Chocolate Truffles

I was browsing through the tables of books at Garden Ridge the other day. I found some great cookbooks, including a kid's cookbook. It's the Williams-Sonoma "Sweet Treats" cookbook. My oldest picked out the chocolate truffles to make this weekend, so this is what we tackled yesterday after school. I thought they would be simple since there are very few ingredients. Was I ever wrong! They are difficult to form into perfect little round balls like you see in the gourmet chocolate stores. And our hands were a gooey, chocolately mess! They still taste good and my girls had fun making them. I made an extra batch for my husband to take to his guys at work. Tomorrow, we are making Strawberry Shortcakes from this cookbook, which happens to be my favorite!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

8 ozs. semisweet chocolate bars (2 Ghiradelli bars)

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings:

Powdered sugar

Unsweetened cocoa powder

Sprinkles or jimmies

Melted milk chocolate

Melted white chocolate

Toasted, crushed nuts

Cut the butter into cubes and break the chocolate into small pieces. Place butter cubes in a saucepan and melt over medium heat. Warm through until tiny bubbles appear in the cream around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat. Add the chocolate pieces and stir to combine until smooth and creamy. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add in the vanilla and stir. Pour mixture into small glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator. Using a melon baller, scoop the chocolate mixture to make rough balls. Place each truffle on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put them back in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Remove and roll into round balls. If your hands get the mixture too warm and they are melting, either wash your hands in cold water or use a ice water bath to cool them off. Roll truffles in desired toppings.

Note: If you are planning on rolling them in melted chocolate, you will need to refrigerate until really cold and firm again. When you are ready, work quickly to roll them in the melted chocolate and remove with a fork so the excess can drip back into the bowl. 

Place on the lined cookie sheet and refrigerate so chocolate can firm up. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat them. You can freeze truffles for up to 3 months. Enjoy!