Chocolate Truffles: An Easy Fix

Sometimes, hopping in your car and jaunting off to your favorite bakery isn't always the most prudent decision.

Or maybe you're just feeling a little creative.

Either way, homemade goods incorporate a little touch of something you can't buy. For all of you homemade-phobes, don't feel the need to rush into it.  There's lots of things you can bake to ease yourself into it.  But if box brownies or pre-made cookies aren't your style, and you want to go a little classier, you've found your recipe:

Chocolate Truffles!

Sounds fancy, right?  Don't be scared! This simple, easy recipe only requires three cooking ingredients and not much prep-work.  

Things you'll need:  

• 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 1 medium sized saucepan
• 1 refrigerator safe bowl
• Toppings!

 

1.  First, cut your chocolate into relatively small pieces.

2.  Next, put a medium sized saucepan on your stove.  Once warm, pour in your can of sweetened condensed milk and add your cut chocolate right on top.  

3.  Stir until the mixture becomes a thick chocolate syrup.

Make sure it is lump free!

4.  Pour mixture into a refrigerator-safe bowl and add your 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.

5.  Put in the refrigerator to chill for three hours.  By doing this you are creating a ganache.

6.  Once your time is up, the mixture should be hard and thick but able to be scooped and dark brown in color. 

7.  Take a 1/2 tablespoon and start scooping out the ganache.  Roll them into balls between your hands.  It will get messy!

8.  This next part is up to you.  Roll and completely coat the ganache balls into whatever you would like--nuts, berries, sprinkles, powdered sugar--you can decide!  I used Trader Joes' 50% salted almonds, Trader Joes' Raw Loose Hazlenuts, Hershey's Baking Cocoa, and Shaw's Chocolate Sprinkles.  For the nuts, I found it was easiest to grind them up in a food processor in order to prevent large chunks.  

9.  Place your ganache balls into a refrigerator container and let them set for 1 hour.  Then, you can either leave them in the refrigerator if you prefer a harder chocolate, or remove and store at room temperature.  ENJOY!

If you have leftover chocolate, you can put it right back in the sauce pan and remelt it and create a dipping sauce! We coated Trader Joes' Dried Apricots and Trader Joes' Unsalted Peanut Pieces! Yum!