little more festive, I sprinkled some crushed candy canes on top while the chocolate was still wet. Then, it's back to the fridge for about an hour, or until you just can't stand it and have to eat one!

They make a pretty gift (if they last that long). I am hoping I'll remember this one when it comes time to give gifts to Cooper's teachers. Oh, I would have loved to get some of these!

Merry Christmas!